Pin It
Here is a little math for you. This is the tax amount you paid in 2005 per $1000 of the assessed value of your real estate.

Town of Lansing Residents 
 Town
  1.670771
 County
  7.1820
 Fire
  .978097
School   18.379
 Total  $28.209868


Villageof Lansing Residents 
 Village
  1.65
 Total  $29.859868 *
 * Note that some Village residents are not in the Lansing school district.  If you are in the Ithaca school district you actually paid less, because the Ithaca rate was 17.954 per $1000.

Let's round that off to 29.86. If your house is valued at $50,000 you pay $1,493 in one year's worth of property taxes. If it is valued at $100,000 you pay $2,986. The owner of a $150,000 house pays $4,479. If your house is worth $500,000 you have to ante up $14,930.

To be fair, Lansing's rates went down a bit last year. And this year they are going up just a little bit. But the taxes, when added together, aren't chump change. I am not figuring in the 8% sales tax, income tax, or gas tax. I'm just talking about the 2005 property tax Lansing homeowners had to pay this year. The total will be going up slightly next year, and assessments have been going up pretty quickly, which means more $1000s of assessed value you have to pay a percentage of.

Each of the above named entities plus the Library are planning to ask taxpayers for something extra in the next year or two:

  • The Town will be asking many residents to support a new sewer (only those in the designated proposed district contribute)
  • The Fire District will be asking for money for a new fire house in the Village (everyone in the fire district contributes)
  • The Board of Education will be asking for money for a major capital expansion to the schools, including new classrooms and security
  • The Lansing Community Library Center will be asking to become a Charter Library, supported by school district residents

So what's my point? It seems to me with prices of everything going up and fuel prices sky rocketing that the various governments and municipal districts should think about coordinating projects. I can't think of a single thing on this list that I don't think is a worthy cause. These requests speak to essential services and causes that the Lansing community clearly supports. But what kind of cash will taxpayers have to ante up if they all come at the same time?

Figures taken from the Tompkins County Department of Assessment

----
v1i21


Pin It