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Assessment Calendar
Each year the Town of Webster's Assessment Office prepares an assessment roll to be used for the levy of taxes based on the budgets set by the school districts (Webster Central and Wayne Central), the County of Monroe, the Town of Webster and the Village of Webster. School tax bills are issued in September, the Town/County tax bills are issued the following January, and the Village bills are issued the following June. In order to produce this assessment roll, the Assessment Office follows the New York State Assessment Calendar as set forth throughout the New York State Real Property Tax Law. The annual calendar is as follows:
July through March - Inspection of all new construction, remodeling, demolitions, and land subdivisions which occur after the preceding March 1st. This requires on-site inspections and sketching of new homes, home additions, new commercial buildings, commercial additions, fire damaged properties, and demolished buildings. It also requires the mapping of all newly created land parcels in the Town of Webster.
March 1st - Taxable Status Date - Taxable status date is set by NYS Real Property Tax Law. All exemption applications must be received by the Assessment Department by this date and owners must qualify by this date. This is also the day that all properties are assessed "as of". In other words, the assessment of a property is based on whatever improvement is on a property as of March 1st. In a worst case scenario, if a property had a building on it on March 1st and the building burned to the ground on March 2nd, according to state statute the property would be assessed for the building for the following tax year, and not open for review until the next tax year.
March through May 1st - Valuation of all new, remodeled, fire damaged, demolished, or subdivided properties that were in existence as of March 1st. Property valuation is conducted according to the standard methods of valuation, namely, the Cost Approach and Sales Comparison Approach. For income producing properties the Capitalization of Income Approach is used. On or about the first week of May, “Notices of Change of Assessment” are sent to owners of properties which are scheduled for increases in assessed value or which have a change of taxable status (exempt to taxable).
May 1st - Tentative Assessment Roll Filed - This roll lists assessments for all properties in Webster, not just those mentioned above. The Tentative Assessment Roll also displays the approved exemptions for each property, whether new or previously existing. If you want to know whether your exemption application was approved, this it the time to review the roll. If there are any errors in posting, this is the easiest time to make the corrections…not after the tax bills are issued (although it is still possible then, with some limitations).
May 1st through the Fourth Tuesday in May - Assessment Grievance forms are available and accepted for filing. These forms must be filled out completely and returned to the Assessment Office on or before the fourth Tuesday in May. This is the formal grievance process. Only the assessment listed on the Tentative Assessment Roll may be grieved. You will find a copy of the Tentative Assessment Roll and other useful information in the Office of the Assessor. It is available for public inspection until Grievance Day (see below).
Fourth Tuesday in May - This is the formal Grievance Day. The Board of Assessment Review (BAR) hears complaints against the Tentative Assessment Roll, filed on May 1st. The BAR is comprised of five (5) Webster residents who have knowledge of real estate values in the Town. The BAR makes its decision based on evidence submitted to prove the value of the grieved property and notifies the owners of their decision prior to July 1st. The BAR does not have jurisdiction on tax complaints. You cannot grieve your taxes or your tax bills. Appointments to appear before the Board of Assessment Review are made when the grievance application is completed and submitted to the Assessment Office. All applications must be filed by Grievance Day. According to New York State law, filing late will result in a dismissal of your application for failure to file it timely.
July 1st - Final Assessment Roll Filed - On or about July 1st the Assessor completes and a Final Assessment Roll to be used for the next cycle of tax bills. The Final Assessment Roll incorporates the changes made by the BAR during Grievance Day procedures. Judicial review of a final assessment is available only to those properties which were reviewed by the BAR.
The Town of Webster periodically revises assessments to bring all assessed values back to full market value. If you have any questions concerning the assessment process, please contact the Assessment Office at 585-872-7051.