Residential Assessment Ratios (RAR's)

How to find a RAR

Residential Assessment Ratios for a County assessing unit and for each city and town within a county is available through Municipal Profiles.

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RAR Legislation Prior to 2009

Real Property Tax Law Article 7, Title 1 - A, Section 738

Residential assessment ratio.

1. (a) For the purposes of this title, sixty days prior to the date for the filing of the tentative assessment roll of an assessing unit, the state board shall determine the residential assessment ratio for such assessing unit provided that (i) at least five arm's length sales of residential property have occurred between the filing of the latest final assessment roll and the filing of the preceding final assessment roll, and (ii) during the current year the assessing unit is not completing a revaluation or update.
   (b) Such ratio shall be established as the median ratio in the list of ratios of assessments to sales prices sorted in ascending order. The ratios in such list shall be calculated by dividing the assessment of each residential property sold at arms length during this period by the sales price of each such property located in each assessing unit as reported pursuant to section five hundred seventy-four of this chapter or, in the city of New York, chapter twenty-one of title eleven of the administrative code of the city of New York; provided that the state board shall correct to the extent practicable or disregard materially erroneous reports and shall increase or decrease the residential assessment ratio to account for a change in level of assessment of five percent or more in the total assessed value of residential real property or, if not available, of all taxable real property. For purposes of this section, "change in level of assessment" has the meaning set forth in section twelve hundred twenty of this chapter except that a change in level of assessment shall be determined with reference only to residential real property if the necessary information is available. The state board shall, in addition to promulgating such ratio, indicate the number of sales upon which such ratio is determined.
   (c) The residential assessment ratio shall be made available at the office of the county director of real property tax services, the office of the county clerk and the office of the assessor or, in a city with a population of one million or more, the office of the tax commissioner of such city. Such ratio shall be provided to the office of court administration for distribution to small claims hearing officers.
2. If, no later than thirty days prior to the filing and completion of the tentative assessment roll, an assessor or county director of real property tax services presents to the state board adequate documentation or such documentation is otherwise made available to the state board that the residential assessment ratio is materially in error because it includes sales of non-residential properties or because the full sales prices or applicable assessed values as stated on real property transfer report forms or, in the case of the city of New York, their equivalent are incorrect, then the state board shall recompute such ratio by excluding the sales of such properties or making the appropriate corrections. Where such recomputation results in a substantial change the state board shall establish a new ratio prior to the filing of the tentative assessment roll by such assessing unit and such new ratio shall supersede for all purposes the original ratio. Such new ratio shall be made available in the same manner as provided in subdivision one of this section.
3. For the purposes of this section, "residential properties" shall mean real property, other than a cooperative or a condominium, improved by a one, two or three family residential structure as of the date of the sale and as of the taxable status date for the assessment roll from which the assessments reported pursuant to section five hundred seventy-four of this chapter were obtained.
4. For purposes of this section, assessing units participating in a coordinated assessing program pursuant to section five hundred seventy-nine of this chapter shall be considered to be a single assessing unit.

Revision (occurs between tentative and final RAR)
If, after the RAR has been established, an assessor, county director or any other person feels that the ratio is erroneous, an application for a revised RAR can be filed. It should be noted that if a revised ratio proves warranted it will be issued in time for the Board of Assessment Review grievance period. However, only a thirty day time period is allotted for submission of a revised RAR application. A revised ratio will be issued if the recomputation (after corrections are applied) results in a change of .01% or more from the original ratio.

RP-5217 Corrections - Prior to Selection
RARs are based on data compiled from filed RP-5217 forms. RP-5217 forms commonly contain errors. Assessors and/or authorized County Directors of real property tax services are responsible for reviewing RP-5217 forms for accuracy and for submitting data corrections to ORPS as necessary.

1. Time Frame for Revised RAR Application
   No later than thirty days prior to the last day provided by law for the completion and filing of the tentative assessment roll, an assessor, county director or any other person may file an application with the Office of Real Property Services for a revised Residential Assessment Ratio.
   
2. Content of Application for Revised RAR
   The application should consist of one or more of the following:
   
   • A statement that the residential assessment ratio is based upon sales other than appropriate sales of residential property, including a list of such sales and why each sale is not an appropriate sale of residential property.
   • A statement that appropriate sales of residential property have been omitted from the computation of the residential ratio because the applicable Real Property Transfer Reports are materially erroneous, illegible or incomplete, including a list of such sales and corrective information.
   • A statement that the full sales prices or applicable assessed values as stated on Real Property Transfer Reports identified as describing appropriate sales of residential property, are incorrect, including a list of such sales and the correct full sales price or assessed value.

   Applications received by ORPS later than 30 days prior to the last day provided by law for completion and filing of the tentative assessment roll shall not be considered for purposes of this section.

3. Recomputation
   After all adequately documented RP-5217 corrections are processed, the potential revised ratio will be computed based on the standard procedures used for the RAR.
4. Establishment of the Revised RAR
   ORPS is authorized to issue a revised RAR only if the RP-5217 corrections supporting an application for revision result in a change of .01 percent or more from the original ratio. To determine the percentage difference, the following calculation is made:

   (RAR (Revised) - RAR x 100) / RAR

   If the corrections result in a change of .01 percent or more, a revised RAR is issued prior to the tentative roll date of the assessing unit.

Rescission (occurs only after final RAR is established)
If it is determined, not later than 120 days after the last date provided by law for the filing of the final assessment roll, that a procedural, transcriptional or computational error has been made by ORPS staff in the establishment of a Residential Assessment Ratio, the RAR is rescinded and a new ratio (based on the necessary correction) is simultaneously established.

RAR Information Prior to 2009

What is an RAR?

RPTL Article 7, Title 1 - A, Section 738 mandates the calculation of Residential Assessment Ratios (RARs) annually. RARs are used by Assessors as a general measure of assessment equity and by taxpayers in board of assessment review grievances and/or small claims hearings.

RARs are NOT issued for:

• municipalities currently conducting revaluation projects or
• who have fewer than five (5) residential usable sales that year.

The RAR is certified by the State Board no later than sixty days prior to the last day provided by law for the filing of the tentative assessment roll. The certified RAR and the number of sales used in its calculation are sent to the Office of Court Administration and to the appropriate County Director, County Clerk and Assessor. When an RAR is established for New York City, it is certified to the New York City Tax Commission. In all cases, an informational copy is forwarded to the Chief Executive Officer of the assessing unit.

RPTL Article 7, Title 1 - A, Section 738 also provides for the application of a change in level of assessment factor, where appropriate, as well as a revision procedure. The RAR process has been codified in Subpart 191.3 of the rules for Real Property Tax Administration.

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Sales Selection Criteria for Inclusion / Exclusion in RARs:

• The transfer must be of a one-, two-, or three-family residential structure.
• The transfer must be arm's length.
• No conditions of transfer apply, except J (none).
• The transfer must be of a single assessment parcel (partial and multiple parcels sales are excluded).
• The transfer must have occurred between the filing of the latest assessment roll and the filing of the preceding final assessment roll.
• The full sales price must be greater than ten thousand dollars (> $10,000).
• The assessed value must be greater than zero (> 0).
• The transfer must not be a condominium.
• The property is wholly within the assessing unit (parcels existing in multiple assessing units are excluded).

RAR Information Beginning 2009

Cities, Towns, Village Homestead Assessing Units, and Counties:

Chapter 78; S.4963-A - RPTL §738

Chapter 78 changes the manner in which residential assessment ratios (RARs) are computed. The RAR for an assessing unit shall be equal to the level of assessment of residential property in the assessing unit as determined in the market value survey conducted by the State Board to establish State equalization rates. Chapter 78 applies to residential assessment ratios for assessment rolls with taxable status dates on and after September 1, 2008, and to proceedings to review assessments appearing on such assessment rolls. More information can be found in the 2009 Equalization Procedures.

Village Calculation Procedures

1. Calculate the estimated market value of the village Residential property.
   
   Determine the value of locally assessed residential properties for the village or, if the village is located in more than one town, for each village segment as of the taxable status date of the 2008 town assessment roll by dividing the total residential assessed properties for the village or the village segment on the 2008 town assessment roll by the adjusted town wide residential market value rate.
2. Determine the total assessed value of village residential property on the 2008 village roll.
3. Divide the total assessed value of residential property on the 2008 village roll by the estimated total market value of village property.
4. Re-calculate this ratio adjusting for any significant change in level factor when the 2009 village roll is reconciled.

Example:

Village of Angityville located in the Town of Motown

	(A) Assessed Value of Residential Property for the Village on the 2008 Town Assessment Roll	(B) Adjusted 2008 Market Value Ratio for Residential Property on the 2008 Town Assessment Roll	(C) Estimated Market Value of Residential Property in the Village A / (B/100)
Motown	54,241,200	12.3	440,985,366
	(D) Assessed Value of Residential Property on the Village Assessment Roll	(E) Estimated Market Value of Residential Property in the Village	(F) 2009 Residential Assessment Ratio D /E x 100
Angityville	55,003,900	440,985,366	12.47

Village in two or more Towns: (Split Village)

Example:

Village of Splitsville located in Towns of Uptown and Downtown

	(A) Assessed Value of Residential Property for the Village on the 2008 Town Assessment Roll	(B) Adjusted 2008 Market Value Ratio for Residential Property on the 2008 Town Assessment Roll	(C) Estimated Market Value of Residential Property in the Village A / (B/100)
Uptown	47,190,000	82.49	57,206,934
Downtown	195,7000,000	91.35	214,230,979
Total:			271,437,913
	(D) Assessed Value of Residential Property on the Village Assessment Roll	(E) Estimated Market Value of Residential Property in the Village	(F) 2009 Residential Assessment RatioD /E x 100
Splitsville	12,252,275	271,437,913	4.51

Village Located in Nassau County:

Example:

Village of Nassville

	(A) Assessed Value of Residential Property for the Village on the 2008 County Assessment Roll	(B) Adjusted 2008 Market Value Ratio for Residential Property on the 2008 County Assessment Roll	(C) Estimated Market Value of Residential Property in the Village A / (B/100)
	471,420	0.25	188,568,000
	(D) Assessed Value of Residential Property on the Village Assessment Roll	(E) Estimated Market Value of Residential Property in the Village	(F) 2009 Residential Assessment Ratio D /E x100
Nassville	2,180,985	188,568,000	1.160000

Change in Level:

A new RAR for a village conducting a 2009 reassessment will be calculated if a residential change in level of assessment from a prior to current roll is determined to be greater than ± .05 (5%) when the 2009 village assessor’s annual report is reconciled.

Example:

Change in level factor =	Equalization Increases - Equalization Decreases +1 Prior Year total AV - Quantity Decreases
=	950,000 - 100,000   = 15,000,000 - 75,000	850,000   = 14,925,000	.0569 + 1
New RAR	= 1.0569 = 1.16 * change in level factor = 1.16 * 1.0569 = 1.23

Special Provisions:

Tompkins County

A single Residential Assessment Ratio is computed for the City of Ithaca and all towns within Tompkins County.

New York City and Nassau County

New York City and Nassau County will use the assessing unit wide Class 1 ratio as the RAR.

Current Year Reassessment

If a village is doing a Current Year reassessment and form RP-6110 is timely filed, ORPS may establish the stated uniform percentage declared on the form as the RAR.

Form RP-6110 should be completed when a change equal to or greater than ± .02 (2%) in level of assessment is anticipated.

RAR - Frequently Asked Questions

What is an RAR and what is it used for?

Beginning in 2009, an RAR is a value equal to the Level of Assessment of residential property used to calculate the state equalization rate for that assessment roll. RAR’s are used by Assessors as a general measure of assessment equity and by taxpayers in board of assessment review grievances and/or small claims hearings.

How does ORPS determine the Residential Market Value (RMV) for a Village RAR?

RMV =	Assessed Value of Residential Property for the Village on the 2008 Town Assessment Roll (A)	÷	Adjusted 2008 Market Value Ratio for Residential Property on the 2008 Town Assessment Roll / 100 (B)
RMV =	A / (B / 100)

Why did RAR calculation procedures change in 2009?

Legislation was enacted in order to simplify and unify the process of establishing RAR’s.

How does my current year assessment affect my RAR?

If ORPS accepts the Level of Assessment (LOA) of residential property in the assessing unit it becomes the current RAR. If ORPS does not accept the LOA, the prior roll Residential Market Ratio multiplied by the current residential change in level of assessment factor from the assessing units Annual Assessment Report (CIL) may become the updated RAR. For villages, the residential CIL must be greater than or equal to ± .05 (5%). For cities, towns, village homestead assessing units, and counties, the residential CIL and the assessment unit wide CIL must be greater than or equal to ± .05 (5%).