Is Your New York
Property Assessment
Excessive?
Municipalities across New York State are conducting reassessments. Commercial, industrial, and mixed-use property owners from Buffalo to Rochester to Syracuse are seeing sharp assessment increases — many of which don’t reflect actual market conditions, income performance, or property-specific factors.
An assessment is an opinion, not a final number. Duffy & Catlin PLLC represents commercial and residential property owners in challenging assessments that don’t hold up — at no upfront cost.
Commercial, Industrial & Residential Assessment Challenges
Commercial and industrial properties are especially vulnerable to over-assessment in mass revaluations. The income, cost, and sales comparison approaches each require proper application — and assessors don’t always get it right.
Commercial & Office
Office buildings, retail centers, and mixed-use properties are frequently assessed without proper consideration of actual vacancy rates, lease terms, or market income levels. We apply the correct methodology to challenge inflated values.
Industrial & Warehouse
Manufacturing sites, warehouses, and flex-industrial properties carry unique valuation factors — functional obsolescence, site utility, and limited comparable sales — that mass appraisals routinely fail to account for.
Residential & Multi-Family
Single-family homes, investment properties, and multi-family buildings all benefit from careful review. Even modest assessment increases can translate to meaningful tax liability when compounded over a multi-year cycle.
Assessments Are Opinions — And Opinions Can Be Challenged
A mass reassessment applies broad market-wide data to thousands of properties simultaneously. It cannot account for factors specific to your property: actual lease income, vacancy rates, recent capital expenditures, functional obsolescence, or the most relevant comparable transactions.
For commercial and industrial owners, an over-assessment can result in substantial excess tax liability over the assessment cycle. New York law gives you the right to challenge — but only within a strict annual window.
- Income-producing properties have distinct valuation standards assessors are required to apply
- Vacancy, below-market leases, and deferred maintenance are all recognized grounds for challenge
- Industrial properties often carry functional obsolescence that standard models overlook
- You are not required to accept the assessor’s opinion as final
- No upfront cost — our fee applies only if we achieve a reduction
Declining Equalization Rates Are Quietly Raising Your Tax Burden
Even if your assessed value hasn’t changed, a falling equalization rate can dramatically increase your effective tax liability — and most property owners never see it coming.
What Is an Equalization Rate?
New York State calculates an equalization rate for each municipality — a ratio expressing what percentage of full market value local assessments represent. A rate of 80% means the town is assessing properties at 80 cents on the dollar of market value.
When the rate falls, the state and county assume your property is worth more — even if your assessed value on paper is unchanged.
How a Falling Rate Increases Your Bill
County tax levies are apportioned based on equalized values across municipalities. If your town’s equalization rate drops — because market values have risen faster than assessments — your municipality carries a larger share of the county tax burden.
The result: higher county tax bills for every property owner in that municipality, with no change to the assessment roll and no formal notice.
Why Challenging Your Assessment Still Matters
If your assessment is excessive relative to your property’s actual market value, you are bearing a disproportionate share of a tax burden that is already rising due to equalization. A successful challenge corrects both problems simultaneously — reducing your assessed value and ensuring your share of the levy is fair.
County bills, issued each January, reflect the fully equalized values. Acting before Grievance Day is the only way to protect your position.
Example: How This Works in Practice
Suppose your commercial property carries a $500,000 assessed value and your town’s equalization rate drops from 90% to 70% over two years as market values rise. The state now treats your property as if it has a full market value of roughly $714,000 — a 27% increase — for purposes of county tax apportionment. Your county tax bill rises accordingly, without any formal reassessment or notice to you. If your assessed value was already excessive to begin with, the compounding effect is even greater. This is why a timely assessment challenge is one of the most effective tools available to New York property owners.
Request a Free Review →How the Challenge Process Works
Free Case Review
Contact us with your assessment notice. We evaluate whether your property has been over-assessed and advise you honestly on the strength of a potential challenge — at no cost and no obligation.
Informal Review Window
Many municipalities allow a brief period to engage the assessor’s office before Grievance Day. Early contact gives us the most time to build a complete, well-supported case.
Grievance Day Filing
We file before your municipality’s Grievance Day — typically the 4th Tuesday in May for towns. Cities operate on separate schedules: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and other cities set their own earlier deadlines under individual city charters. We track the correct date for your property.
Hearing, Resolution & Tax Relief
We represent you at all hearings. Approved reductions appear on your school tax bill in late summer and your county tax bill issued in January of the following year — with no upfront cost to you at any stage.
Handled Entirely by Our Attorneys
From the initial case review to any formal hearing, we manage every step of your appeal — so you don’t have to.
Free Consultation
Call or submit our form. We’ll review your assessment notice and advise you honestly on whether the evidence supports a viable challenge — at no cost and no obligation.
Analysis & Evidence
For commercial properties, we examine income data, market comparables, cost approaches, and property-specific conditions to build a documented, credible case for reduction.
We Handle All Filings
We prepare and submit every required document — Informal Review Applications, Board of Assessment Review petitions, and supporting exhibits — correctly and before every deadline.
Full Representation
We manage all communication with the assessor’s office and appear on your behalf at any formal grievance hearing or SCAR proceeding. You are kept informed without having to attend.
Comprehensive Assessment Challenge Representation
Income & Cost Approach Valuation
Commercial and industrial properties must often be valued on their income-producing capacity, not just sales comparisons. We apply the appropriate valuation methodology and challenge assessments that ignore how your property actually performs in the current market.
Comparable Sales & Market Analysis
Our team identifies the most relevant comparable transactions — including arm’s-length commercial sales — to demonstrate what your property is actually worth under current New York market conditions.
Paperwork & Deadline Management
We handle every document: Informal Review Applications, BAR petitions, supporting exhibits, and any supplemental filings required throughout the process. You don’t have to track a single deadline.
Grievance Hearings & SCAR Proceedings
If your case proceeds beyond the Board of Assessment Review, we represent you at Small Claims Assessment Review (SCAR) or Supreme Court Article 7 proceedings — with licensed New York attorneys at every stage.
RPTL Article 7 Court Proceedings
When a grievance before the Board of Assessment Review does not produce an adequate result, commercial property owners have the right to seek judicial review under Article 7 of the New York Real Property Tax Law. Duffy & Catlin PLLC handles the full scope of Article 7 litigation — from initial petition through final resolution.
Article 7 proceedings are filed in New York Supreme Court and require strict compliance with statutory deadlines, procedural rules, and evidentiary standards. Our attorneys manage every aspect of the court process so commercial owners can pursue a legitimate reduction without navigating complex litigation on their own.
Discuss Your Case →We prepare and file the Article 7 petition in Supreme Court within the applicable statutory deadline, ensuring procedural requirements are met from the outset.
Our licensed New York attorneys appear in court on your behalf at all conferences, hearings, and proceedings. You are not required to appear.
We develop and present the commercial valuation evidence — income analysis, appraisals, and market comparables — needed to support a reduction at the judicial level.
Many Article 7 cases resolve through stipulated settlement. We negotiate directly with municipal counsel to achieve appropriate reductions without the cost and delay of a full trial.
What Property Owners Are Asking
Request a Free Case Evaluation
Tell us about your property. No matter where in New York you’re located — Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, or anywhere in between — we’ll review your assessment and advise you honestly at no cost.
No obligation. No upfront fees. We typically respond within one business day. Attorney advertising.
Duffy & Catlin PLLC
505 Ellicott Street, Suite 500
Buffalo, NY 14203
