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The title should really be changed to reflect how this is related to New York’s Byzantine property tax scheme and not property taxes in general.
by blululu 2y ago
The title should really be changed to reflect how this is related to New York’s Byzantine property tax scheme and not property taxes in general.
- PaulHoule 2y agoIn Ithaca, NY property taxes have become a left-wing issue as tenants realize that they pay them too. It's particularly tough in Ithaca because so much land belongs to Cornell, Ithaca College and local government so only a fraction of the land carries the whole tax burden. Last year the school district tried for a 13% tax increase which was handily voted down in an area which values education and developers, who expect a tax break for anything new they build, are facing more and more scrutiny over it.
- blululu 2y agoFair. Property tax can be one of the most reliable and effective ways for a locality to raise revenues, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t mess it up. I mentioned how New York has some wonky laws and this is doubly true where real estate is concerned. But these are not issues with property tax per se but with New York’s government. In California there are huge issues with property tax owing to prop 13 and its consequences. But these are very different and a lot of people suggest that California’s lack of a property tax is highly regressive. My point is that the specificity is important for establishing the context.