Those numbers are drawn directly from the United States Census Bureau.
Westchester’s median property tax of $8,422 is now more than four and a half times the national average of $1,838.
In terms of property taxes as a percentage of household income, four of the highest taxed counties in America are in New York. Westchester's costly rank went from tenth to fifth, Putnam from eleventh to eighth, Rockland seventh and Nassau County being the worst in that category.
All but three New York counties are above the national average, with several of the state's county governments being among the highest taxed local governments in the nation.
... The above numbers demonstrate the the fiscal flaws of county government in New York are endemic -- but that Westchester's lawmakers seem to pride themselves on spending more than any other county operation across the Empire State.
Today as I drove to Greenwich CT to buy groceries it occurred to me that I should express my outrage on this site.
The closest stores to me are in Bedford Village. Next closest are Bedford Hills. But I choose to drive slightly farther to the Greenwich stores. Why? Because everything is 5 to 10% cheaper there. Isn't it a crazy irony that I have to leave NY and go to one of the wealthiest towns in the world--in CT--to get better prices?
Adherents of this site, of course, know the reason. Westchester's property taxes and sales taxes are considerably higher than those of Fairfield County. Our property taxes average 1/2 to 1% higher than Fairfield Cty. and our sales tax is more than 2 percentage points higher.
This being a year of change and hope, let's hope we can change this insane system and chop the taxes.
Posted by: John Tiernan | Friday, January 30, 2009 at 05:43 PM