Albany

They may not be making many gloves anymore in Gloversville, but city and local school officials have their hands out — collecting some of the highest property taxes in the state when the rates are compared to home values. That's based on a survey released Wednesday by the Empire Center, which follows taxation and government spending issues.

Gloversville's property taxes run $52.40 per $1,000 of home valuation.

So if that home fits the median home price of $110,000 in surrounding Fulton County, where Gloversville is located, the annual school and property tax bill would be $5,764, according to the survey.

Schenectady led the high-tax list in the immediate Capital Region with a rate of $40.93 per $1,000.

Based on a median Schenectady County home price of $163,500, the cost would be $6,692 per year.

The Empire Center's survey is based on data gathered from the state comptroller's office and the state Association of Realtors.

Because they use the median county home price as a denominator, the actual tax bill in a city like Schenectady could be less. That's because city home tend to be much lower than in the county with its affluent suburbs.

Additionally, the survey excluded the savings from School Tax Relief or STAR exemptions that most residential homeowners obtain. In the Capital Region, the average homeowner saves several hundred dollars a year on their school tax bills through STAR.

Still, Empire Center Director Tim Hoefer said in a statement that the survey allows homeowners to compare their taxes with those in neighboring school districts and communities.

"With school budget votes just two weeks away, its important for voters to understand what their tax rates are and how that rate relates to what others in their region and in the state are paying. BenchmarkingNY makes it easy for taxpayers to make those comparisons," said Hoefer.

School taxes in many New York communities make up the biggest piece of the annual property tax bill.

The rate per $1,000 may provide some of the clearest comparisons. Gloversville's $52.40 per $1,000 also means homeowners pay about 5 percent of their home's value in taxes each year.

Aside from New Jersey, communities across the nation rarely see rates above 2 percent of value, a common way of gauging taxes in other states. Massachusetts, for example, has a statutory tax levy increase limit of 2.5 percent, said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center. That means property taxes can't exceed 2.5 percent of the assessed value in a given town in the Bay State.

Gloversville's taxes are running at more than twice that level.

While Gloversville residents pay a lot compared to the cost of their homes, people downstate pay lower rates but higher total costs due to high home prices.

For example, a homeowner in Haverstraw, Rockland County, has a lower rate of $48.16 per $1,000, but with a median county price of $345,000, the annual tax bill would run $16,615.

So economically depressed areas upstate — where low housing prices butt up against high public sector costs for schools, police and other government functions — have higher proportionate rates.

Taxes also tend to be higher in cities, which typically have their own police and fire departments to pay for.

More Information Home is where the tax is Highest property tax rates (per $1,000 of valuation in the Capital Region) Rate per $1,000 of Median Communityhome valueprice home*Tax Schenectady$40.93$163,500$6,692 Albany$38.74$202,000$7,825 Whitehall$36.31$124,800$4,531 Glenville$35.97$163,500$5,881 Rensselaer$35.85$170,000$6,095 And the lowest rates: Edinburg$8.19$255,450$2,092 Hague$8.21$191,000$1,568 Bolton$8.59$191,000$1,641 Day$8.97$255,450$2,291 Horicon$9.36$191,000$1,788 *In the surrounding county Source: Empire Center, using data from the Comptroller's Office and state Association of Realtors. 2012 tax costs are approximate. Check your rates Homeowners can look up their rates here: http://seethroughny.net/benchmarking-ny/#! See More Collapse

But rural areas with low property values also have proportionately high rates.

Resort communities, with high values and relatively small school systems, and wealthy suburban areas have lower proportionate rates.

The Empire Center found the highest rate statewide in the Village of Wellsville, Allegany County.

At $63.51 per $1,000, Wellsville's tax rate is 77 percent higher than the Western New York median of $35.94 and more than double the statewide median of $30.17.

Villages don't always carry the highest tax rates. The lowest per-$1,000 taxes were in the Village of Sagaponack in Long Island's posh Hamptons region. That rate was $1.19 per $1,000.

Overall, those in western New York pay the highest rates per $1,000.

Home prices are low due in part to the region's chronically depressed economy. But the high tax rates, which add significantly to the cost of ownership, also depresses real estate prices, noted McMahon.

"The reason it's cheap is because the taxes are high," he said of Gloversville and similar low-price/high-tax communities.