By Jason Miller,

Bookstore owner

C.S. Miller Books

Do good work. Be dedicated. Be loyal. You will get a raise. Pick up a second job if you have to. Maybe your partner goes back to work, too. This is what people have always been told to get ahead in rural America.

For many families, it doesn’t feel like that is working anymore.

Most people access health care through employer sponsored insurance, often paired with a Health Savings Account (HSA). It’s usually a hidden cost, quietly deducted  from your paycheck, until it is raising faster than your wages. 

In rural Chenango county, that pressure is compounded by steadily rising property taxes that effectively rise about 4 percent per year. 2 percent each, from school districts and municipalities, increases that have stacked year after year. Officials often celebrate staying at or slightly below the tax cap. Your income growth not being considered. The result being a growing gap between effort and payoff. 

Last week, the JAMA Network Open, reported that employer sponsored health insurance premiums have risen 342 percent since 1999, while the employees share of those premiums increased 308 percent.  Over the same period, CPI data shows worker wages increased  just 119 percent, while inflation rose 64 percent. This means health costs have grown roughly three times the rate of workers’ earnings. 

The study also found that hospital prices continue to rise even as admissions decline. This trend offers little reassurance for workers and small businesses absorbing those costs. 

These pressures are presented clearly in local budgets. Looking at municipal and school district spending, one of, if not the largest, line item is worker health insurance. Aside from federal and state aid, municipal/institutional revenue is generated primarily by property taxes. To balance budgets, governments rely on assessed property values to determine your tax levy burden. 

Recently, both the county and the city of Norwich passed budgets, that suggest rising property values strengthen their respective revenue projections. That assumption intentionally glosses over inflation and a serious equity problem - assessments are not updated uniformly in the city or across municipalities. Yes, all municipalities do their assessments differently. 

According to the NYS Office of Real Property Tax Services, “Most Recent Municipal Reassessment” data table, the city of Norwich assessments are from 1988. Homeowners who have purchased property more recently often receive reassessment notices in the mail reflecting updated market values, that come along with significantly higher tax bills, while neighboring properties remain assessed decades in the past. 

As of March 2025 roughly 35 percent of the property in the city is tax-exempt, adding to the working household pressures. Raising tax levies every year for the last 10 years, according to the 2026  city of Norwich budget, outdated assessments, shifted tax burden, combine to intensify financial challenges. People are working, but the system is increasingly misaligned with economic reality.

Costs and taxes are rising faster than wages. Assessments lag decades behind reality. The problem is more than affordability. Mobility is at risk. Hard working families are NOT thriving in Chenango County. 

This steady erosion and economic debasement of household finances  changes behavior. The cumulative effect of rising insurance costs, higher taxes, and uneven assessments have stalled upward mobility. 

In rural communities like ours entrepreneurship has long been one of the few reliable paths forward. Consequently, when starting a business means risking healthcare coverage, multiple forms of insurance, NYSEG (yes, them too) and unpredictable tax exposure, that path becomes daunting to pursue. The trailhead is there, but increasingly difficult to find.

For existing small business, the hidden costs of health insurance can slow investment, delay expansion  or add people to their workforce. Over time, It becomes a key factor in the decision when considering to  grow  here or relocate. The same costs may also discourage new businesses from locating here to begin with. 

Further, families are feeling this too. Many are forced into moving  to areas with better/higher wages and more affordable housing. A property tax bill should not be higher than your mortgage bill. When taxes are too high, out of town landlords will pass that along to their tenants through higher rents. Higher rents leave families with less money to save,  buy houses or start families. Behavior changes when the math no longer maths.

This raises a hard question, how can we compete? What makes Chenango County the place people choose to live, work and build businesses? The individual hardship is tangible but this is about community survival. 

Rising costs are squeezing working families and small business from every direction. Focusing efforts on growing our rural local economy is not optional; it is necessary.    With the annual Progress Chenango reports approaching, we hope this article gives the reader an idea of how small business is working to help their workers, not just survive, but thrive. 

(Sources: Kanimian, S., & Ho, V. (2025).  U.S. Medical Prices and Health Insurance Premiums, 1999–2024.  JAMA Network. New York State Office of Real Property Tax Services.  Most Recent Municipal Reassessment Data.)