ALBANY - Westchester and Rockland counties had the highest property taxes in the nation last year, while the Binghamton, Syracuse and Rochester metro areas led the country in property taxes compared to home values, a report Thursday said.

New York has long struggled with high property taxes that are twofold: the New York City suburbs pay the highest in total taxes while upstate counties pay the most as a portion of their home values.

The problem has meant that even in upstate New York, where home prices are significantly lower than downstate, property taxes remain a burden.

Westchester had an average property tax bill on single-family homes of $17,392 last year, according to the report from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real-estate tracking company based in Irvine, California.

That ranked well above No. 2 Rockland — which had an average property-tax tab of $12,925.

Marin County in California ranked third, while Essex and Bergen counties in New Jersey ranked fourth and fifth at $12,161 and $11,771, respectively, the report said.

Meanwhile, New York's upstate metropolitan areas led the nation in the so-called effective tax rate, which is property taxes compared to home values.

A national look

Nationwide, property taxes grew 4 percent compared to 2017 and averaged $3,498 per home.

The group noted, though, that some states have capped property taxes to slow the growth.

That has been the case in New York, where a property tax cap since 2011 has limited tax increases to no more than 2 percent a year.

The state budget passed Monday made the property-tax cap permanent, which was a mandate from Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who has championed the cap.

"We needed a permanent property tax cap, which was also controversial, and a lot of people didn't want to do that," Cuomo said Sunday. "But it is essential for people outside the city who pay that tax, the property tax."

Binghamton in the lead

While parts of New York had the highest taxes, the state didn't lead the nation.

Compared to home values, New York's property taxes ranked seventh. New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, Vermont, and Connecticut ranked one through five.

But when 219 metropolitan areas were analyzed by the group, New York's region were in the lead.

So Binghamton's effective tax rate was 3.19%, the most in the nation, followed by Syracuse; Rochester; Rockford, Illinois; and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The median home price in Broome County in February was $106,000, while it was $140,000 in Monroe County, according to the state Association of Realtors.

The median priced home in Westchester last year was $650,000 and $460,000 in Rockland, according to the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors.

Still, the report showed that the tax cap has helped New York avoid being a place where property taxes have grown faster than the national average.

That unenviable recognition was led by Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Thursday's report was consistent with one the company did in 2017, which also found the Binghamton area paid the highest taxes compared to home values in the U.S. and Westchester paid the most overall.

To find the lowest property taxes compared to home values, you would have to live in Hawaii, Alabama, Colorado or Nevada, the report said.

"There are still many factors at play that can contribute to local property tax hikes, and without major changes in the way a community runs public services, tax rates must rise to pay for them," Todd Teta, ATTOM's chief product officer, said in a statement.

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