What's in a (town) name? Understanding town/city labels in Upstate listings.
When I bought my Upstate weekend cottage in 2005, I was a complete real estate neophyte. I saw just one house, asked few questions, and didn't attend the home inspection. I told my sister excitedly that I was buying a place in The Catskills in a town called Claryville, and she asked if that was anywhere near Denning, a beautiful place she'd visited a couple of times for a friend's annual weekend gathering. My answer was that it didn't ring a bell.
The Neversink River as it flows through Claryville, Town of Neversink.
Claryville is in Denning, as it turns out. So for all of you who scratch your heads when you see a “city” and "town" listed for each property, here's the skinny: What you and I would call towns are grouped together for the purposes of shared government. So rather than every pokey place having their own town hall, elected officials and departments like highway, tax, zoning and that type of thing, they are grouped into municipalities, “Towns”. As in the Town of Denning. Why do you care? Taxes. These are the taxing authorities and the rates can really vary. So after you look at the “city”, see which “town” it’s in.
Here’s an example: Let’s take the Town of Rochester (no, not THAT Rochester further upstate): Includes Accord, Kerhonkson, and lots of other small communities or “hamlets”. When you get your Town/County tax bill, it’s from that taxing authority , ie Town of Rochester. When the plow truck goes by, which your taxes pay for, it will say Town of Rochester (not Accord, etc.).
Town/County tax bills go out every January, and reflect rates required to cover the budget of that town (or grouping of "hamlets") plus contributions to the county budget. So when looking at real estate listings, the overall rate of taxation by town may be quite relevant. In Sullivan County the Town of Neversink has the lowest taxes because of a deal they reached with the City of New York when the Neversink Reservoir was created (by flooding Neversink) to provide drinking water to NYC. The Town of Fallsburg has the highest.
There are 15 towns in Sullivan County and 20 towns in Ulster County. But as with all rules, there are some (even more) confusing aspects. Many “hamlets” have parts in different towns. In most of Livingston Manor, your tax bill comes from the Town of Rockland, which also includes most of Roscoe and parts of Willowemoc. But parts of Livingston Manor are in the Town of Liberty. Most people know Callicoon as a terrific town/business district along the Delaware River. Ironically it is NOT in the Town of Callicoon; it's in the Town of Delaware. And Callicoon Center, a separate hamlet altogether, IS in the Town of Callicoon, as is Jeffersonville. Go figure.
And while we're on the subject, school districts are separate from distinct town boundaries. In fact, schools may incorporate several towns and cross over town or even county lines. So the school district, which has its own taxing authority (school tax bills go out every September and are the second half of your annual property taxes), can play a large part in the amount of taxes attached to a property.
Got that?