In New York, it isn’t hard to find a government that can levy taxes. There are 62 counties, 62 cities, 553 villages, 698 school districts and 932 towns. And then the whopper: 6,927 special districts that include local lighting, sewer, fire, water and drainage districts.

Joseph Spector writes in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - “Add them up and there are 10,092 entities in New York outside New York City that can tax residents. And that number, from the state Attorney General’s Office, is just a best estimate. There could be many more, state officials warn.

Even states that rival New York for the highest property taxes in the nation, such as New Jersey, can’t come close to the number of taxing authorities in the Empire State. New Jersey has about 1,700 governments; neighboring Pennsylvania has about 3,100.

Frustration with high taxes in New York is fueling a revived and spirited push to dissolve governments, particularly villages, and residents are armed with a new law that makes it much easier to do so through a referendum.”

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