The dubious distinction of having the highest effective property tax rate of any city in the state goes to Binghamton, a think tank review of taxation data has found.

In its most recent annual Benchmarking New York report, released Tuesday, the conservative Empire Center for State Policy used information from the state Comptroller’s Office to calculate the effective 2013 tax rates for thousands of localities across the state. The effective rate combines county, municipal and school taxes as a percent of market value and the report excludes New York City and Nassau County.

Binghamton’s effective rate came to $58.28 per $1,000 of assessed value, or $4,959 a year for a home valued at the city’s median value of $85,100. The highest taxed municipality in the state is the village of Sloan, Erie County, where residents pay an effective rate of $64.67 per $1,000.

The report also ranked the top tax rates by region, and here in the Finger Lakes area, residents of the village of Medina in the town of Ridgeway, Orleans County, pay the highest effective rate: $57.27 per $1,000, or about $4,164 in tax on a home valued at $72,700. The high taxes in Medina were key to a move earlier this year to dissolve the village government and end some of the overlapping taxes. Voters, however, shot down the measure.

Other high taxed municipalities in this region include the village of Lyons, Wayne County, where voters last year approved a dissolution measure.

In Monroe County, the highest taxed residents reside in the village of Brockport in the town of Clarkson, where they pay a combined $53.12 in tax per $1,000, for a tax bill of $6,131 on a $115,400 home. No other municipality in the county made Empire Center’s top 20 rates for the Finger Lakes.

The lowest tax rates in this region were in Seneca, Ontario County, where residents have have a tax rate of $17.19 per $1,000, for a bill of $2.069 on a $120,000 home. No communities in Monroe County made the botton 20 list for the Finger Lakes.

Across the state, the study found the lowest tax rate, $4.57 per $1,000 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 in a written statement. “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.”

His group has a database of tax information available at: seethroughny.net/property-tax-calculator

© 2015 Rochester Democrat & Chronicle