Property owners in the village of Lyons, Wayne County, paid the highest tax rate in the Finger Lakes region in 2010, more than 50 percent above the regional median, the Empire Center for Public Policy reported Thursday.

The Empire Center ranked the top 20 and bottom 20 effective tax rates for 2010 throughout the state, and has developed an Internet-based tool for taxpayers to compute and compare tax information, officials said.

The average effective tax rate in Lyons was $52.33 per $1,000 of property value,

compared with a median average of $33.96 in the Finger Lakes region and a statewide median of $27.43, the center said.

Rochester ranks 29th among city tax rates at $37.49. Geneva, Ontario County, ranks eighth at $45.09. Batavia, Genesee County, ranks 11th at $43.70. Canandaigua, Ontario County, ranks 52nd at $29.36.

The town of Seneca, Ontario County, which falls in the Penn Yan School District, has the lowest tax rate in the region, at $15.26, followed by the town of Geneva in the Penn Yan School District at $17.27.

The village of Wellsville in Allegany County bears the state’s heaviest tax burden, at $62.20. The lowest tax burden belongs to the village of Sagaponack in Long Island’s Hamptons at $1.32.

New York’s highest tax rates are generally in cities and rural areas with low property values, Empire Center officials said. The lowest rates are generally found in resort communities and wealthy areas with high property values.

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