No one loves property taxes. But they just keep going up! Taxing authorities might love collecting them, and politicians may enjoy their ability to add revenues to the budget. But according to a recent report “property tax beats out sales and income taxes to become the most hated of all taxes.” The data from the Council on State Taxation and International Property Tax Institute shows that even while “contrary to current economic trends,” property taxes “steadily increase year after year.” Just last week it was announced that what was the largest company on LI is shedding 150 jobs. That’s on the heels of losing more than 26 other notable companies in recent years. Still, despite the fact that many property owners aren’t feeling any economic lift in their wallets, and politicians keep flaunting new ‘tax relief’, Real Estate Weekly points out several factors which just keep fattening NY property tax revenues. This includes:
- Politics
- Need for more funding
- Economic factors creating need for property taxes to pick up the slack
- Increases in real estate inventory
- Rising property values
A select few may have recently received property tax rebate checks. Developers and the wealthiest New York real estate buyers appear to be given millions in tax breaks each week. But at the same time, most Long Islanders are seeing tax bills go up. This is while jobs are being lost, rents are rocketing, and houses are being torn down because banks haven’t taken care of them. Yet, many probably never saw a break when property values plummeted, or since their homes have been damaged. It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to figure out that things are messed up. It’s always good to hope. But so far the system has proven that it isn’t going to fix itself in any meaningful way. The good news is that we can all individually contest and lower unfair tax bills, and in recent years the NY government has said around 48% of homeowners qualify for tax reductions. Contact Property Tax Adjusters, Ltd. for help getting your property taxes reduced…