ARE YOU OVER ASSESSED?

I am Mike Franklin, The Property Tax Guy. If you're watching this, there's a good chance you opened your assessment, or your tax bill, and something didn't sit right. Maybe it went up, and nothing about your property changed. Maybe your neighbor pays less for more house. I understand that frustration. And I want you to know, you can do something about it.

Here's what usually happens. Across much of Upstate New York, the assessment roll hasn't been updated in years. When a home sells, the assessor raises it toward the sale price. The neighbors who didn't sell keep their old, lower numbers. So the new owner carries a bigger share of the tax bill than the law allows. It even has a name. Welcome stranger assessing. And New York courts have rejected it.

I know how these cases are decided, because I used to decide them. For four years, I was a Small Claims Assessment Review hearing officer for the New York State court system. Now I sit on your side of the table. I'm a licensed real estate broker, and I've been valuing Upstate New York property since two thousand one.

I've been challenging assessments since twenty twelve. About five hundred cases, resolved with assessors, with Boards of Assessment Review, and in small claims. Forty-three counties so far. And because the process is set by State law, I can take your case anywhere in New York outside the City and Nassau County.

It starts with a free phone call. Then I run a free analysis of your property. I compare your assessment with what your property is worth, and with how the rest of the roll is assessed. That's not my opinion. It's a calculation, and I show you the work. If you're over-assessed, I'll show you what you could save. If you're not, I'll show you exactly why, and it costs you nothing.

If there's a case, we sign a written agreement before anything is filed. Then I prepare your grievance, and I present it to the Board of Assessment Review. For a home, if the Board says no, we go to Small Claims Assessment Review, where an independent hearing officer looks at the evidence fresh. For commercial property, I build the record and work alongside your attorney.

My objective is simple. Get the assessment right. Nothing more, and nothing less, than what the law allows and what's fair. If I find something that cuts the other way, I'll tell you that too. And you pay nothing unless a reduction is secured.

You shouldn't pay more than your fair share. And you don't have to figure this out alone. Call me at three one five, eight seven six, two two six two, or visit The Property Tax Guy dot com. I am Mike Franklin, The Property Tax Guy. Let's look at your numbers.