This is a two-part column.
In this issue, I’ll explain the components of your 2027 town tax bill using the tax rates in the supervisor’s Tentative Budget that was released on Oct. 30.
In next week’s issue, I’ll take a more in-depth look at the 2027 budget and, depending if and/or when the Town Board makes changes in the Tentative Budget when it adopts the Preliminary Budget that will be subject to the Dec. 1 public hearing, I may be able to include more up-to-date information on what your 2027 tax bill might look like.
Yorktown’s $78 million budget is really 27 separate budgets, one for each of the town’s 27 separate budget funds. And, as explained below, most taxpayers only pay taxes into five to seven of those separate funds.
Your April town tax bill also includes the taxes the town collects for other entities. These include taxes for Westchester County, your Fire District, the Peekskill Sanitary Sewer District, and the county Refuse District that covers disposing of garage and recyclables. These tax rates are set by those entities.
Your total town tax bill includes the “town” tax plus the taxes for any special district you’re in. The possible 2027 percentage increases below are those in the supervisor’s Tentative Budget.
All taxpayers, residential and commercial, pay a single “town” tax that combines the taxes for three separate budget funds.
General Fund (“A” fund). This is the largest fund and finances basic town services, including the police, parks and recreation, senior services, the Community Center, the building department, and other administrative departments.
Highway Fund (“D” fund). This fund covers street maintenance, drainage, snow removal, paving, etc.
Library Fund (“L” fund). Self-explanatory.
All residential taxpayers pay taxes for the Refuse Fund for the collection of kitchen trash, recyclables and bulk trash (1.1% increase) and the Advanced Life Support Fund (emergency medical services) that pays for the paramedic flycars (15.5% increase).
All taxpayers on public water pay a water tax, most to the Yorktown Consolidated Water District (1.8% increase).
And finally, there are seven Special Park District funds. Located in Shrub Oak and Mohegan Lake, this tax pays for the operation and maintenance of these private parks.
For the typical single family homeowner on public water with a $10,000 assessed value, the supervisor’s Tentative Budget would result in a town tax bill (that includes the "town" tax plus the two special districts and not counting sewers or special park districts) of $2,779.16, a $110.71 increase over their 2026 tax bill.
Town tax: $187.01, up $8.69
Emergency medical $10.20, up $1.37
Water district $18.56.up $0.33
Refuse tax (per house) $621.46. up $6.81
The 2027 taxes for the town’s 12 separate sewer districts taxes will change dramatically.
The largest district, the Hallocks Mill Sewer District, includes about 4,000 residential and commercial properties and is serviced by the town’s Yorktown Heights Sewage Treatment Plant on Greenwood Street. The tentative budget includes a 4.75% or $316 tax increase.
The 11 districts that are part of the county Peekskill Sanitary Sewer District will see either a decrease in their sewer tax, or for three districts, no sewer tax. That’s because beginning in 2027, the districts’ only expenses will be debt service to pay for the capital cost of installing the sewers and the operation and maintenance of pump stations and sewer lines; all operation and maintenance costs will be now in a new Peekskill Operating District that will be funded by a water consumption charge on your water bill ($3.00/1,000 gallons.)
Two more important numbers: How the tax rate for each fund is calculated.
The tax levy: The amount of money that needs to be raised by taxes. The number reflects the total expenses (appropriations) minus anticipated revenue (sales tax, fines, fees, etc.) and money from the district’s fund balance. For example, in the 2027 Tentative Budget, the “town” tax levy is the result of subtracting $25.8 million in anticipated revenue and $1.4 million from fund balance from $51.7 million in appropriations.
The tax rate: With the exception of the Hallocks Mill sewer tax and the Refuse tax that are based on a flat per unit charge with most single family taxpayers being charged one unit, the other taxes are expressed as a dollar rate per $1,000 of assessed value. And that number is determined by dividing the total taxable assessed value of the district by the amount of money that must be raised by taxes, i.e., the tax levy. (Note: Some property is exempt from paying taxes.)
For example, in the Tentative Budget, the “town” rate of $187.01/$1,000 of assessed value was arrived at by dividing the total taxable assessed value of $131,043,069 by the tax levy of $24,506,209.
So what will your 2027 tax bill look like? To be continued next week …
Susan Siegel is a member of the Yorktown Town Board.
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