Population and financial dataabout the Village of Potsdam

Presented to the Comprehensive Plan Committee,

By Steve YurgartisFeb. 23, 2011

The census count includes some students (but not all students).

So, how many “full time” residents live in the Village of Potsdam?

Estimated full time residents of Village of Potsdam 4851

Student population at Clarkson 3045Student population at SUNY Potsdam 4332

Estimated total population of the Village of Potsdam 12228

Fraction of residents that are students 60%

(Census count 9425)

Analysis by Steve Yurgartis, 9/2010

Population analysis for the Village of Potsdam, 2008

Where employees live, etc.

Village

Full time employees of the village = 61Fraction of FT employees that live in the village= 25.4%Average salary of FT employee= $44,498

Clarkson employees(from sample of 558 employees, as reported in the faculty/staff directory)

Fraction of all employees that live in the village= 31%Fraction of staff that live in the village= 20%Fraction of faculty that live in the village= 54% (102)

Compiled by Steve Yurgartis, Feb. 20, 2011

Observations:

School taxes are the major fraction of our property taxes (so if we want to reduce our tax bill, we will also have to work hard on the cost of school, which is likely to be a particularly big challenge in the next few years because of NYS policy.)

The difference between living inside the village and outside the village is about 30% of your property tax bill.

Observations:

The village is about a $9 million dollar a year operation.

We actually make net revenue on hydro (currently about $100 K/year transferred to general fund.)

Observations:

The bulk of our general fund revenue comes from property taxes

Sales tax is another big source of revenue.

We don’t depend much on state aid (which is lucky for us these days!)

Observations:

Police direct and police fringe is about 37% of our budget.

As expected, public works (streets maintenance, plowing, etc.) is the next biggest fraction.

Administration is a relatively modest fraction.

Like other state and local governments, fringe benefits are a large and growing fraction, and pose a long term financial challenge.

Observations:

Even the tax-exempts contribute substantially to the cost of village operation.

Observations:

We have a very large fraction of tax exempt property in the village.

Major tax exempts are the colleges and the hospital. We also have a lot of churches.

In some light, this can be seen as a good thing. We are very fortunate to have these types of institutions in our community. It adds greatly to our quality of life.

There is also the challenging side, in that these institutions (their clients) consume village services, but they pay less toward that cost than other folks.

Observations:

School taxes, on average, have been climbing the fastest.

The village tax rate has actually been going down for the past 4 years.

Observations:

However, our assessments have been going up!

Fortunately, some of this increase in assessed value is due to expansion of the tax base. For example, Lowe’s, the Honda dealership, the renovation of the former St. Mary’s school to professional offices, etc.

Observations:

During the past decade the average year-over-year rate of village general fund spending is about 3.25%.

Many local governments have done much worse, and NYS has been in the 7%-9% ballpark.

In many of those years the CPI was about 2.8%. Of course it is less recently.

Last year, for the first time in many years, the village general fund expenditure actually went down (a little bit!)

Some benchmarks of our property tax burden

1. County data2. Village data, per capita

County Median Home ValueTaxes as % of Home Value Rank

Niagara County $96,900 2.9% 1

Monroe County $130,000 2.9% 2

Oneida County $103,800 2.2% 16

Tompkins County $168,100 2.1% 17

St. Lawrence County $78,000 2.0% 18

Rensselaer County $184,300 1.9% 19

Sullivan County $194,300 1.9% 20

Clinton County $112,900 1.8% 21

Queens County $502,600 0.5% 36

New York County $873,600 0.5% 37

Kings County $596,000 0.4% 38

How St. Lawrence Co. property taxes compare to other NYS countiesSource of the data is the Tax Foundation, a Wash. DC tax research group. (www.taxfoundation.org)

Taxes as percent of home value: about middle of pack

CountyMedian Property Taxes

Paid on Homes Rank

Westchester County $8,890 1

Nassau County $8,628 2

Dutchess County $4,720 7

New York County $4,430 8

Tompkins County $3,552 13

Rensselaer County $3,427 14

Wayne County $3,187 16

Niagara County $2,797 21

Richmond County $2,739 23

Clinton County $2,012 34

Jefferson County $1,967 36

St. Lawrence County $1,543 38

How St. Lawrence Co. property taxes compare to other NYS counties

Actual amount paid: lowest

CountyMedian Income for

Home OwnersTaxes as % of

Income Rank

Nassau County $104,629 8.2% 1

Westchester County $110,520 8.0% 2

Dutchess County $85,929 5.5% 11

Tompkins County $68,932 5.2% 12

Wayne County $63,330 5.0% 13

Niagara County $55,778 5.0% 14

Rensselaer County $69,990 4.9% 15

Jefferson County $58,034 3.4% 34

Clinton County $60,821 3.3% 35

Richmond County $88,629 3.1% 36

New York County $150,171 2.9% 37

St. Lawrence County $52,693 2.9% 38

How St. Lawrence Co. property taxes compare to other NYS counties

Taxes as percent of income: lowest(This is probably the best measure of “burden to pay”)

Observations:

While we may have the impression that St. Lawrence County is an expensive place to live, the data for property taxes does not support that conclusion.

From a burden to pay perspective, on average, we are the least expensive county to live in.

We have a large distribution of incomes, so the average masks some very difficult situations. Our social safety net services are crucial.

Estimated full time residents of Village of Potsdam 4851

Student population at Clarkson 3045Student population at SUNY Potsdam 4332 7377 students

Estimated total population of the Village of Potsdam 12228

Fraction of residents that are students 60%

Analysis by Steve Yurgartis, 9/2010

Population analysis for the Village of Potsdam, 2008

Observations:

The analysis looked a villages with populations of 4000 and more because these villages were more likely to have a similar basket of services to Potsdam, in particular, police forces.

Property tax/capita comparison for villages with populations over 4000Data from NYS Office of the Comptroller, for the year ending 2008Sorted from highest to lowest per capita tax rate

FULL TIME RESIDENTS ONLYVillage County PopulationProperty tax/ Rank

residentVillage of Old Westbury Nassau 4,228 $1,937 1Village of Saranac Lake Franklin 5,041 $621 43Village of Potsdam St. 4,851 $543 50Village of Johnson City Broome 15,535 $539 51Village of Canton St. 3,757 $419 69Village of Massena St. 11,209 $400 76Village of Dannemora Clinton 4,129 $37 127

Compiled by Steve Yurgartis, 11/27/09

Property tax/capita comparison for villages with populations over 4000Data from NYS Office of the Comptroller, for the year ending 2008Sorted from highest to lowest per capita tax rate

FT + ALL STUDENTSVillage County Population Property tax/Rank

residentVillage of Old Westbury Nassau 4,228 $1,937 1Village of Rye Brook Westchester 8,602 $1,385 9Village of Saranac Lake Franklin 5,041 $621 43Village of Johnson City Broome 15,535 $539 50Village of Seneca Falls Seneca 6,861 $481 57Village of Malone Franklin 6,075 $480 58Village of Massena St. 11,209 $400 74Village of Canton St. 6,902 $228 107Village of Potsdam St. 12,228 $215 111Village of Dannemora Clinton 4,129 $37 127

Compiled by Steve Yurgartis, 11/27/09

Conclusions from the per capita property tax analysis

Based on serving the full population of the village, Potsdam appears to be a quite efficient government (rank 111/127 in cost).

Based on collecting property tax revenues from its full time residents, Potsdam appears to be a moderately expensive village compared to many other villages in NYS (rank 50/127 in cost).

Being a “college town” and a “hospital town” has large implications for our community character, the costs, and how we govern the village.

Be happy we do not live in Old Westbury!

Questions?