ASSESSOR

Michael Maxwell, Appointed Assessor

607-847-6876 or 866-727-2650
Fax 315-458-0365
maxappraisalcolumbus@live.com

Assessor’s Clerk
Theresa Leone
5320 West Taft Road
North Syracuse, NY 13212
Phone: 866-727-2650
Fax: 315-458-0365
Email: maxappraisal2@live.com

Hours in Columbus

1st and 3rd Thursday each month, 11am to 6pm by appt.
at Town Office

Exemption Information: 
Exemptions provide opportunities for qualifying property owners to have a portion of their assessed value exempted from tax liability.   The standards for all exemptions are established through New York State Real Property Tax Law.  All exemptions established by New York State are available to the entire State. However, for specific exemptions to be available to constituents, they must be approved by the County and/or Local governments to be effective.  Each exemption has specific qualifying requirements that are described in the contents of the exemption application or accompanying instructions.
The deadline for filing any exemption application is March 1 also known as Taxable Status Date.  Some exemptions require an annual renewal while others do not. You will receive notification from the Assessor every year if additional information is required.
For more information about a specific exemption, contact the Town of Columbus Assessor's Office at (866) 727-2650 or seek out information on the Real Property Services website:  http://www.orps.state.ny.us

 

Links:
Assessment Review info from ORPS
Link to NYS Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) with information on how market values are determined for real property in NYS and what to do if you disagree with your assessment

Tax Information Primer from ORPS
A comprehensive document on NYS property taxes from the Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) with details on the role of the assessor, property tax exemptions, school property tax rates, the equalization rate program that ORPS is statutorily obligated to administer, and useful contact information. 

FAQs:

Uniform Percentage of Value The percentage of market value (full value) used by an assessing unit to establish uniform assessments. This value must appear on the tentative roll. Real Property Tax Law Section 305 specifies, "all real property in each assessing unit shall be assessed at a uniform percentage of value..."

Taxable Status Date The ownership and physical condition of real property as of this date are assessed (valued) according to price fixed as of the valuation date. All applications for property exemptions must be filed with the assessor by this date.

Residential Assessment Ratio (RAR) A percentage established by the State Board of Real Property Services according to law, using the ratio of assessed value to the sales price for each usable residential sale in a recent one-year period. Ratios are then listed from highest to lowest; the midpoint (median) ratio is selected as the RAR. The RAR can be used to prove that a residential property is assessed at a higher level than other homes on the assessment roll. Your locality's RAR indicates at what percent of full value residential properties are assessed. For example, a RAR of 20 indicates that residential properties are assessed at approximately 20 percent of their full value.

Equalization Rate "State equalization rate" means the percentage of full value at which taxable real property in a county, city, town or village is assessed as determined by the state board." (RPTL Section 102) The rate is a ratio of the sum of the locally determined assessed values for all taxable parcels for a given assessment roll divided by ORPS's estimate of total full value for that same roll.

 

 

 

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