Municipalities in Orleans need to rein in burden on overstressed and aging taxpayers
Editor:
The term “windfall profit” originated in old England when the public could not, by law, fell trees to collect the wood for sale. Only when high winds brought trees down could they be cut up to sell, hence the reference.
Recently, a different type of windfall profit occurred when property tax assessments skyrocketed. Municipalities, schools and fire districts collect local revenue largely through property taxes which meant the dramatic rise in assessments of 40, 50, 60 percent or more within the last few years would hit property owners hard.
And that happened. Owners received 3, 4, or even 5 separate bills from taxing authorities in short succession based on those higher assessments.
Yet, each of those bills are from a taxing authority which lacks any mechanism to measure the most important data point: whether the taxpayer can afford to pay. To better understand this question, local taxing authorities must first know the combined tax rates their property owners face.
The second need is to recognize the changing demographics within Orleans County. This knowledge is a requirement before deciding to raise taxes and is particularly so for adding capital expenditures which incur long-term payments on significant debt.
An easy first step toward answering the first item is with a visit to the Orleans County Real Property website. There, all current tax rates are listed for the County, Towns, Villages, Schools and Fire Districts.
While several different combinations exist, some property owners are already paying as much as $35, $40, and almost $45 per thousand of assessed property value before exemptions.
Total taxes paid though are not the only consideration to budgeting for local taxing authorities. Every local official must also study who constitutes their tax base and where this population is trending.
The County is set to change significantly in the next 20 years with the youngest Baby Boomers now retiring and the older of this cohort reaching their 80s in 2026. More property owners on fixed incomes means less flexibility to add spending.
Other metrics must also be reviewed such as housing occupancy, housing type/stock, employment rates, and median household income among other criteria. All of these and more data are available on the American Community Survey from the US Census Bureau for the County, by towns, and even individual zip codes. This data stretches back several years so one may see how the local population is trending.
No longer is developing a yearly budget only determined by what department heads, commissioners, or boards want to spend, but equally by who is paying and what they can afford.
The data is there to indicate taxes post reassessments are already high and there are oncoming changes to the tax base. Now is the time to adapt and respond before the full force of demographic changes are realized in Orleans County.
Sincerely,
Matt Passarell
Albion
