Property assessments and property taxes are closely related, but they are not the same thing. Understanding the difference is especially important during a townwide revaluation.
An assessment is the value placed on a property by the Town Assessor based on market value. Taxes are the result of adopted budgets set by taxing jurisdictions such as school districts, the Town, the County, villages, and special districts. While assessments help determine how taxes are distributed, they do not set how much tax revenue is collected overall.
Because assessments and taxes are often confused, some property owners attempt to “grieve” their taxes. Taxes themselves cannot be grieved. However, property owners may challenge their assessment if they believe it does not fairly reflect market value. If you feel your assessment is too high, you should contact the Assessment Office to discuss your concerns and learn about the grievance process.
It is also important to understand that assessments and tax bills can move in opposite directions. A property’s assessed value may increase while its tax bill decreases, or vice versa, depending on how that property’s value compares to others in the community and how the total tax levy is distributed.
Why Revaluation Is Required
Revaluations help ensure property taxes are distributed equitably. Over time, property values change at different rates, and outdated assessments can cause some property owners to pay more than their fair share while others pay less.
New York State requires municipalities to assess property at a uniform percentage of market value and reviews assessments annually using an equalization rate, a technical measure of how closely assessed values reflect current market conditions. In Perinton, the equalization rate declined from 100% in 2018 to approximately 57% today, indicating that assessments no longer consistently align with what properties would sell for on the open market.
When assessments fall out of alignment with market value, municipalities conduct a revaluation to restore accuracy and uniformity. A townwide revaluation updates all assessments at the same time so properties are valued consistently.
Revaluation does not increase the total amount of taxes collected—it updates how the tax levy is shared among properties based on current market value.
Example Scenarios: How Assessments and Taxes Can Change
The examples below show how a property’s assessment and tax bill may change after a revaluation, depending on how its value shifts relative to the overall tax base.
Who Determines Assessments?
Property assessments are determined by the Assessment Office. Assessments are used to equitably distribute the tax levy across all taxable properties based on current market value.
Who Determines Taxes?
Taxes are determined through the budget process by taxing jurisdictions, including school boards, town boards, county legislatures, village trustees, and special districts. These bodies set budgets and adopt a tax levy, which is the total amount of revenue that must be collected through property taxes.
How Revaluation Affects Taxes
A townwide revaluation updates property assessments so they reflect current market values. When assessments are outdated, some property owners may pay more than their fair share, while others pay less. Revaluation corrects how taxes are distributed across properties; it does not increase the total amount of taxes collected.
The total tax levy is determined through the budget process. When overall assessed value increases following a revaluation, the tax rate typically decreases because the same levy is spread across a larger tax base. As a result, individual tax bills may increase, decrease, or remain relatively stable depending on how a property’s value changed compared to other properties in the Town.
Revaluations don’t raise taxes. They update how existing taxes are divided among properties.
The graphic below provides an illustrative example of how a revaluation can change the distribution of taxes across properties while the total levy remains the same.
