Ossining Town to Offer 2-year Phase-in to Some Homeowners Hardest Hit by Reval

Ossining Town officials announce a new local law allowing eligible residents to apply for an exemption on their property taxes in the event that their burden has risen substantially as a result of the town-wide revaluation. The exemption creates a two-year phase-in of the new tax assessment.

Officials said the exemption is thanks to legislation crafted and carried by State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef and State Senator David Carlucci, and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Here's who's eligible: property owners of single, two or three family homes who are STAR eligible, have no delinquent taxes on the property, have a valid Certificate of Occupancy, and whose assessment for 2016 is 25 percent higher than the equalized assessed value of the property on the 2015 roll.

In any revaluation, changes are made to individual property assessments so that they are correct and uniform — as the law requires. These changes result in increases for some individual residential property owners whose properties were under assessed before the revaluation, and decreases for others; the rule of thumb is that one-third go up, one-third stay the same, and one-third go down.

Town Assessor Fernando Gonzalez said he expects that 572 properties of the Town’s 10,200 parcels will be eligible to apply based on that 25 percent increase, although that number will likely decrease based on the fact that that many property owners have filed grievances with the Board of Assessment Review and some are expected to be settled lower than the initial assessment.

“We are pleased to be able to extend this opportunity to homeowners who, through no fault of their own, will get a higher tax bill next year that they never saw coming," said Town Supervisor Dana Levenberg in the announcement. “This exemption will allow them some time to figure out what the next step may be for their families.”

The “phase in” refers to a gradual billing of the new tax amount over the course of two years, paying 33 percent of the increase in Year One and 66 percent in Year Two before the full amount is due in Year Three.

The Town’s local law was passed on July 26. Applications for the exemption are now available in hard copy at Town/Village Hall in the Office of the Assessor, and online at the Town of Ossining website.

The deadline to submit applications is Sept. 15, at which point town officials will verify whether the property owner is eligible.