Property tax in New York: rates, STAR and how to contest

How property tax works outside New York City

The State Office of Real Property Tax Services (ORPTS) calls the property tax a local tax, “raised and spent locally to finance local governments and public schools”. Three ideas explain a bill:

• Assessment. A city or town assessor assigns an assessed value. New York has no fixed percentage: each municipality may assess at market value or at a fraction of it, as long as all assessments in that municipality use the same percentage.
• Equalization rate. The state measures each municipality’s level of assessment. An equalization rate of 100 means assessments equal market value; below 100 means assessed values are lower than market value. Rates and residential assessment ratios (RARs) for each town, city and village are in the Municipal Profiles tool of the state’s Municipal Data Portal.
• Tax rate. Each taxing jurisdiction (school district, county, town, fire district and others) sets its own. We do not give a typical rate for the state: no single official figure exists.

The levy cap. The Comptroller explains that, with some exceptions, the State’s Property Tax Cap limits the amount local governments and most school districts can raise in total property taxes to the lower of 2% or the rate of inflation. The cap applies to the total levy, not to your own bill, which can rise more than 2%. A 60% vote can override it.

STAR: the school tax break for homeowners

STAR (School Tax Relief) lowers school taxes on a primary residence. The Tax Department states these rules as of October 2026:

The limit counts the combined income of the owners and spouses who live in the home. Two points matter for buyers:

• New homeowners get the credit, not the exemption. The STAR exemption is no longer available to new homeowners. The credit is a check or direct deposit you can use to pay school taxes.
• You register once. The Tax Department then reviews eligibility every year and issues the credit automatically. Register as soon as the home becomes your primary residence.

If you pay school taxes through a mortgage escrow account, tell your lender about the switch.

How to contest an assessment outside New York City

The state offers two levels of formal review:

1. Grievance (administrative review). It is free and needs no lawyer. File Form RP-524, “Complaint on Real Property Assessment”, with the assessor or the board of assessment review in your city or town. In most communities the deadline is Grievance Day, usually the fourth Tuesday in May; confirm the date with your assessor. Exceptions include Suffolk County towns (third Tuesday in May), Westchester County towns (third Tuesday in June) and villages that assess property (often the third Tuesday in February). Miss the deadline and you lose administrative and judicial review for that year.
2. Judicial review. You must go through the grievance first. The options are a Small Claims Assessment Review (SCAR), a low-cost option available to most homeowners, or a tax certiorari proceeding in State Supreme Court, for which the Tax Department says to contact an attorney.

The Tax Department suggests first comparing the assessor’s estimate of market value (your assessment divided by the level of assessment) with your own. If your assessment is fair but your taxes feel high, an appeal cannot help: assessors do not set tax rates.

Property tax in New York City

The city’s Department of Finance (DOF) sorts every property into one of four tax classes. Class 1 covers one- to three-unit residential properties. Class 2 covers residential property with more than three units, including co-ops and condos; Class 3 covers utility equipment; Class 4 covers all other property.

How a Class 1 bill is built

1. Market value. DOF values one- to three-unit homes with statistical modeling based on prices of similar properties sold nearby in the prior three years. Co-ops and condos are different: state law requires DOF to value them as if they were rental buildings, based on income and expenses, even though they are not income-producing.
2. Assessed value. DOF states the assessment ratio is 6% for Class 1 and 45% for Classes 2, 3 and 4. For Class 1, state law caps increases at 6% per year and 20% over five years, unless the increase comes from new construction or renovation.
3. Exemptions. They are subtracted from assessed value. DOF lists STAR among them; its guide says Basic STAR is open to owners of houses, co-ops and condos.
4. Tax rate. DOF applies the rate for the tax class. Abatements are then subtracted from the bill.

The rates

Source: NYC Department of Finance, “Property tax rates”. These are the most recent rates the Department lists as of October 13, 2026; check the page for any newer year.

A worked example

DOF’s own Class 1 guide uses a single-family home with a market value of $714,000:

• Assessed value: $714,000 × 6% = $42,840.
• Exemption of $2,000, so taxable value is $40,840.
• Tax before abatements: $40,840 × 0.19843 = $8,104.
• Abatement of $396, so the total due is $7,708.

This is DOF’s illustration, not a typical bill. For median prices, see our New York home prices page.

How to contest in New York City

The NYC Tax Commission is the city’s forum for independent administrative review of DOF assessments. It is separate from DOF. It reviews claims of wrong tax class, an assessment that is too high, inequality with similar properties and unlawfulness. It does not review the tax rates set by the City Council. The State Tax Department says complaints must be filed by March 15 for Class 1 properties and March 1 for all other properties. Confirm the current deadline and filing method with the Commission, which says filing is by mail or in person this year.

See also closing costs in New York, the transfer tax and buying in New York City.