A survey of treasurers in Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties shows a growing number of people can't afford to pay their taxes this recession.
In Delaware County, the amount of town and county taxes not paid has jumped 25 percent since 2007, leaving county coffers about $6 million lighter.
The amount climbed about 17 percent since a year ago.
In Otsego County, the amount of unpaid town and county taxes has risen about 6 percent over the past two years. That's equal to approximately $330,000 in county revenues.
When property owners don't pay their town, county and school taxes within three or four months after billing, they are turned over to county treasurers. The county ends up paying towns and schools off for their shortages and must collect the late taxes.
Counties have different schedules for the town-tax collectors to turn over the warrants, so 2009 figures were not yet available for Schoharie and Chenango counties.
There also were increases in delinquent taxes from 2007 to 2008 in those counties, however.
A comparison of the number of parcels with unpaid taxes also indicates that more people are struggling to meet the deadline to pay the annual fees.
If an inability to pay property taxes is an indicator of a deepening recession, the rising amount of unpaid taxes in the region is a symptom, officials said.
Delaware County's bookkeeping system doesn't allow for a breakdown of property parcels, but in the other three counties, the number of delinquent parcels increased steadily each year.
Delaware County has the highest level of unpaid taxes, although Schoharie County Treasurer Bill Cherry said he expected Schoharie's total to rise substantially this year.
Cherry said he recently resigned as budget officer in Schoharie because the Schoharie County Board of Supervisors refused to take proactive measures to compensate for the decline in both property and sales taxes.
``Sales-tax revenues have gone down significantly, and it creates a budget hole," Cherry said.
"If spending doesn't go down, there will be increased pressure on property taxes to go up, and the problem is that people can't afford to pay more," Cherry said.
Cherry added that raising the tax rate won't necessarily mean the county will raise more money because more people will begin to default on paying taxes.
Delaware County Treasurer Beverly Shields said the county's budget oversight committee is holding the line on expenses and keeping the budget in check despite the shortfall in property tax revenue.
Delaware County Budget Director and Walton Supervisor John Meredith said the county has to maintain a high enough fund balance to cover the balance of town and school taxes due in each town.
"Bev Shields usually sends out checks totaling about $5 million each year," Meredith said. "The money comes back eventually when people pay up the back taxes or the properties are sold, but you have got to have the money to put up to cover the balance."
Meredith said Delaware County has a hiring freeze in place, and every month, overtime and compensatory time are reviewed.
"There is a lot of work going on to keep spending in check," Meredith said. "We also review sales-tax revenue every month because we are trying to make sure we come out even."
Otsego County Treasurer Myrna Thayne said she has had concerns about continued spending in the county, even as revenues are decreasing.
"I am actually surprised that with the state of the economy, the total returned taxes aren't higher," Thayne said.
"I suspect that people are making sure their taxes are paid to keep a roof over their heads, and they may be letting other bills go unpaid," she added.
Chenango County Treasurer Bill Evans said it has been a long time since a town's warrant has not been covered by the taxes collected in the town.
"The first collections go to the town supervisor for the town's tax warrant, and we have not had a town unsatisfied in June, but with the schools we have to send them money for the unpaids," Evans said.
Evans, who also serves as budget director, said there is a lot of calculating to do between anticipated federal and state revenues, property taxes and sales-tax revenue to "complete the budget balancing act."
Meredith said his biggest concern right now is the instability at the state government level.
"The real issue is what the state is doing everyday," Meredith said. "So much of what they are doing is driving the county's costs up."
Unpaid taxes returned to the county:
Delaware County:
2009 - $6,042,680
2008 - $5,149,218
2007 - $4,841,706
Schoharie County:
2009 - not available
2008 - $5,170,193
2007 - $4,728,959
2006 - $4,289,433
Otsego County:
2009 - $5,525,979
2008 - $5,286,354
2007 - $5,195,850
Chenango County:
2009 - not available
2008 - $4,292,731
2007 - $4,055,966
2006 - $3,961,488
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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
