How will new fees and a rise in vacant properties impact you as a Long Island property owner over the next year?
It could become even more expensive to own your property on Long Island in 2017. The good news is that Nassau County Executive Mangano’s new budget doesn’t directly call for an increase in property taxes. However it does call for millions in ‘fees’ which could make things more expensive for local homeowners and businesses in Nassau County.
A newly released Q3 2016 Vacant Homes and Zombie Foreclosure report from ATTOM Solutions shows that not everything is moving in the right direction on the housing front. In fact, vacant bank owned homes are up 67% since 2015. In the New York – Newark – Jersey City area alone there are 3,590 vacant foreclosure ‘zombies’.
Zombie homes not only hurt neighborhoods by bringing down the quality of life and home values, but they can cast an unfair property tax burden on those in the rest of the county. In 2014 alone this cost Long Islanders almost $300 million in falling home values, and cost local municipalities over $3 million in helping to maintain these zombie homes. In response Gov. Andrew Cuomo set up a toll free hotline so that locals can report abandoned homes.
DistressedPro.com reports that while overall foreclosure activity may appear to be down on a national level foreclosures have actually been rising in the northeast in 2016, and that there could be twice as many defaulting mortgages behind those figures waiting to come down the pipeline.
Even if your property bill doesn’t go up this year the fact is that 48% of Long Islanders receive overinflated bills each year already. It’s vital not to be lulled into complacency and end up forking over thousands of dollars more than you should. Be sure to challenge your property tax assessment regularly to avoid overpaying.