Government Waste & Stalled Recovery Creates Higher Property Taxes on LI

Blog April 3, 2013 By Admin
Back

New revelations of massive government waste and a stalling economic and housing recovery are adding to your Long Island property tax bill. What are you going to do about it?

 

A new report shows the nation’s government holding around 77,000 properties, many of which go unused or admittedly ‘underutilized’, while burning up tax dollars unnecessarily. Oklahoma Senator, Tom Coburn told Fox News that “We spend about 8 billion dollars a year maintaining properties that we have no use for…just thrown down the drain”. Guess what? You are the one footing the bill for this gross wastage and many of these properties have gone vacant for a decade without even being listed for sale.

 

Meanwhile Fannie Mae is busy winning court battles to gain exemption from county real estate transfer taxes placing a higher burden on locals to make up for budget shortfalls and lost revenues.

 

New data released shows the U.S. economy stuck at 0.4% growth for 2012 and on verge of new recession, On top of this new figures reveal that the number of underwater homeowners on Long Island is actually surging. NewsDay reports the number of LI residents that owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth is up 3.1% to 53,639 by the beginning of the year.

 

Many of those sinking underwater after promises of a housing rebound are likely to join hundreds of thousands of others in giving up on paying mortgage payments and stopping paying local property taxes, adding increased burden and higher taxes on neighbors in Nassau and Suffolk County.

 

Sadly there may be little that individual Long Island residents can do about most of these factors attempting to be added onto their property tax bills. However, those in Suffolk and Nassau County can stand up for their rights and fight back against being overcharged by filing a property tax grievance with the assistance of a local property tax adjuster.