This Week on Upstater: Livin’ in a Low-Tax Paradise

  |  January 15, 2018

910 Shaver Hollow Road, Andes: $360K. 2017 Property taxes: $1930.

Baffled by Hudson Valley & Catskills property tax rates? You’re not alone. This week on Upstater, we’ll attempt to unravel the locations with the lowest property taxes in the region…

There are a multitude of factors that determine how high your yearly property tax bill is going to be. Whether you live in an area that supports a school district will affect it, as well as the value of the property itself.

Westchester County is the reigning champion of high property taxes nation-wide. Year after year, it graces the top 5 of most “highest taxes” lists, joining its cross-Hudson counterpart, Rockland County. In fact, in order to encounter truly rock-bottom property taxes, this Times Herald Record article suggests you “live in an area with really, really high prices, like Southampton, Long Island, or in a small community that has no public schools and simply sends kids to nearby districts on a tuition basis.” Meanwhile, avoid any “village (which adds an extra layer of taxation) in an area with low home values but lots of government overhead.”

So, villages are right out. Then again, those of us who either live in a village or spend a lot of time looking at real estate listings know that to avoid high taxes, live outside the village (Saugerties, I’m looking at you). And, if this recent Poughkeepsie Journal article is to be believed, Dutchess County is, too.

If you’re curious to see what every NY county’s tax rate is, go here and type in a location. As for us here at Upstater, we’ll be hand-selecting our favorite listings with low tax bills. Well, as low as it gets, anyway. We are, after all, still in New York State.

About Kandy Harris

Kandy is a writer and musician/music teacher living in Saugerties, NY.

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