The Property Tax Guy Michael R. Franklin · property tax representative, New York State Call 315-876-2262

How it works

A free conversation first. Nothing is filed until you have my written proposal and we have both signed an agreement.

You pay nothing unless a reduction is secured.

The steps

  1. Free telephone consultation. Tell me about the property and what you paid.
  2. A free, quantitative analysis of your property. I compare your assessment with your home's value and with the level at which the rest of the roll is assessed. Not an opinion — a calculation, and I show you how it was done.
  3. The result, either way. If you are over-assessed, I show you the potential savings and put a proposal in writing. If you are not, I demonstrate exactly why, and it costs you nothing.
  4. A written agreement between you and me, Michael R. Franklin, before anything is filed.
  5. The grievance. I prepare and file the complaint, form RP-524, with your Board of Assessment Review.
  6. Small Claims Assessment Review (SCAR), if the Board says no: an independent hearing officer reviews the assessment.

Your appeal options

From the assessor to the Court of Appeals

Every challenge starts the same way. After the Board of Assessment Review decides, you choose one of two roads — and the choice matters, because choosing SCAR gives up the other road for that year.

  1. 1

    Talk to the assessor

    Informal and free. Check your property record, point out errors, and show your evidence after the tentative roll comes out. Some errors can be fixed right there.

    Before Grievance Day

  2. 2

    Grievance to the Board of Assessment Review

    File Form RP-524 by Grievance Day. Required before either road below: SCAR (RPTL § 730(1)(a)) and Article 7 (the petition “must show that a complaint was made in due time,” RPTL § 706(2)). What you ask for here is the most SCAR can give you.

    Grievance Day — fourth Tuesday in May in most towns

Not satisfied with the Board's decision? Choose one road, within 30 days after the final assessment roll is filed.

Road A · Small Claims Assessment Review (SCAR)

  1. 3A

    SCAR hearing

    For owner-occupied one-, two- and three-family homes (RPTL § 730). $30 filing fee. An independent hearing officer decides in writing within 30 days after the hearing (RPTL § 733(1)). No lawyer needed.

    Petition within 30 days after the final roll (RPTL § 730(3))

  2. Choosing SCAR is “irrevocable” and waives an Article 7 case for that roll (RPTL § 736(1)). Exception: if the hearing officer rules the property did not qualify for SCAR, you may start Article 7 within 30 days after being served with the decision (RPTL § 733(3)).
  3. If you lose

    Article 78 review in Supreme Court

    The SCAR petitioner may ask a Supreme Court justice to review the decision under CPLR Article 78 (RPTL § 736(2)). The court asks whether the decision was rational and lawful; it does not hold a new hearing.

    Within 4 months after the decision becomes final (CPLR § 217(1))

  4. Then

    Appellate Division

    Appeal from the Supreme Court's judgment is a matter of right (CPLR § 5701), to the Department your county is in.

    Within 30 days after service of the judgment with notice of entry (CPLR § 5513(a))

  5. Last

    Court of Appeals

    Only by permission (CPLR § 5602), or as of right in narrow cases — a dissent by two Appellate Division justices on a question of law, or a constitutional question (CPLR § 5601).

Road B · Article 7 tax certiorari

  1. 3B

    Supreme Court proceeding

    For any property — homes, commercial, vacant land. Brought in Supreme Court in the Judicial District where the property is (RPTL § 702(1)). Usually handled by a lawyer and supported by an appraisal; it can settle or go to trial before a judge.

    Within 30 days after the final roll is filed (RPTL § 702(2))

  2. If you lose

    Appellate Division

    Appeal from the Supreme Court's judgment is a matter of right (CPLR § 5701), to the Department your county is in.

    Within 30 days after service of the judgment with notice of entry (CPLR § 5513(a))

  3. Last

    Court of Appeals

    Only by permission (CPLR § 5602), or as of right in narrow cases — a two-justice dissent on a question of law, or a constitutional question (CPLR § 5601).

I am not a lawyer. I handle the assessor, the grievance and SCAR. For an Article 7 case or any court appeal you will need an attorney. Deadlines are strict — a petition filed even a day late can be dismissed (RPTL § 702(3)). Which Appellate Division Department covers your county is shown on the courts map.

Fees

There is no cost unless I secure a reduction. My fee is a percentage of the reduction from last year's assessment to this year's, set out in the written agreement before we begin. Half is due when the reduction is confirmed in writing by the taxing authority; the balance is due in 90 days, unless we arrange otherwise.

When to file

Grievance day is set by statute. Under Real Property Tax Law § 512(1), the Board of Assessment Review meets

“Beginning on the fourth Tuesday of May, or such other date as is established by city charter, county charter, county tax act or other special law”

So most towns hear grievances in late May, but cities with their own charters often do not. The City of Syracuse, for example, accepts grievances only during the last two weeks of January. Miss the date and you wait a year. Call me and I will tell you your date.

The grounds

New York law recognises several kinds of assessment error. The two that matter most for homeowners are defined in Real Property Tax Law § 522:

Excessive assessment — § 522(4)(a)

“an entry on an assessment roll of the assessed valuation of real property which exceeds the full value of real property”

In plain terms: assessed at more than the house is worth.

Unequal assessment — § 522(9)(c)

“an entry on an assessment roll of the assessed valuation of real property improved by a one, two or three family residence which is made at either a higher proportion of full value than the assessed valuation of other residential property on the same roll by the same officers or at a higher proportion of full value than the assessed valuation of all real property on the same roll by the same officers”

In plain terms: your home is assessed at a bigger share of its value than your neighbours' homes are. This is the usual problem when a roll has gone years without a revaluation.

Small Claims Assessment Review

SCAR is an inexpensive hearing before an independent hearing officer. Under Real Property Tax Law § 730(1), to use it:

  • You must first file a grievance with the local review board — the Board of Assessment Review, or the body a local law or charter provides (§ 730(1)(a)).
  • The property must be a one-, two- or three-family owner-occupied home used only as a residence (§ 730(1)(b)(i)).
  • The SCAR petition cannot ask for a lower assessment than the grievance asked for (§ 730(1)(d)) — so the grievance has to be right the first time.
  • If the home's equalized value is over $450,000, the reduction requested cannot exceed 25% of the assessment (§ 730(1)(c)).

The hearing officer must weigh the best evidence available, which under § 732(2) includes “the assessment of comparable residential properties within the same assessing unit.” That is why I request the assessor's own comparable-assessment report before a hearing — see your records.

Forms and reference

The official forms, straight from the State and the courts. Each link goes to the agency's own current version, so you never file an outdated form.

Grievance (Board of Assessment Review)

Form RP-524, Complaint on Real Property Assessment (fill-in PDF)

RP-524 instructions · all grievance forms

NYS Department of Taxation and Finance. What you ask for here sets the limit for SCAR: the petition cannot ask for a lower assessment than the grievance did (RPTL 730(1)(d)).

SCAR petition

Small Claims Assessment Review petition, counties outside New York City (fillable PDF)

General information and instructions · e-filing instructions · the court's SCAR page

NYS Unified Court System. The filing fee is $30.

Sales in your town

NYS Sales Web — on the State's Municipal Data Portal, choose “Go to Sales Web.”

Ten years of recorded sales (RP-5217 transfer reports) for every municipality outside New York City, updated weekly by the NYS Office of Real Property Tax Services. Use it to find what comparable homes near you actually sold for.

How assessors rate condition and grade

Assessor Manual: Data Collection and Maintenance of Property Inventories – Residential, Farm and Vacant Land (NYS Office of Real Property Tax Services, Publication 1050A, July 2025) — full text, PDF, 145 pages

Overall condition, §8.21 · Construction grade, §8.24 · all assessor manuals

The definitions the State gives assessors for the condition and grade on your property record. If your record rates your home higher than these definitions support, that is an error that can be corrected.

What helps to have ready

  • Your closing statement or deed showing the purchase price
  • Your most recent tax bill
  • Any appraisal done for a purchase or refinance
  • Photos of anything that lowers value: condition, repairs needed, damage

Don't have them? Call anyway — I can start from public records.