Albany NY property taxes and Albany ny real estate assessments

First let me say I understand the pain of being a property owner in upstate NY. We have some of the highest overall tax burdens in the entire country when you figure in income tax, gas taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. However, for now I want to talk about property taxes. I still hear it all the time. "They did a revaluation in my town when values were at their peak, why don't they do another revaluation now that values are down so I can save money". This shows a fundamental lack of understanding of how property taxes are figured. First property values, in the Capital Region, in general have not dropped much if they have dropped at all. But lets assume they have. Suppose property values in a town dropped 20% over the past year. A home assessed for $200,000 is now worth $160,000. Now the town does a revaluation and the values of properties are reduced by 20% across the board. Is the homeowner happy or any better? Of course not. The reason is the tax bill for the school, town, and county has gone up like it does every year. So now the entire town is assessed at a lower value why aren't they paying lower taxes? Because the tax rate will increase to offset the lower assessed values. The town has to do this to raise enough revenue to pay their bills. Instead of complaining about assessments a more valid argument, if you are concerned about your tax bill, would be concerns with Town and school budgets, waste, and spending. Have questions or want to review area town tax rates? Visit me online at http://www.clancyrealestate.com