The Assessor is a local government official who estimates the market value of real property within the boundaries of the Assessor's jurisdiction. The market value is then converted into an assessment. The assessment is one component of many used in the computation of the real property tax bills.
Every year the Assessor prepares a document called an Assessment Roll. The assessment roll contains every parcel located within the Town, Village or City and shows all the individual assessments, real property tax exemptions, property owners, property addresses, tax billing addresses, acreage and tax account numbers. Additional information is shown as well. The assessment roll, with the tentative assessments, is made available for public inspection on May 1st. After the Board of Assessment Review, who typically meets on the fourth Tuesday of May, has acted on all assessment complaints and their ordered changes are made, the tentative assessment roll is made final on July 1st.
The Assessor performs many other administrative functions such as keeping each property's physical inventory current, for both the land and building improvements. He/she will inspect new construction and improvements made to existing structures. This ensures that the assessment is based on the property's current inventory. The Assessor also approves and monitors real property tax exemptions. Among the most common are the School Tax Relief (STAR), senior exemptions, veterans, agricultural and business.
The Assessor also reviews every transfer of real property for accuracy, including the basic information on the buyer, seller, sales price and what actually transferred. Assessment records are updated, and any unusual conditions affecting the transfer are noted and verified. The new owners are notified of any exemption removals and residential property owners are sent a sales verification letter along with a STAR exemption application.
It is up to each individual property owner to monitor their own assessment(s). A taxpayer who feels he/she is not being fairly assessed should meet with the Assessor before the tentative assessment roll is established (May 1st). First, the taxpayer needs to call the Assessor's office to schedule an appointment, then in an informal setting, the Assessor can explain how the assessment was determined, the rationale behind it and answer any questions the taxpayer may have. The property owner should also provide any evidence that they want the Assessor to consider at that time. While usually available throughout the year, there is a prescribed time - typically sometime in March -where the Assessor is available for property owners to come to their office to examine their property data (a.k.a "Examination of Assessment Inventory") to make sure everything is correct & up-to-date and make any corrections that could affect their assessment.
The goal of the Assessor is to fairly assess the property in his/her jurisdiction. Every property owner has the right that they and their neighbor only pay their fair share of the real property tax burden - not more and not less. If the taxpayer feels that his/her assessment is correct but the tax bill still seems too high, the Assessor cannot change this. Complaints to the Assessor must be about how a property is assessed and how the assessment compares to the property's full market value.
A taxpayer unhappy with growing real property tax bills, should not only be concerned with assessments but also examine the scope of budgets and expenditures of all the different taxing jurisdictions (counties, cities, towns, villages, school districts, fire districts, etc.) and address those issues in appropriate and available public forums.
Each town handles it's own assessment information. Below is a list of Warren County Assessors and their phone numbers.