Opportunity to Challenge your Property Taxes

Now that the 2022 year-end holiday celebrations are over, it’s important to remember that the arrival of a new year means a new opportunity to challenge your property taxes in many taxing jurisdictions across New York—if (and only if)—you file a protest during the administrative grievance filing period.  This statutory filing period is the only time in which a property tax challenge can be initiated.

Since each tax year is separate, a new filing must be made each year regardless of whether you filed the previous year. Although prone to extension in recent years for a variety of reasons (e.g. the pandemic, historic snowstorms, etc.), property owners looking to reduce their tax burden would be wise to challenge early in the filing season and not risk missing the deadline.

In the downstate region, property owners in Nassau County are first at the plate with a filing period that runs from January 2nd to March 1st. New York City property owners follow closely behind with a filing period running from January 17th to March 1st. Suffolk County is next with a filing period running from May 1st to May 16th this year, while towns in Westchester complete the downstate cycle with a filing period from June 1st to June 13th this year. Scattered around the entire year are various filing periods for other smaller downstate City, Town & Village taxing jurisdictions.

The question whether to file a grievance is usually best answered by a professional who will check if the local Assessor’s valuation is correct – often at no charge. Using this advice, a property owner can decide if it makes sense to initiate a challenge. Thus, the simple rule of thumb for downstate property owners is to take the time to check your tax valuation each January as a painless way to make sure you don’t miss a filing deadline and a chance to lower your annual property tax bill.

Thank you to Will Meyer for this week’s Tax Tracker post.