High taxes

[Kyle Gendron]

Why are Schenectady taxes soooo high ?!?!

[Steve B.]

@Kyle Gendron

The city of Schenectady has high taxes because:

1) The city once had almost 100,000 residents, now it only has 66,000. This created lots of abandoned vacant homes, pushing the tax burden onto the remaining homeowners.

2) There is a very large amount of the city residents on public assistance and refuse to ever work any job. Someone has to pay for it!

3) As NYC has become unaffordable for the lower-income class, unless they are blessed to have a rent controlled apartment, they have migrated north to Schenectady because rents are cheap for what you get in return. Oftentimes (not always) they bring their drugs and problems with them. This has filtered its way into the local school district, which means they have to spend far more money than the surrounding more wealthy communities on dealing with problems instead on improving the education. Who pays? The property owners!

4) Lots of former Schenectady public employees are enjoying a nice pension and excellent benefits in their retirement. I don't fault them for it, but basically the city promised these employees a generous retirement when the city was prosperous and growing, and we are still paying for it

5) My favorite, the local politicians refuse to do anything about the problem. Our own mayor stated that declining property values over the last 5 years is a good thing because it makes homeownership more affordable! What?? Obviously he is not an investor himself. And what do the residents do to reward him? They just re elected him for 4 more years!! Homes are currently taxed at 121% assessed value, which means a home assessed at $100,000 is getting taxed at $121,000. This is how the city keeps the taxes the same or higher every year. I have never heard of this nonsense happening anywhere else in the country.

So what to do about the problem? First IF you buy in the city, immediately grieve the taxes. Only 86 people grieved their taxes last year. I have seen investors get their bills substantially lowered by doing this, but you have to make sure your documents are correct, because obviously the city does not want to willingly lower your taxes. I recommend hiring an attorney to do it, there are a few around here that specialize in it and charge ~$350 to do it. Second, every city resident should voice their opinion and show their displeasure with the local government. Go to the local city council meetings and go out and vote for a change come election time.