City of Buffalo to Significantly Increase Property Tax Assessments: Steps to Challenge and Lower Your Assessment and Property Taxes

The City of Buffalo is currently in the process of conducting its first city-wide reassessment of property values in nearly 20 years. This reassessment will result in dramatically higher assessments for many property owners in the City, and will likely shift more of the City’s tax burden onto commercial properties and residential properties located in high value or in-demand neighborhoods. As a result, any property owner which wishes to lower their assessment and potentially save thousands of dollars on property tax bills in the coming years should challenge their property value assessment this year while the City is in the process of revaluating its more than 93,000 properties.

For those property owners seeking to lower their assessed value and property taxes, the most important step to take is to begin the appeal process as early as possible while meeting precise timelines and filing requirements. Some important deadlines and dates are as follows:

October 15, 2019 – Deadline to contact the contractor conducting the reassessments (ENPM, Inc.) to schedule an informal review of your reassessment.

October – November 2019 – Informal reassessment meetings take place.

December 1, 2019 – City to publish 2020 tentative assessment roll.

December 31, 2019 – Deadline to file a formal challenge of reassessed property value with the City Board of Assessment Review.

January 2020 – Hearings held by Board of Assessment Review on formal challenges.

March 2020 – The Board of Assessment Review will make a decision on the formal challenges, and produce a “final” assessment role. If not satisfied with the Board’s decision, a property owner who has made a formal challenge can request judicial review of the assessment.

Each of these steps has precise filing requirements and deadlines. A missed or incomplete filing can result in your challenge being dismissed. At Bouvier, we have a team dedicated to challenging and lowering property tax assessments in Buffalo. Our firm utilizes experienced attorneys, close relationships with City officials, and advanced statistical models to lower your assessment and property taxes. To obtain a free consultation and an estimate of your potential property tax savings, please contact Jon Pierowicz at JPierowicz@bouvierlaw.com or 716-856-1344.