New York State Property Tax Assessments and the Homestead Option

Alison J. Iavarone, CPA (N.Y.)

Real property taxes make up the largest portion of state tax revenues. On average, they represent 35% of the total state tax collected, followed by sales and gross receipts (34%), individual income (20%), corporate income (3%), other taxes (6%), and motor vehicles (2%), according to the Tax Foundation (Liz Malm and Ellen Kant, “The Sources of State and Local Revenues,” Jan. 29, 2013). The New York tri-state area ranks first, second, and third in state and local property taxes per capita: New Jersey at $2,819, Connecticut at $2,522, and New York at $2,280 (Richard Borean, “Monday Map: State and Local Property Tax Collections Per Capita,” Tax Foundation, Jun. 10, 2013). Furthermore, for property taxes as a percentage of income, the top 10 counties in the country are all located in New Jersey (7.24%) or New York (8.44%) (Nick Kasprak, “New York, New Jersey Lead Nation in Property Tax Burden,” Tax Foundation, May 17, 2011).