Tax Free NY is Here For Some, Higher Property Taxes For Others

Blog November 9, 2013 By Admin
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Cuomo’s tax free plan for New York officially went live last week slashing the number of properties having to contribute to the pot, which while welcome news for many piles the financial burden onto other Long Island property owners. Finding relief from this may only be found in appealing your property tax bill quickly.

 

At an October 23rd news conference New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli revealed 27% of property in the state is no tax exempt. This figure rises as high as 60% in some municipalities even despite a 10 figure budget shortfall. Commenting on the $826 billion pool of tax exempt properties in the state DiNapoli said “Those that own taxable property are left to carry a heavier burden, and municipalities are left to make up the difference”.

 

In some areas this means local municipalities are already stepping up with new fees to circumvent the tax break given to so many. While other politicians are getting busy banging on the doors of non-profits to get them to pitch in millions of dollars to help shore up the gap in budgets for public services. These efforts may provide some minute relief but raise many questions and concerns.

 

At the same time, in other Long Island news this week the press covered the ongoing foreclosure crisis on the island. While high end luxury home flipping is booming in the Hamptons there are still communities in distress plagued by joblessness, homelessness and blighted properties. This puts a major drain on public resources. If even some of these homes were recycled to being sources of tax revenue to offset the implications of the new tax free zones it would certainly help. At least it could be a step towards reducing the burden on services and costing other property taxpayers more money.

 

Right now in some areas less than 40% of homeowners are now paying 100% of the financial burden. Unfortunately we are unlikely to see a miracle cleanup of every abandoned foreclosure home, overnight restoration of storm damaged houses and big payouts to Sandy victims or any reversal of the new tax exempt rules. That means those Long Island homeowners looking for a financial reprieve continue to be left with filing an appeal to have their tax bills reduced.