Buffalo's recent citywide reassessment pushed values sharply higher across nearly every neighborhood and commercial corridor. Many owners — from Downtown and the Medical Campus to Elmwood, Hertel, and the warehouses of the East Side — now carry assessments that 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, industrial, and residential owners across Buffalo and Erie County in challenging assessments that don't hold up — at no upfront cost.
When City of Buffalo builds its assessment roll, properties are valued in bulk using broad market models. Those models lean on neighborhood-wide trends — not your building's condition, your block, your actual rent roll, or the most relevant comparable sales.
When the City of Buffalo updates its roll, tens of thousands of properties are revalued at once using broad market models that lean on neighborhood-wide trends — not your building's condition, your block, your rent roll, or the most relevant comparable sales. The gap between a mass-model value and real market value can mean substantial excess tax. New York law gives you the right to challenge that value, but only within the window set by the city's charter.
Commercial and industrial properties are especially vulnerable to over-assessment in a mass revaluation. The income, cost, and sales-comparison approaches each require proper application — and a mass model doesn't always get Buffalo right.
Downtown towers, Larkinville offices, Elmwood and Hertel storefronts, and mixed-use buildings are frequently assessed without proper regard for real vacancy, lease terms, or market income. We apply the correct methodology to challenge inflated values.
East Side and waterfront warehouses, manufacturing sites, and flex-industrial buildings carry unique factors — functional obsolescence, site utility, and thin comparable sales — that citywide appraisals routinely miss.
Homes in Elmwood Village, North Buffalo, Allentown, and the doubles and multi-family stock that define the city all benefit from review. Even modest increases compound into real tax liability over an assessment cycle.
New York calculates an equalization rate for every municipality — the ratio of assessed value to full market value. When Buffalo and Erie County market prices rise faster than assessments are updated, that rate falls, and the State treats your property as worth more for purposes of county tax apportionment.
The result is a larger share of the Erie County levy landing on your bill — with no change to the assessment roll and no formal notice. If your assessment was already excessive, the compounding effect is even greater. A timely challenge corrects both problems at once.
Request a Free Review →Send us your assessment notice. We evaluate whether your Buffalo property has been over-assessed and advise you honestly on the strength of a challenge — at no cost and no obligation.
Buffalo's assessor often allows a brief period to engage before the formal deadline. Early contact gives us the most time to build a complete, well-supported case.
We file your grievance with the Buffalo Board of Assessment Review before its charter deadline. Buffalo's date differs from the town Grievance Day — we track the correct one for your property.
We represent you at every hearing. Approved reductions appear on your school tax bill in late summer and your Erie County bill issued the following January.
From the first case review to any formal hearing or court proceeding, we manage every step of your Buffalo appeal — so you don't have to.
Call or submit the form. We review your Buffalo assessment notice and tell you honestly whether the evidence supports a viable challenge — no cost, no obligation.
For commercial property we examine income data, local comparables, cost approaches, and property-specific conditions to build a documented, credible case for reduction.
We prepare and submit every document — informal review applications, City of Buffalo BAR petitions, and supporting exhibits — correctly and before every deadline.
We manage all communication with the assessor's office and appear on your behalf at any BAR hearing, SCAR proceeding, or Article 7 court case. You stay informed without attending.
Don't see your municipality? We file across all of New York State. If you own property anywhere in the region — city or town, commercial or residential — contact us and we'll confirm the correct deadline and process for your location.
Tell us about your property. Whether you're in Buffalo, the Erie County suburbs, or anywhere in New York State, 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