Assessment & Grievance Procedures

The Tentative Roll Assessment roll is published on February 1st of each year. Your assessment should roughly reflect the value for which you can sell your property (the Fair Market Value). However, assessing property is a cross between science & art and sometimes you may disagree with the assessor's determination.

If you believe that your property is over assessed, an “Application for Correction of Assessment” (aka complaints or grievances) must be filed by the 3rd Tuesday of February which is commonly known as Grievance Day. The Assessor is available on this day until 8:00 pm.

These grievances are heard by the Board of Assessment Review (BAR) who are all appointed by the Mayor and Board of Trustees. The Board of Assessment Review meets around March 15th of each year. The Assessor provides copies of the complaints to members of the BAR, attends the meeting and, if necessary, defends the Village’s assessment. The BAR will vote to lower the tentative assessment or deny the complaint. The Assessor then sends letters to the residents informing them of the decision. Minutes of the meeting are available to the public.

The Final Assessment Roll is then published on April 1st of each year. Any property owner that did not get the relief they sought from the Board of Assessment Review can then file a petition with the Nassau County Clerk’s Office for a Small Claims Assessment Review (SCAR).  By law the complainant must provide the Village two copies of the petition. Petitions must be filed within 30 days of the publishing of the Final Roll. Petitions filed by commercial properties are known as Certiorari Appeals or Article 7 and are heard in Supreme Court.

Approximately five or six months later, the Assessor receives notices of hearings from the SCAR hearing officer’s office. When decisions are received (usually in late October or early November) that call for reductions and refunds, the Assessor communicates with the Treasurer to issue the refunds.