I'm also originally from upstate New York (Utica). I can tell you about another lovely side effect of raising the taxes on the population that doesn't have the means to flee: arson!

Thanks to an ancient tax assessment structure, there were a lot of apartment buildings being taxed each year close to the cost of the entire structure. Oh sure, it seems great to buy a three-bedroom house for $30k but the annual tax could be $6k. A lot of owners could not sell these places, so they started torching them.

How bad did it get?

1) I knew a couple kids that ran a simple business. For $50 they'd set up your undumpable dump so that you could torch it easily without losing the insurance claim. For example they'd shave the wire on a toaster a certain way so it'd fray and catch fire. They'd explain, "you'll have 20 minutes to get out after to plug it in and put in the toast."

2) They called in the National Guard in 1998 to fight arson.

3) The mayor responded by trying to close fire stations. He was so oblivious to the real problems that he hoped to make the fire department a volunteer organization. This was illegal for any municipality larger than 50k residents in the state, so that failed.

4) Some of the firefighters got in on the arson to guarantee their jobs.

So yes, a house that costs less than a new car loan sounds wonderful... until you realize you're the only person paying for street light and paving in the entire neighborhood.