September is a big month in property tax circles in New York, and courts throughout the state are receiving “tax certiorari” cases filed in considerable volume.
That term is quite a mouthful (thankfully, my spellcheck recognizes the word), and it’s related to the assessed value of properties for tax purposes. It’s no secret that property taxes in Westchester and the surrounding counties are among the highest in the country. Why that is so is a whole other article, but suffice to say that if a homeowner feel that their assessed value is too high, there is a procedure for getting it corrected.
The simplest way to appeal one’s assessed value is to simply pay a visit to the assessor in your municipality and show them either your record of recent sale or an appraisal. If the assessor agrees, then the assessed value is lowered for the next tax year. It doesn’t always work that simply.
All taxing authorities (towns, villages, cities) have an appeal process, and for most places in Westchester County the deadline to appeal is the third Tuesday of June. Submitting an appraisal is crucial to this process. There is a form for this process, RP-524 if you are keeping score, and it is to be submitted to the town “BAR” or Board of Assessment Review. If the BAR agrees, the assessed value is lowered for the following tax year.
They don’t always agree.
When the administrative route that I’ve described thus far doesn’t get you joy, then the legal route is next, an that is where tax certiorari comes in. The New York State website has an excellent overview of the entire process. Essentially, the homeowner files for judicial review, or, if you want to simplify it, they hire an attorney to file a specialized lawsuit to appeal the BAR decision. There are attorneys who specialize in this type of work, and one of the values of a good real estate agent is to know which lawyers do this.
In my experience, the best place to start costs nothing: just call your real estate agent and have them do an updated market analysis to see if the market agrees with the assessed value. I’ve never charged for this personally, and as a matter of fact I encourage my clients to contact me for an updated market valuation annually so they can be better informed. If the market activity indicates that the home may be over assessed, then grieving the taxes makes sense.
Another excellent resource to contact once you’ve had your agent out is my friends at retiredassessor.com. They grieve taxes for a living on behalf of homeowners, and their track record is incredible.
But the administrative grievance process is not 100% bullet proof, and retaining an attorney for the certiorari filing is the next step.
Everyone should pay their fair share of property taxes to keep our society functional and funded. If you feel your taxes are more than your fair share, the first call I’d recommend is your agent to see if you have grounds. Once that is done, they can guide you to the next appeal steps as described.
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What is Tax Certiorari in New York State?
That term is quite a mouthful (thankfully, my spellcheck recognizes the word), and it’s related to the assessed value of properties for tax purposes. It’s no secret that property taxes in Westchester and the surrounding counties are among the highest in the country. Why that is so is a whole other article, but suffice to say that if a homeowner feel that their assessed value is too high, there is a procedure for getting it corrected.
The simplest way to appeal one’s assessed value is to simply pay a visit to the assessor in your municipality and show them either your record of recent sale or an appraisal. If the assessor agrees, then the assessed value is lowered for the next tax year. It doesn’t always work that simply.
All taxing authorities (towns, villages, cities) have an appeal process, and for most places in Westchester County the deadline to appeal is the third Tuesday of June. Submitting an appraisal is crucial to this process. There is a form for this process, RP-524 if you are keeping score, and it is to be submitted to the town “BAR” or Board of Assessment Review. If the BAR agrees, the assessed value is lowered for the following tax year.
They don’t always agree.
When the administrative route that I’ve described thus far doesn’t get you joy, then the legal route is next, an that is where tax certiorari comes in. The New York State website has an excellent overview of the entire process. Essentially, the homeowner files for judicial review, or, if you want to simplify it, they hire an attorney to file a specialized lawsuit to appeal the BAR decision. There are attorneys who specialize in this type of work, and one of the values of a good real estate agent is to know which lawyers do this.
In my experience, the best place to start costs nothing: just call your real estate agent and have them do an updated market analysis to see if the market agrees with the assessed value. I’ve never charged for this personally, and as a matter of fact I encourage my clients to contact me for an updated market valuation annually so they can be better informed. If the market activity indicates that the home may be over assessed, then grieving the taxes makes sense.
Another excellent resource to contact once you’ve had your agent out is my friends at retiredassessor.com. They grieve taxes for a living on behalf of homeowners, and their track record is incredible.
But the administrative grievance process is not 100% bullet proof, and retaining an attorney for the certiorari filing is the next step.
Everyone should pay their fair share of property taxes to keep our society functional and funded. If you feel your taxes are more than your fair share, the first call I’d recommend is your agent to see if you have grounds. Once that is done, they can guide you to the next appeal steps as described.