This Local City Has the 6th Highest Property Tax Rates in NYS

The New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has released his 2024 Real Property Tax Levies, Taxable Full Value and Full Value Tax Rates Report on local cities and towns throughout New York State, and one local city ranks among the top 10 highest.

The full value tax rates are not the rates you see on your property tax bill, but instead reflect the total levy in each city per $1,000 of full property tax value on all taxable properties in a given city.

Among New York's highest is the City of Little Falls which ranks 6th at $16.09 per $1,000 of the city's full taxable value. New York City ranks number one at $24.88 and the City of Utica ranks 15th, at $12.98. The City of Oneida is 41st at $8.34, and Rome is #42 at $8.31.

In New York State, the "full value property tax rate" is a metric used to understand property tax rates relative to the actual, or "full," market value of properties in a municipality. This rate is particularly important for assessing equity in tax rates across areas with different levels of property assessment.

Here’s a breakdown according to the Comptroller's Office:

1.  Assessed Value vs. Full Market Value: Each property in New York is assigned an assessed value by local assessors, which may differ from its full market value (what the property would realistically sell for in an open market). In some places, properties are assessed at a fraction of their full value (e.g., 50% or 75% of market value).

2.  Equalization Rate: New York State uses an "equalization rate" to help bring these assessments in line with full market values for tax purposes. The equalization rate is a percentage that shows the ratio of assessed value to full market value for a specific municipality.

3.  Full Value Tax Rate: The full value property tax rate represents the property tax as a percentage of the full market value rather than the assessed value. This metric enables comparisons of tax burdens across municipalities with different assessment practices, providing a clearer view of effective tax rates relative to property worth.

In essence, the full value property tax rate is an equalized rate, helping ensure that similar properties in different areas face comparable tax burdens based on their actual market values.

Municipalities with low property values are forced to have higher real property tax rates in order to raise enough money to operate their government and provide the basic services needed and often times mandated by law.