I bought my house in 2016 and year after year my assessment has continued to increase and I wanted to see how it has impacted my taxes at the county and town level. I also wondered if my house was in different municipality how my taxes might be different.
Doing a little research, I choose a property from each of the 19 towns and the City of Syracuse with similar market values and gathered their tax data.
Right away it jumped out how much more the City of Syracuse pays in county taxes compared to towns. This is because of the Abstract of the City of Syracuse (page 419) which issues an extra charge of over $22 million dollars for city residents to pay for operation of the public safety building and justice center, city libraries, operation of the Center for Forensic Science and more. This extra charge doesn’t seem to be factored in to Onondaga County’s total tax levy and I will be looking more into this as I study Onondaga County’s budget.
Town taxes in 2016 ranged from over $3,000 in the Town of Geddes to less than a $1,000 in other towns. Since some municipalities have libraries built into their town budget, the town taxes below include library services and special districts, which includes fire protection and additional services. Each town does differ in the services they offer to residents. Some include trash services, police, ambulance services and others do not. Take a look at the data below and let me know what you see.
Onondaga County taxes over the last 8 years have remained mostly consistent and have actually slightly decreased. Yet local municipalities taxes have been on the rise. How can we save taxpayers money? Should the county take on more services distributing the cost to all residents of Onondaga?
To answer my question above, if my house was in a different municipality would my taxes differ. Yes, I could save over $1,000 in the Town of Clay vs the Town of Manlius. Almost $2,000 if I lived in the Town of Skaneateles.
City budgets are discussed in April. County & town government budgets are discussed in October & November. Public hearings are required, whether you would like more services or more savings, make sure tell you local government what you want your taxes to fund.
See more data and see rankings of the highest taxing municipalities to the lowest below.
| Municipality | Town Taxes | Town Taxes | % change | County Taxes | County Taxes | % change | Full Market | Full Market | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2024 | 2016 | 2024 | 2016 | 2024 | ||||
| DeWitt | $1,876 | $2,599 | 39% | $1,172 | $1,212 | 3% | $220,700 | $333,000 | 51% |
| Manlius | $2,088 | $2,710 | 30% | $1,285 | $1,187 | -8% | $243,700 | $327,400 | 34% |
| Camillus | $2,340 | $2,515 | 7% | $1,301 | $1,108 | -15% | $243,000 | $303,371 | 25% |
| Cicero | $1,552 | $2,043 | 32% | $1,218 | $1,230 | 1% | $229,000 | $337,500 | 47% |
| Clay | $1,385 | $1,516 | 9% | $1,185 | $1,175 | -1% | $222,738 | $322,148 | 45% |
| Salina | $2,116 | $2,111 | 0% | $1,303 | $1,153 | -12% | $243,500 | $316,180 | 30% |
| Geddes | $3,057 | $3,531 | 16% | $1,275 | $1,277 | 0% | $237,391 | $349,440 | 47% |
| Onondaga (town) | $1,123 | $1,177 | 5% | $1,295 | $1,372 | 6% | $243,500 | $376,029 | 54% |
| Skaneateles | $789 | $866 | 10% | $1,292 | $1,526 | 18% | $243,900 | $420,635 | 72% |
| Lysander | $937 | $1,120 | 20% | $1,290 | $1,315 | 2% | $243,500 | $361,760 | 49% |
| Van Buren | $1,574 | $1,853 | 18% | $1,238 | $1,203 | -3% | $233,000 | $330,695 | 42% |
| Marcellus | $1,665 | $1,751 | 5% | $1,179 | $1,155 | -2% | $222,000 | $317,654 | 43% |
| LaFayette | $1,723 | $2,151 | 25% | $1,259 | $1,195 | -5% | $235,484 | $326,866 | 39% |
| Pompey | $1,176 | $1,790 | 52% | $1,146 | $1,125 | -2% | $216,400 | $309,143 | 43% |
| Elbridge | $1,518 | $1,701 | 12% | $1,275 | $1,105 | -13% | $240,500 | $304,321 | 27% |
| Spafford | $884 | $1,212 | 37% | $1,311 | $1,537 | 17% | $250,000 | $423,276 | 69% |
| Otisco | $1,987 | $2,122 | 7% | $1,235 | $1,180 | -4% | $230,737 | $323,032 | 40% |
| Tully | $2,380 | $3,129 | 31% | $1,367 | $1,168 | -15% | $255,000 | $318,000 | 25% |
| Fabius | $2,248 | $2,622 | 17% | $1,278 | $1,253 | -2% | $241,200 | $344,571 | 43% |
| Syracuse | $1,833 | $2,512 | 37% | $2,258 | $2,327 | 3% | $243,590 | $325,581 | 34% |
Have questions or comments to share? Send Elaine Denton an email.
Total Taxes Collected
| Municipality | Total Levy 2016 | Total Levy 2024 | % Change | Services That Vary | Population |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onondaga County | $139,691,159 | $146,225,244 | 5% | 🏥 🤝 🚔 📚💧 🌧️ | 476,516 |
| Syracuse | $34,287,711 | $47,583,565 | 39% | 🗑️ 🚔 🚑 💧 🪠 | 148,620 |
| DeWitt | $15,839,839 | $19,570,090 | 24% | 🗑️ 🚔 🚑 📚 💡💧 🌧️ 🪠 | 26,074 |
| Manlius | $14,898,531 | $18,922,306 | 27% | 🗑️ 🚔 🚑 📚 | 33,712 |
| Cicero | $12,618,086 | $17,497,450 | 39% | 🗑️ 🚔 📚 💧 🌧️ 🪠 | 31,435 |
| Clay | $14,586,907 | $17,103,163 | 17% | 🗑️ 📚 💡 💧 🌧️ 🪠 | 60,527 |
| Camillus | $10,678,592 | $16,455,111 | 54% | 🗑️ 🚔 📚 💡 🪠 | 25,346 |
| Salina | $13,213,403 | $13,659,873 | 3% | 🗑️ 📚 💧 🪠 | 33,223 |
| Geddes | $8,862,016 | $10,448,391 | 18% | 🗑️ 🚔 📚 💡 🪠 | 17,088 |
| Pompey | $4,898,004 | $5,896,987 | 20% | 🗑️ 🚑 📚 | 7,080 |
| Van Buren | $4,755,168 | $5,704,873 | 20% | 📚 💧 🌧️ 🪠 | 14,367 |
| Onondaga (town) | $4,412,762 | $5,422,038 | 23% | 📚 💧 | 22,937 |
| Lysander | $3,997,478 | $5,275,732 | 32% | 📚 💡 🌧️ | 23,074 |
| Skaneateles | $3,656,371 | $4,761,770 | 30% | 📚 | 7,112 |
| Marcellus | $3,098,038 | $3,423,060 | 10% | 🚑 📚 💧 | 6,066 |
| Tully | $2,178,148 | $2,867,287 | 32% | 🗑️ 🚑 📚 | 2,676 |
| LaFayette | $2,143,201 | $2,737,141 | 28% | 🗑️ 📚 | 4,910 |
| Otisco | $2,038,234 | $2,319,780 | 14% | 📚 | 2,368 |
| Spafford | $1,560,996 | $2,166,683 | 39% | 📚 | 1,588 |
| Elbridge | $1,652,612 | $2,041,592 | 24% | 🚑 | 5,476 |
| Fabius | $1,020,982 | $1,160,696 | 14% | 🗑️ | 2,006 |
Services / Special Districts
🏥 Health & Human Services 🤝 Social Services 🚔 Police 📚 Libraries 💧 Water 🌧️ Drainage
🗑️ Trash Service 🚑 Ambulance 💡 Lighting District 🪠 Sewer District
Notes:
– Onondaga County Sewer charges and water charges were not included in the above data.
– City of Syracuse added ambulance services in 2023
– Village & School taxes were not included in the above data