The Buffalo Chronicle
Property taxes
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Cheektowaga’s board rejects cuts and tables a 9.8% tax levy increase, with a Nov. 20 budget deadline ahead
The Cheektowaga Town Board voted down a Republican package of cuts to Supervisor Brian Nowak’s 2027 budget and tabled the plan itself, which would raise the townwide levy 9.8%. A special meeting…
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North Tonawanda voters back an $18 million community center, and the city’s seniors and teens get out of borrowed space
North Tonawanda voters approved borrowing up to $18 million to turn the Keller Community Building into a home for the city’s senior and youth centers. Officials say it ends costly leases; without…
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Colden’s highway tax would rise 24% as road salt jumps to $93 a ton, and a new general fund tax arrives
Colden’s preliminary 2027 budget raises the highway tax rate about 24%, driven largely by road salt rising from $57.79 to $93.24 a ton, and adds a new general fund tax. The public…
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Property tax relief means little unless Buffalo and Erie County say what they will stop paying for
A Reason Foundation commentary warns that property tax cuts without spending cuts only move the cost to other taxes, fees or debt. Buffalo’s 19% levy increase and Erie County’s lower rate on…
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Wheatfield’s 2027 budget heads to a Nov. 2 hearing with a $13.70 tax increase for a typical home
Wheatfield’s Town Board will take public comment on its 2027 preliminary budget Nov. 2, as officials weigh higher salt prices, garbage fees and uncertain state road aid.
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Boston overrides the tax cap for its 2027 budget, and town officials say water lines are the reason
The Boston Town Board unanimously approved a 5% levy increase that lands about $85,000 over the state tax cap. Town officials point to a waterline project costing more than $15 million, along…
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The case for rethinking hospital tax breaks, and why Buffalo should tread carefully
A new Tax Foundation paper lays out ways to tax the country’s largest nonprofit hospital systems. With Kaleida Health’s revenue above the paper’s $1 billion line and Buffalo short on taxable property,…
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Clarence holds its tax rate flat for 2027, but leans on $3.2 million in savings to do it
Supervisor Patrick Casilio’s preliminary 2027 budget keeps Clarence’s general fund rate at about 57 cents per $1,000, but draws heavily on fund balance while road salt pushes the highway rate up. A…
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Tonawanda’s new supervisor breaks the tax cap and says it will save residents later. Here’s the math
Supervisor John Flynn’s first budget raises the Town of Tonawanda levy 3.9%, well past the state cap, citing health insurance, pensions, police raises and a 57% jump in rock salt. Clarence faced…
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North Tonawanda’s budget asks for a 4.25% levy increase as voters weigh an $18 million community center
Mayor Austin Tylec’s $52.1 million plan would raise North Tonawanda’s tax levy 4.25%, the eighth straight increase by the city’s own count, while voters decide on up to $18 million in borrowing…
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Cheektowaga’s 9.8% tax plan leans hardest on the sewer district as the board clears a path past the cap
Cheektowaga’s board has authorized breaking the state tax cap for 2027. More than half of the $202 increase on the average town bill comes from the sewer district, as its reserves run…
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Orchard Park’s five-story stadium zone stalls after 31 residents take the microphone
Orchard Park’s plan to allow five-story buildings near Highmark Stadium was tabled after 31 people spoke at an Oct. 7 hearing, most of them opposed. It is not on tonight’s Town Board…
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Niagara County weighs fully exempting its most disabled veterans from county property taxes
Niagara County lawmakers hold a hearing Tuesday on a full county property-tax exemption for veterans the VA rates permanently and totally disabled, following Erie County and Buffalo. The notice gives no cost…
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Erie County’s plan to widen its senior property-tax break has sat in committee since summer
A bill to raise Erie County’s senior exemption income limit from $37,399 to $50,000, at a cost of about $7 million, was back on the Finance and Management Committee’s agenda Oct. 15,…
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Amherst’s tax hike lands on plows and garbage trucks, not the general fund
Amherst’s proposed 2027 budget breaks the state tax cap by $3.55 million, yet the town’s main operating fund barely moves. The increase lands on highways, salt and garbage, with the last budget…
