Property Taxes: New Trends Impacting LI Taxpayers

Blog September 23, 2020 By Admin
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Check out this round up of the latest news headlines which could impact Long Island property owners and their taxes.

Losing Your Home For 6 Cents In Property Taxes

An 89 year old NJ woman recently saw her home taken away and auctioned off for underpaying her property taxes by just six cents. Unfortunately, it is not an uncommon issue. New Yorkers have often lost properties to tax lien sales and foreclosure for owing less than $100, or even less than $10 in property tax related fees. Don’t ignore the mail. If you don’t understand your bill or notices be sure to ask for help as early as possible.

Half Of New York’s Wealthy May Be Leaving

A new survey by the Manhattan Institute shows more than half of NY’s higher income earners may be leaving the state. According to the findings, 44% of those earning $100k a year or more said they had been considering relocating. Another 37% said they planned to leave in the next two years. That’s 81%! Fewer residents mean the budget and property tax burdens must be split between fewer people. Those who remain will probably see tax rates rising significantly to cover budget gaps.

Offices & Retailers Closing

Countless retailers, restaurants and offices have closed this year. Many permanently. BlackRock’s CEO says he doesn’t expect office staff to ever return to more than 60% of previous on site employment levels. 90% of retailers haven’t been able to make their rent for August. Companies like Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, Microsoft and AT&T are at least closing many locations permanently, if not filing bankruptcy. More Long Island schools have also once again shutdown due to COVID. With 10% or less of the usual annual property tax revenues coming in, counties will likely need to make up that difference from the rest, and pass the bill on to local homeowners too.

High Unemployment & Foreclosures

Foreclosure activity is rising along with unemployment. The latest stats put state unemployment claims at around 10.4%. Though many more may not qualify for help, have moved away, or have given up on the job search, making the real number far higher. While bans on evictions may have kept some in their homes for now, many can’t afford to pay their property taxes either.

Hyper Active Storm Seasons

The 2020 Atlantic storm season has already been one of the most active on record. There were so many storms by half way through the season that they ran out of names for them. We’ve also seen record wildfires in California, record early snow falls and even an earthquake in Florida. If this activity continues trending up, then local property owners could well be dealing with increased costs of repairing their homes while juggling high property taxes at the same time.

What To Do

If you live on Long Island, then you are probably being overcharged for your property taxes each year already. It’s hard enough to keep up, without being taken advantage of or bills going up further. Reach out for help from Property Tax Adjusters Ltd. today to find out how much you can save.