Just a note to all westchester customers, sales tax is on the rise starting August 1, from 7.375 to 8.375.
Truly baffles me how people can deal with taxes out there.
Gd forbid Westchester has some sort of respite from the obscene cost of living there…
This is actually not true. The tax is not going up in Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle, and Mount Vernon. The tax will increase by 1% in the rest of Westchester.
@siejammy – the tax rate is the same as or much lower than that in many other parts of the country. All the major cities in Texas, for example, are at 8.25%, pretty much equal to 8.375%, and there are things that are not taxed here that are taxed there. The tax on car leases is also significantly less in NY. The sales tax rates in a number of places in CA are 9%, if not more, and even in places like Kansas, the sales tax rate is often 10% or 11%, despite a state rate of 6.5%. Washington state also has rates that top 10%. This is just a few places where the rate is higher than it is in New York, so it’s not a matter of “dealing with taxes out there.”
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yonkers was already 8.875% lol
Right, and the other three are already 8.375%, which is why they’re not increasing. The statute specifically says the sales tax can’t be above a certain amount in Yonkers, White Plains, New Roc., or Mount Vernon, but the stated amount is higher in Yonkers.
And this is why we moved from Tarrytown to Sunny Florida. It’s getting out of hand… 20k in property tax… tax code changed to 10k max deduction and bad weather…
I will take my special people in Florida
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I hate Florida with a passion for many reasons (and I can rightfully say that after living there for many years, plus my parents are still there), and “sunny” is funny, considering that it’s rainy season. 
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I’ll take NC’s 3% vehicle sales tax all day. My property tax is one of highest in the state and still only 1.55%.
Rising sales tax where the county already has the honor of the highest property taxes in the nation = not sensible to live in imo
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Not everyone is a homeowner. But again, the sales tax is not rising for everyone, technically almost half of the county’s population, so it’s not a big deal. The sales tax has risen sharply in other places too. It is what it is.
In the end local and state governments need revenue to operate. Most states get pretty close to the same % in the end and the ones that get way less tend to have education systems that reflect that lack of funding. Unless you are moving to one of the real low tax states you are just shuffling money around.
I’d also point out that many websites that list taxes by state are mostly BS. This one doesn’t consider annual car taxes. VA looks a whole lot worse when you consider a household with a 2014 camary and a 2015 pilot are paying 1.5k a year in car taxes. For families making under 60k a year, car tax can easily be the biggest single state/local tax they pay.
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My point exactly but without going so far on details. Think about how many states have an annual excise tax on cars or a luxury tax.
We pay for it, but we also tend to have good schools, good services, and generally low crime (yes, I’m fully aware of bad neighborhoods in Mt. Vernon, Yonkers, etc.). Sure, some roads suck, but overall, it’s better here than many other places.
Most of westchester…
Well people are moving out of westchester… look at how many homes are for sale. Clearly people don’t want to pay for it
I beg to differ. People are moving from the city, and if they were so willing to sell, there would be something I could afford, not prices increasing drastically in the last 2 years. I’m now seeing complete gut renos that are really small in excess of $500,000.
Are Westchester home values tanking or on the rise?
On the rise, by far, unless they’re luxury, i.e. $1 million plus. Even condos have gone up by 20% in the last 2 years.
so my question is, if everyone is dumping NY for Florida, why do home values keep going up, even upstate where I live?
Yeah, numbers that matter are population growth/decline and median housing price change year over year. Those are real indicators of how well a place is doing. Places like Detroit and Baltimore…not doing well. Westchester is doing fine.
And companies like Amazon making the choices they do reflect why Westchester will probably Continue to do fine. As long as the big tech and healthcare companies care more about talent than taxes things aren’t gonna change.