UNDERSTANDING REAL PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT REVIEW
PROCEEDINGS IN NEW YORK STATE

Administrative review of an assessment is a necessary prerequisite to judicial review. It is made by filing a grievance complaint with the assessing jurisdiction (i.e., in most cases a city, town or village, but occasionally a county). The grievance complaint is then reviewed by a Board of Assessment Review (“BAR”). If the BAR does not reduce the assessment or if the reduction is not to the satisfaction of the taxpayer, then the taxpayer may choose to resort to the courts for judicial review of the BAR’s decision.

1. Grounds for challenging an assessment:

   A taxpayer has four grounds on which to challenge a tax assessment:

   1. Excessive assessment - the property’s assessment exceeds its full market value or is excessive because of the denial of all or a portion of a partial exemption;

   2. Unequal assessment - the property is assessed at a higher percentage of its full market value than all other properties (or properties of the same class) on the assessment roll - by far the most common complaint;

   3. Unlawful assessment - e.g. property is wholly exempt, is located entirely outside the boundaries of the taxing unit in which it is designated as being located, property has been assessed and entered on the assessment roll by a person or entity without authority to make he entry, and various other technical grounds; and

   4. Misclassified assessment - the real property is misclassified - e.g. classified as non-homestead when in fact it qualifies for the homestead class.

      The amount of taxes being paid by a property owner is not a ground for complaint. The total tax burden depends on budgetary requirements over which the assessor has no control. If an assessment is equitable, then a property owner will pay his or her fair share of the taxes.

      It is important to note that there is a presumption under the law that the assessment made by the assessor(s) is correct. As will be discussed more fully below, the burden of proof to overcome this presumption is on the property owner.

2. Persons who are entitled to challenge an assessment:

   In order to challenge an assessment, one must be an “aggrieved” party. An aggrieved party is one who has a financial or some other specified interest in a property. A grievance complaint may be filed by all owners (whether a person or corporation), most tenants who are required to pay the property taxes pursuant to a written agreement or lease, certain mortgagees, contract vendees (who can show an injury which is direct and not remote), a board of managers acting as an agent of one or more unit owners of a condominium, or any person the aggrieved party designates as his or her representative.

3. Filing deadline:

   The grievance complaint and any supporting papers must be mailed or delivered to the municipality so that the BAR receives them on or before Grievance Day. Grievance Day for most towns in New York State is the fourth Tuesday in May and for most villages the third Tuesday in February - but there are many exceptions. Cities may have different statutory dates depending on their charters. All interested parties must be aware of the appropriate dates applying to an individual municipality. A grievance complaint, even if it is postmarked on or before Grievance Day, is deemed to be late if it does not arrive by Grievance Day.

   Failure to file a grievance complaint by the deadline is a fatal defect precluding further review of the assessment.

4. Filing papers:

   The grievance complaint and any supporting papers must be mailed or delivered to the department of assessment, or assessor’s office of the municipality.

5. Legal representation:

   Legal representation is not required at the administrative level. A property owner may represent himself or herself or designate a representative. The representative need not be an attorney.

• How to Contest Your Assesment