The deadlines for filing a Property Tax Grievance in Putnam County and Westchester County are coming up in May and June, respectively. This provides all Putnam and Westchester residents an opportunity to possibly decrease their overall property tax bill significantly. it is essential that all homeowners review their property tax assessments to determine if they are eligible for a reduction.
For local realtors and real estate service providers this also provides an excellent opportunity to reconnect with past clients in order to make sure they are not unecessarily overpaying on their property taxes. This is an opportunity to save client’s thousands of dollars per year or hundreds per month, and who could not benefit from that type of savings?
In order to determine if a property is over-assessed you have to apply the correct rate to the assessment in order to come up with a market value, which represents the value that the municipality places on a property for tax purposes. When dealing with residential owner occupied property the correct rate to use is the Residential Assessment Ratio. Be careful here because many municipalities use the equalization rate to determine fair market value on the tax bill. The equalization rate is typically higher, and results in significantly lower property value estimates.
The result is that many homeowers look at the lower value estimate derived from using the equalization rate and come to the incorrect conclusion that their property is fairly assessed. However, if they were informed, they would know that they can use the Residential Assessment Ratio, which results in a higher estimate of value and possibly a significant Tax Reduction. This is something I think all Real Estate professionals can use to benefit their clients. If you have any questions or need any assistance feel free to contact me @ info@TaxGrievanceSpecialist.com or give me a call at 914-523-0116.