Binghamton had the highest effective property tax rate of any city in New York as of 2013, according to the Empire Center’s latest annual Benchmarking NY report, released today.
Benchmarking NY uses data from the state comptroller’s office to calculate effective tax rates–combined county, municipal and school taxes as a percent of market value–for thousands of localities across the state, excluding only New York City and Nassau County. (Due to changes in the comptroller’s data-gathering process, the Benchmarking NY information also does not include some fire district taxes.)
Binghamton’s effective rate came to $58.28 per $1,000, or $4,959 a year for a home at Binghamton’s local median value of $85,100.
The city with the lowest all-in property tax rate was Rye, in Westchester County, at $19.20 per $1,000. In absolute terms, taxes for Rye and other downstate municipalities were much higher due to very high property values, however.
Among all types of jurisdictions, the highest property tax was found in the village of Sloan, in Erie County, which had an effective rate of $64.67 per $1,000. The lowest rate was $4.57 in the Suffolk County village of Southampton.
“There’s no question that New Yorkers pay some of the highest property taxes in the country, but the burden can vary widely even among neighboring jurisdictions,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. “By making it easier to compare taxes in different localities, we hope to encourage local taxpayers and elected officials to search for ways of reducing taxes and spending.”
The complete report, posted here, includes a list of the top and bottom 20 tax rates in each of the state’s nine regions outside New York City. The full database has also been added to the Empire Center’s Property Tax Calculator, which can be used to compare taxes on homes of different values in different communities across the state.
Eleven Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees collected more than $400,000 each in total pay last year as average pay surged nine percent, according to 2024 payroll , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Read More
A total of 97 retirees from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) were eligible for pensions of $200,000 or more during the 2025 fiscal year, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Among the 97 retirees Read More
The pension plan covering most New York City government agencies, including the City’s subway system, had 70 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, almost quadrupling 2019’s tally of 19, according to new , the Read More
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s payroll surpassed $8 billion in 2024 – a 2.6 percent increase since 2023, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Overtime, as measured using payroll records, totaled $ Read More
New York’s two teacher pension systems last year had 26 retirees eligible to collect pensions of more than $300,000, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Data reported from Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of Read More
School districts presenting budgets to voters on Tuesday, May 20, plan to spend an average of $35,012 per student, up 4.6 percent from the current school year, according to new state data.
Data collected by the state Education Departme Read More
The number of school district employees receiving a total compensation of more than $200,000 have more than doubled since 2019, according to posted today at , the Empire Center’s transparency website. The public educator pay data are based on Fiscal Ye Read More
A total of 186 out of 685 school districts outside New York City last year had a median classroom teacher pay over $100,000, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website, up from 159 five years earlier.
All eight Rockland Coun Read More