Tag Archive for westchester property tax consultant

Homeowners Face Serious Penalty For Missing Tax Grievance Deadline!

February 18, 2014 / / Comments Off on Homeowners Face Serious Penalty For Missing Tax Grievance Deadline!

Homeowners and tax payers in Westchester County have an opportunity to challenge their tax assessment once a year.  In Westchester County the filing period typically occurs in the first 3 weeks of June, however there are several municipalities, such as White Plains, Yonkers, and New Rochelle which have separate filing periods.  A list of all filing dates can be located through the Office of Real Property Services, ORPS or by simply calling your local assessor’s office.

Also, keep in mind that, it is typical to file separately for properties that are also subject to village taxes.  The filing period for these properties is typically during the first 3 weeks of February.  Don’t take it for granted that a reduction in your Town tax assessment is going to carry over to your Village taxes, you will almost certainly be disappointed. The bottom line is that it is best to check the filing period with your assessor just to be sure.

The penalty for missing the deadline is steep indeed, and can result in being penalized several thousand dollars.  The reality is once you miss the deadline you are out of luck and your penalty is to be overtaxed for yet another year.  No amount of complaining or excuse making will get you anywhere.  Miss the deadline and you will pay the penalty.

Unfortunately, once you miss the deadline the assessment is set and is used to determine the following year’s taxes and the homeowner does not have another opportunity to challenge for a full year.  Think about it, can you really afford to throw away potentially thousands of dollars year after year.  Stop what you are doing for a moment and think of all the possibilities of what you could do with that money, even if it is just a nice vacation for you and your family.  You owe it to yourself to determine if your assessment is fair.

More and more homeowners are becoming aware that they can review their assessments or have them reviewed and challenge and reduce them. I am dedicated to educating homeowners about their property taxes.  If there is anyway that I can be of assistance please contact me.  You may also find the blogs and video’s I have posted on my site helpful.

Category: Property Tax Grievance, Real Estate, Uncategorized, Westchester County / Tags: , , , , ,

Attention! Property Taxes Demystified

February 12, 2014 / / Comments Off on Attention! Property Taxes Demystified

Calculation of property taxes though often misunderstood are really quite simple.  There are only two components to calculation your taxes, these are the assessment and the tax rates.  Once you have a better understanding of your property taxes, what they represent, and how they are calculated I think you will be empowered to get them as low as possible.

The Assessment:

Your assessment represents a percentage of the overall value of your home this percentage can vary from .01 percent to 100% depending on your municipality.  This percentage is known as the Residential Assessment Ratio, or RAR.  If you want to see a list of RAR’s in New York State you can go to www.orps.state.ny.us/Munipro.

You can locate your assessment on your tax bill or by consulting with your local assessor, or the tax rolls located in the Tax Assessor’s office.  The tax roll is also typically available on line through your local town’s website.

The Tax Rates:

The tax rates represents the rate per thousand dollars of assessed value of your property. This rate is applied to your assessment to determine your property taxes.  The tax rates are a function of the budget.

Calculation of Property Taxes:

In order to calculate your taxes you simply multiply your assessment by your tax rates.  Just remember that the tax rate is represented as per thousand dollars of assessment.  So the easiest way to do the calculation is to divide the assessment by 1,000 and then simply multiply that figure against the tax rates.  You can see an example of this if you review any of your tax bills.  The tax bill will list your assessment, the tax rate, and the resulting property tax.  This is broken down line by line for each and every taxing district including Town, County, School & Special districts, so take a look for yourself.

In order to calculate your savings simply subtract your new assessment, after I have successfully reduced it for you, : ) from your old assessment and multiply that number by your tax rates.

When people see how much they save and how easy I make the process, they often feel bad that they did not take action earlier, but don’t, just take action and focus on your future savings.  If you need help, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Category: Property Tax Grievance, Real Estate, Westchester County / Tags: , , , ,
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