Adams (file): "property tax cap is urgent"

ALBANY - The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group based in Washington, D.C., has issued a list of the most taxed counties in the nation and Westchester County comes out on top. With median property taxes paid on homes at $8,422, Westchester has the distinction of holding the most taxed spot.

The data used are from 2007.

Rockland County was ranked sixth with median taxes at $7,535. (Essex County, NJ also ranked sixth.)

Putnam County, with taxes of $6,860, ranked 11th in the nation. Orange County, with median taxes of $5,164, ranked 22nd and Dutchess County, with property taxes at $4,365, ranked 38th in the nation.

Ulster County, with median taxes at $3,926, ranked 57th, and Sullivan County, which had median property taxes of $3,328, ranked 100th.

According to The Tax Foundation, the lowest median property taxes were paid in Apache County, Arizona, at $133 in 2007.

"With New York now having the highest taxed county in the nation, in Westchester, and five of the 12 highest taxed counties in the nation, passage of Gov. David Paterson's property tax cap is urgent," said Kenneth Adams, president & CEO of The Business Council of New York State.

"While this data reflects the burden on owner-occupied homes we know that businesses large and small across New York are paying more than their fair share," said Adams. "This property tax burden is a brake on our economy. The only way to turn this situation around is to enact Gov. Paterson's property tax cap. The State Senate led by Majority Leader Dean Skelos has already passed this important bill. It's time for the Assembly to take action on it."