Sag Harbor - New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced that Governor Andrew M. Cuomo launched a new component of his CitizenConnects website called "Cap NY Property Taxes - A Citizen's Guide," which informs New Yorkers about their local tax burdens and empowers them to help rein in out-of-control property taxes. The abundance of information and resources provided by the website are further steps in the Governor's transformational efforts to involve New Yorkers in their government.

The "Cap NY Property Taxes - A Citizen's Guide" website will help inform, educate, and stimulate the property tax debate. It will also provide citizens with the tools they need to help to push their leaders to reduce their property taxes, including instructions for how to consolidate or dissolve duplicative and overlapping layers of government that contribute to the tax burden.

The website will help educate New Yorkers about property taxes and duplicative layers of government through:

 • An interactive map showing the property tax profile of every county in the state, which shows median home value, the median property taxes paid on homes, taxes as percent of home value, and the county's rank relative to the rest of the country in property taxes.

 • An interactive map showing how many local governments are in each county, including cities, towns, villages, utility districts, and special districts.

 • A detailed look at a typical property tax bill that explains how to add up the different components of the bill - including county and town tax, village tax, school tax, and water costs - so the total property tax bill can be determined.

The website also empowers New Yorkers to get involved in their government by providing:

 • Clear guides to the consolidation and dissolution processes and downloadable samples of consolidation and dissolution petitions.
 • Information about Governor Cuomo's Citizen Empowerment Grants, which provide direct financial assistance to local governments to plan for and implement restructuring.
 • Detailed flow charts that easily explain how the budgets of local government work.
 • Recommendations to help local governments find efficiencies and save tax
dollars in transportation, water and sewers, emergency services, and government.
 • An online bulletin board that allows users to submit schedules of public meetings, budget hearings, draft budgets, and other documents to help keep each other informed, connected, and educated.

New York has the highest local taxes in America as a percentage of personal income - 79 percent above the national average. The median national property tax is $1,917, but in New York it is $3,755 - 96 percent higher.

As a percentage of home value, the top 15 counties in the country that pay the highest property taxes are in New York. Orleans County pays the highest property taxes in the nation as a percentage of home value. Nassau County pays the highest taxes in the nation when measured in total dollars paid, followed by Westchester (2nd) and Rockland (5th). From 2005 to 2009, the average property tax increase for all governments and schools districts in New York was approximately five percent, while the median sale price of a home decreased during the same time by 20 percent.

Meanwhile, New York has more than 10,500 local governmental entities - including 62 counties, 932 towns, 555 villages, and more than 7,000 special districts - that taxes and fees across New York State. The system of local government was constructed hundreds of years ago and contains duplication, inefficiency, and waste.

The reorganization of local layers of government, through consolidation or dissolution, has the potential to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of service delivery through economies of scale, better coordination, a more flexible workforce, and elimination of redundant services.

In September, Governor Cuomo launched CitizenConnects, an online town hall to encourage New Yorkers to participate in state government and share their ideas to help shape New York's future. The new online town hall website features multiple interactive platforms for New Yorkers to communicate and participate with their state government. The website gives New Yorkers unprecedented access to the workings of the executive branch as well as provides new and easy ways to participate in the ongoing activities of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the cabinet, and top officials in the executive chamber. CitizenConnects also allows New Yorkers to track future and past travel for the Governor and the executive branch.