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Westchester is the first county in the nation to surpass the $10,000 median property-tax mark, and Rockland and Putnam are not far behind, new census estimates released today show. The estimates for last year’s taxes do not reflect any impact from the state tax cap that might be seen in bills arriving this year, but some taxpayers are upset by both the amount of their tax bills and the cutbacks in services they’ve seen lately. See new and comparative property tax and income statistics for Westchester, Rockland, Putnam compared to the rest of the nation here “The more we pay, the less we get,” said Rob Riccardelli. The Stony Point resident said his taxes are twice the Rockland median of $9,376. “In Stony Point, it’s high taxes with cutting at the town level and our students getting less of an education at the other end.” According to the 2011 estimates from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, Westchester’s median property-tax bill rose to $10,000 from $8,890 in 2008. Rockland’s ranks third nationally at $9,376, up from $8,430, and Putnam’s, 12th in the nation, went to $7,851 from $7,324. The estimates are based on surveys of total property taxes paid in a year from all taxing entities. Median means half pay more, half payless. The impact of the nation’s highest property taxes is accentuated by stagnant income in the Lower Hudson Valley. Westchester’s median household income dropped from $79,448 in 2008 to $77,006 last year, and Rockland’s fell from $85,363 to $82,217. Putnam’s income rose slightly from $89,928 to $90,735. The combination of lower income and higher taxes was typical of affluent New York suburbs: It was the same case in Nassau and Suffolk in New York, as well as Bergen County in New Jersey and Fairfield in Connecticut. “In Chappaqua $10,000 is nothing — I had that 20 years ago. There are people with $50,000 school-tax bills,” said Jim McCauley of BEST4NY, a group that advocates mandate relief as a way to control property taxes. “Taxes keep going up and up. We do have the tax cap now, which may help, but it’s already started eating into the ability of the schools or the towns to do the function they’re charged with,” McCauley said. “The increase has slowed. They get it. They see the handwriting on the wall, but they have a tough job because of these unfunded mandates.” Westchester may have the highest median tax bill, but many other counties have higher income. More than 40 counties nationally have higher income and lower taxes. The wealthiest counties in the nation — three Washington suburbs in Virginia — have tax bills less than half the size of Westchester’s. To consolidation-oriented researchers like Gregory Holtz, who teaches public administration at Pace University in White Plains, that’s a clear sign of inefficiency. Southern counties like Virginia’s tend to have centralized governments without individual towns, villages and school districts. “You don’t see the multiple levels of government there, and governments run on tax money,” Holtz said. “We have an abundance of taxes because we have an abundance of layers, some of which duplicate each other. It’s about choices that people continue to want to make in the direction of staying smaller and staying fragmented.” Others see high taxes as a cost of living in a great place. Rey Hollingsworth Falu, a real estate broker in Bronxville who lives in Mount Vernon, said he sees property-tax sticker shock but still encourages people to make the leap to Westchester. “Taxes are high, but you get a lot for them. That’s why I live here, and I encourage other people to move here,” said Falu, citing the proximity to Playland Amusement Park, the Yankees and Broadway. “Other places can’t deliver a fraction of the experience you get from this area. You’d have to travel all over the world to find the experience you get here in a 10-mile radius.” Even Riccardelli said he’s happy to be able to pay his taxes in Rockland. “It is tough to pay these taxes, and I’m lucky enough to afford them,” he said.

sometimes I close my eyes, count to 20 and then open again slowly and the doe is still there but not looking at me anymore....

I have been hunting since a kid. I am 28. I consider myself a hunter. I never break any game-laws and if on 11/17 a nice 6 pointer walks out, I will shoot him and be very proud. That 6 just might be the biggest buck on the 8 acre woodlot I hunt. I will even post a report on this forum with pics. Last year I shot a 3pointer on Thanksgiving morning and posted. Not one person commented on my report by saying that I am not a hunter. Once again, I am a hunter! and its not a joke.

Nice Elk, who took the pic? 1.6 miles isn't bad. I would gladly walk 1.6 miles to get an Elk like that. Who cares how long it takes to get it out, be happy you got one. I dont know anybody in NY who uses anything other than their hands to drag deer out of the woods. Guess it depends on where you

Does your canned hunting operation allow clients to kill animals remotely (via the internet)? I was thinking about taking down a 150 class after work tonight. Please provide a price. Thanks.

Hopefully NY bans fenced in hunting operations!

Between the red marks is Highmarket road. Not a very big road. Somebody catch this guy!

Antlers (no matter what size) look cool on the wall. Does don't! I only take the backstraps and donate the rest, its free!

Let's stone him to death!

Wardens should be arriving shortly to Highmarket road. Enjoy the fines and the write-up with your name in the paper!

My Dad stop using Jonas Brothers about 15 years ago and switched over Kurt Fox. The woodchuck to the right of the wolf is from 1967, my Dad shot it at 450 yards as a kid. My grandpa told my Dad if he made the shot, he could get it mounted. He put it right through the head.

2 more mounts he did for us recently.

Kurt Fox of Fox Studios is phenomenal. He did the majority of the work shown in the post below. He is very well respected. http://huntingny.com...__+trophy +room $545

There are some lands in 3N that have AR's, not all of them. The ones that day don't allow you to shoot a buck on the first 2 days of the season. I heard they put big 10pt decoys and when hunters shoot them, they arrest you.

+ 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Like being trapped in a tiny room with a fly, sooner or later your going to kill it!

haha, I was just playing around....nice gun!

Law - That's a nice one! My Dad's is from Colorado also.

Yea the only measurements I know for sure is the 24" spread and the 7 points and 5 points. Here's the pic uncropped. The whitetail is 129 and change for size comparison. Thought the whitetail is from Texas and the Mule Deer was around 300lbs, so not if it really helps at all. I appreciate your effort.

Yes, its his from years ago. His biggest of 4 Mulies. Cool, thanks. I know it has good mass, but the forks could be deeper. Would this help you? http://www.boone-crockett.org/bgrecords/bc_scoring_ntmuledeer.asp?area=bgrecords&type=Non%2DTypical+Mule+Deer+%26+Blacktail

NY-Antler man, where you at ?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is about to get ugly!

I heard it can be pretty bad in parts of Connecticut. On state lands they pop your tires, key your car, etc. Ive seen some dirty looks when driving through westchester county with a dead deer tied to the trunk.

Yup, the few non-typicals that I have seen around here all had healed over scars on the opposite side of the body.

Maybe he was shot or wounded within the last year?

Really cool.