Town/Village Assessor

Property Tax Exemptions

The Assessor recently gave a presentation to the Scarsdale Seniors summarizing common property tax exemptions. View the presentation or check out the exemptions web page to learn more about how these exemptions may apply to you.

Duties & Responsibilities

The Assessor’s Department (“Department”) prepares an assessment roll of all real property, vacant and improved, within the Town/Village, establishing the condition, value and taxable status of each parcel of property each year. The valuations determined by the Assessor are utilized to apportion the amount of County, Village, School and Special District taxes to be levied on each parcel. All parcels located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Town/Village are reflected in the official tax map. This tax map is updated annually to reflect parcel subdivisions, mergers, address changes and other necessary modifications otherwise required.

Duties of an Assessor also include researching and maintaining essential statistics on all town property, updating and computer-entering parcel and building inventory data, updating the digital photo and sketching databases, recording all property sales/deed transfers, performing market studies and research, as well as responding to taxpayer inquiries.

Assessment administration is governed by NYS Real Property Tax Law, as well as case law. Assessment support is provided by the Office of Real Property Tax Services (ORPTS), a division of the State’s Department of Taxation and Finance. This oversight agency facilitates the administration of assessments and real property tax services throughout New York State.

Ownership/Address Changes

Requests for mailing address changes must be made in writing to the Office of the Assessor only. Ownership changes, however, can only be made via a copy of a deed, a copy of a NYS transfer form RP 5217, or a copy of a death certificate presented to the Assessor. 

Be Aware of the Law: Regardless of the cause, or the party at fault, late payment of taxes caused by discrepancies in addresses and ownership data, accrue penalties, which are the sole responsibility of the taxpayer. To avoid the misdirection of tax bills, or any municipal correspondence, you are urged to notify the Assessor's Office in writing (the water and recreation departments for their records, as well) of any changes in ownership, mailing and/or billing addresses. Remember, tax bills are issued three times a year.

Co-Terminus Town/Village Boundaries

Scarsdale is a co-terminus Town/Village, which means the jurisdictional boundaries of the Village are the same as the jurisdictional boundaries for the Town. By law, however, the assessment of property function is assigned to the Town of Scarsdale. Therefore, Scarsdale is technically both a Town and a Village and is often referred to as just a Town, a Village, or as a Town/Village.

Building Permits & Assessments

As set forth in the village code, all building improvements (exclusive of those de minimus in cost), renovations, additions, alterations, repairs and new construction require that a permit be issued by the Building Department prior to commencement of work.

All building permits issued by the Building Department are provided electronically to the Office of the Assessor for review, analysis and subsequent property inspection. The Assessor will notify each property owner in writing that work resulting from an issued building permit(s) requires an inspection for assessment purposes. It is important that property owners know and understand their responsibilities and obligations in this regard. Note that inspections by the Building Inspector are not related to and cannot be substituted for inspections required by the Assessor.