A new Gallup study finds that the high costs of living rank as the top financial worry for Americans, with energy bills near the top of the list. That pressure is trickling down in New York.
As municipalities around the state finalize their budgets, many are turning to property tax hikes to keep government and services running, including in the village of Scotia, where the tax increases are roughly three times the state cap.
At a time when money is tight for many families, with gas, groceries and basic goods all costing more, New Yorkers are being forced to make hard choices in their budgets.
“Our health insurance has gone up. National Grid bills have gone up just within our households,” Scotia resident Amanda Barone said. “So then on top of that, when we look at several hundred more dollars a year in taxes, or some people paying several more thousands a year in taxes, and it’s because it’s there. You know, the village is experiencing the same increases we are.”
Nearly 8,000 people live in Scotia, located in Schenectady County. Barone has watched her village tax bill climb over 15% since 2024, and by June 1, that total will be over 21%, with a separate garbage fee on top of it. For context, New York’s property tax levy is generally capped at 2% a year.
“Instead of cutting back costs like we are in our houses, they’re saying, ‘OK, we’re just going to push that back onto the residents.’ So we’re getting double taxed in a way, like these increases. We’re seeing them at home and then we’re getting them from the village, too.”
Village leaders say they understand the concerns.
“I have family as well that are on fixed incomes, and it is difficult and it’s, you know, I’ve talked to other municipal leaders and we all are facing that same thing,” Scotia Mayor David Bucciferro said.
It’s a reality for communities across New york. In the Oswego County city of Fulton, leaders approved an 11% property tax hike, and other cities, from Batavia to Elmira, have also looked at increases well above the state cap.
Bucciferro, a Republican who is up for reelection in November, points to the cost of a new fire station, a renovated village hall and emergency services.
“In today’s environment, it’s really difficult to maintain. The level of service that the village provides is not sustainable in the long run,” Bucciferro said.
“We do love having the services in the village,” Barone said. “It gets to a point where, can we afford these services any longer in the way they are presently?”
It’s a trade-off playing out in village, town and city halls, as well as living rooms across the state: keep the level of service or keep people from being priced out?
“It is going to get to the point where I think the next thing on the docket is if we don’t have anywhere else to cut back, where we can still live comfortably, we will look at moving. And we’ve already had that conversation in my household,” Barone said.
As costs keep rising, village officials hope for more help from state and federal leaders, or even shared services with neighboring communities to ease the burden on taxpayers and keep people from being priced out of the places they call home.