Taxes always go up. Inflation, cost of living, whatever you want to call it. You will always pay more taxes. People always demand more from government. Citizens feel that they are overtaxed, so services always get better at increased cost. Rare is a government that decreases taxes and cuts services.
It's been three months work to copy all the Rush Tax Role for 2021 info into a database so it can be analyzed. There are lots of interesting things in here, and to understand it you need the basics.
Taxes based on property are calculated this way:
Every property has a value for the land and any improvements on it.
This usually means buildings.
Add them all together and you get the value of the Town.
Taxes are collected twice a year. In the spring for the County and the Town, and in the Fall for the School.
Property in Rush can be in one of three different school districts. Each has a budget. Each district figures out how much total money they need to operate. Some cash comes from the State and other sources. Property taxes have to cover whatever doesn't come from somewhere else.
The Rush Henrietta Central School District proposed 2021-2022 budget went up 4.28%, from the 2020-2021 budget. They passed on only a 2% increase to taxpayers. You can see more about the Rush Henrietta School District Budget here.
The Town of Rush, the County of Monroe, and the Rush Fire District figure out how much tax money they need the same way. The Town of Rush splits their budget into General Town stuff, the Highway Department and the Library. There is also a tiny portion needed for the Water System and other projects. There is carryover from the prior year where they collected too much tax. There is money from the Town doing work for the County, and other sources. Whatever doesn't come from elsewhere the taxpayers are on the hook for.
For each of the taxpayer funded portions of the Town, County and School budget (based on the district you live in), they take the total amount that needs to be collected, and divide it into the total property value of the town to get a percentage rate per $1,000 of assessed value. They multiply the rate per $1,000 against the assessed value of your property to figure out how much you owe
Here's just the Town numbers for 2021:
So if your house and land assesses for $200,000, you divide by 1,000 to get 200, multiply by 4,217876 and you get $843.58.
There are rates for each different school district and for the two portions of County tax, and the fire department. There is also a water tax and an "other" tax too, but these are small.
Here's the full bill for both Rush and Henrietta for 2021.
You can see that taxes went down a bit on Monroe County Services from last year, and for everything else in Rush taxes went up.
Every once and awhile they re-assess the value of everything in Town. They just did it this year. For most people, the value of their property went up. This isn't necessarily going to mean your taxes are going up, but if the total amount of money the County/Town/School district added together goes up, and your property value went up, there is a real good chance that your taxes are going up too.
How to make your Taxes Go Down
Got farmland? Grow stuff on it. The State figures out a discount when you fill in the forms. Active farmland gets up to a 60% reduction in assessed value.
Have a lower income? Are you getting older? You might qualify for the New York State School Tax Relief Program (STAR). Go look on the NYS website for info and forms. There is "Enhanced STAR" if you are 65 or older.
If you get STAR now, and you have turned 65 you need to apply for the EnhanceD STAR. Click the link above and get the info.
If your income is way down, there is help for you too. Here's more info from New York State on the minimum requirements.
Want to make taxes go down and make the town a nicer place to live?
This is where it gets tricky, and people get all excited about change.
We are are going to explore some facts about what is in store for Rush and what the options are.
Stay Tuned.
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