WNY homeowners feel deep property tax bite

[mesue]

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/162383.html

Weight of real estate levies among nation’s heaviest

By Matt Glynn
Updated: 09/14/07 7:40 AM

The low cost of housing in the Buffalo Niagara region has a dark side: Homeowners here pay among the highest real estate taxes, as a percentage of home value, in the nation.

Niagara County homeowners’ median annual real estate taxes were 2.91 percent of the median home value of Niagara County homes in 2006, the second-highest percentage in the country, according to the Washington, D.C.- based Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group that analyzed newly released census data. The actual median tax paid in Niagara County was $2,638, ranking 145th in the nation.
Erie County’s 2.54 percent ranked No. 4 overall. The median tax paid in the county was $2,768, ranking 126th nationwide.
No. 1 on the list of taxes as a percentage of home prices was Wayne County, and No. 3 was Monroe County. The national median, meaning half the counties were higher and half were lower than that percentage, was 0.94 percent.
Chautauqua County was No. 6, at 2.52 percent. Nine of the Top 10 counties on the list were in New York. In calculating real estate taxes, the foundation included taxes such as property taxes, school taxes and special assessments.
In terms of actual taxes paid, Hunterdon County, N.J., topped the nation with $7,999 in median real estate taxes. The national median was $1,742.
Business advocates and industry groups bemoaned the high real estate tax burden as a drag on the region’s housing market and prospects for economic growth. “It’s a shame that we have such high taxes because one of the assets of living in Western New York is the low cost of home ownership,” said Dan Locche, public affairs director for the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors.
Locche said high real estate taxes stifle some residents’ ability to afford a home and make it more difficult to attract people to live here. “It’s a constant battle to get control of taxes,” he said.
Buffalo Niagara routinely ranks as one of the most inexpensive markets for housing on the National Association of Realtors’ quarterly list of metropolitan areas. In the second quarter, the region’s median sale price was $103,000, less than half the national figure of $223,800. But those statistics don’t include real estate taxes.
Andrew J. Rudnick, president of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, described the high tax rankings for Erie and Niagara counties as “no surprise.”
“People experience that each year when they pay their combined mortgage and tax payments,” he said.
Rudnick said that the region’s property taxes are a significant issue on their own but that they are just one of many kinds of taxes that Western New York residents must pay. Property taxes, he said, are a complex issue to tackle.
Even if changes are made at the state level in areas such as mandates on local governments and school districts, Rudnick said, those local entities still need to follow through on the reduced mandates and essentially pass through the savings in the form of lower spending, with less revenue collected through property taxes.
“Making the change to reduce the tax burden on people is a complicated, multistep issue,” he said.
The reform effort known as Unshackle Upstate has made taxes one of its targets.
“Many of the things that contribute to high property taxes are the size of government and the cost of government,” he said. But reform efforts in those areas tend to face a lot of structural opposition, he said.
Joseph McIvor, executive director of the Buffalo Niagara Builders Association, said that when many employees who are transferred into the region look at home prices here, they are pleasantly surprised at the low figures.
“But then they look at the property tax burden and find it’s inconceivable that that’s what they’re going to pay,” he said.
McIvor said high property taxes have a ripple effect on potential buyers and home builders. “Any time you raise the cost of ownership, the window of affordability drives so many people out of the market,” he said.
McIvor said Buffalo Niagara has a lot of strong points for attracting businesses, but he sees taxes as a drawback. “I think providing services and quality of life are very, very important,” he said. “But I think you have to look at what’s best for the economy and future generations.”
Richard Deitz, an economist with the Buffalo branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said the percentage of real estate taxes paid by homeowners should be viewed in a larger context.
“It’s not just the tax rate,” Deitz said, “it’s a matter of tax efficiency.”
For homeowners, Deitz said, the question is whether they feel they are receiving high-quality services in exchange for the taxes they are paying. For instance, he said, if the quality of schools that those taxes support is very high, it may help counterbalance the tax burden.
The Tax Foundation, which published the study, offered a similar view in a statement on its Web site.
“High property taxes in your county aren’t necessarily bad if you are getting valuable government services from them or if the system of government is set up so that other taxes are low — in other words, if you are getting what you pay for from local government in total,” the foundation said.
“And that’s not something we in Washington can determine nor can any entity determine — it’s each individual’s own valuation.”

[leets]

Taxes as a percentage of value is not an accurate measure a comparison of the equivalency of the taxes paid. A similar sized house in a similar type neighborhood in Buffalo and in Chicago for instance will often have the same tax burden. The difference is that the house in Chicago might have a value 5 times the value of that of the Buffalo house. That skews the tax as a percentage.

[VegasDude]

You going to see tax increase across the board, Town, County, Village
school, Everythings going up.

Their all waiting to the last possible minute to announce them
for the election's

[leets]

Did anyone read that Vegas has the highest suicide rate in the country?

[concernedwnyer]

Did anyone read that Vegas has the highest suicide rate in the country?

Yes, so? Vegas also has one of the highest crime rates too. The difference is that Vegas is growing at such a fast rate their economy lags behind a bit in keeping up witht the growth. As far as the suicides go...... It is a gambling city. People lose, they lose big. Sometimes that does not make you feel good and if you brought excess problem baggage along taking that swan dive off the Stratosphere might not seem like a bad idea at the time.

Go downtown in Buffalo and you have gun bullets to contend with and the population in Buffalo is minute in comparison. What was the latest shooting, Delevan????? I think Buffalo is turning into a real time real life shooting gallery.
Score 1000 points if you make it out alive in one week of roaming the streets.

[WestCoastPerspective]

Yes, so? Vegas also has one of the highest crime rates too. The difference is that Vegas is growing at such a fast rate their economy lags behind a bit in keeping up witht the growth. As far as the suicides go...... It is a gambling city. People lose, they lose big. Sometimes that does not make you feel good and if you brought excess problem baggage along taking that swan dive off the Stratosphere might not seem like a bad idea at the time.

Go downtown in Buffalo and you have gun bullets to contend with and the population in Buffalo is minute in comparison. What was the latest shooting, Delevan????? I think Buffalo is turning into a real time real life shooting gallery.
Score 1000 points if you make it out alive in one week of roaming the streets.

Aren't homicides down something like 30 percent this year compared to last? So much for the trend you're trying to prove.

[concernedwnyer]

You going to see tax increase across the board, Town, County, Village
school, Everythings going up.

Their all waiting to the last possible minute to announce them
for the election's

Pack up Gracy we are getting the hell out a here. I would rather go to a another area and deal with the new, to me, problems there then stay in Buuuufffffaaaallllloooowwww and put up with the same ole bullSh*t here. It gets old after a while and why should one be in financial ruin because of some other *******'s actions..... Makes no sense to me.

Build the Bass Pro store because you will need the canoes to save yourself from drowning in debt. What was that phrase a sucker born every minute???

[concernedwnyer]

Aren't homicides down something like 30 percent this year compared to last? So much for the trend you're trying to prove.

No, I do not believe they are down unless the population is so thin it seems that way. We have had quite a few long run of shootings in earlier part of the year.Trend has nothing to do with reality. I am not trying to set a trend. When you cannot even go in a delicatessen and wonder if you will it home without being dead that is not a good thing. Tell it to the victim's families Mr. Eastcoast NOT perspective.

[leets]

I just read that Vegas has the highest foreclosure rate in the country. That might have something to do with the suicides.

[WNYresident]

Did anyone read that Vegas has the highest suicide rate in the country?

It's all those casinos

[WNYresident]

I just read that Vegas has the highest foreclosure rate in the country. That might have something to do with the suicides.

And people losing thier money at casinos.

[concernedwnyer]

Someone has to pay for the billion dollar resorts. People do not understand Las Vegas until they have been to Las Vegas. It is has some minor problems but those problems are welcomed because the people bring it on themself. In WNY you have idiots that are causing the probems. I would rather excercise the right to have self control then have Erie County politicians reach in my pants for every last penny. No Joe nothing there try a different spot

Hey, We have a casino right in Buffalo...... Huh ah, let you not forget thow.
You have one in Niagara Falls, Two in Canada, you have all the race tracks now have VTSWe are ust gambling folks......... But you cannot open up a casino unless you in with
the in crowd or Indian...

[leets]

So lots of casinos in WNY but not so much of a suicide rate and not nearly the foreclosure rate of Vegas

[yokes]

So lots of casinos in WNY but not so much of a suicide rate and not nearly the foreclosure rate of Vegas

not exactly lots of casinos but that's OK.

Foreclosure rates in any city where there was significant appreciation (real or imagined) will always be higher than those cities where there was not such appreciation.

Why? Because people will buy more than they can afford in the plan and hope that the appreciation will make up for it in a short time period, and they can sell for profit, which was the case in So Cal, NV, and other growing areas for many years. Once that appreciation slows, or you buy at the end of the appreciation cycle you'll quickly be upside down, and find yourself in foreclosure.

not saying foreclosure is a good thing for the individual, but in markets where property values are increasing rapidly you will see more foreclosures than markets without such appreciation.

[concernedwnyer]

not exactly lots of casinos but that's OK.

Foreclosure rates in any city where there was significant appreciation (real or imagined) will always be higher than those cities where there was not such appreciation.

Why? Because people will buy more than they can afford in the plan and hope that the appreciation will make up for it in a short time period, and they can sell for profit, which was the case in So Cal, NV, and other growing areas for many years. Once that appreciation slows, or you buy at the end of the appreciation cycle you'll quickly be upside down, and find yourself in foreclosure.

not saying foreclosure is a good thing for the individual, but in markets where property values are increasing rapidly you will see more foreclosures than markets without such appreciation.

Cut to the crap would ya....... So this area is depressed!!!