Buffalo Homeowners Receive Update on City’s 2025 Reassessment Project

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — City officials began touring council districts Monday night for their 2025 reassessment project, first speaking with residents of the Fillmore district.

The city’s last property revaluation project was implemented in 2020. Since then, city officials said there has been historic growth in property values.

At Monday’s meeting, city officials discussed with neighbors the timing, how reassessments are conducted and the impact on property taxes.

“It’s a good thing that your property values ​​are going up, you know, it means things are going well in the city,” said Jason Shell, Buffalo’s assessment and taxation commissioner. “From our perspective, the assessment is to make sure that property taxes are distributed equally and fairly.”

Buffalo officials and city-hired assessors are reassessing more than 94,000 properties and recalculating property tax bills. They will also conduct what they call “regular reviews” to ensure all properties are accurately assessed.

“Current assessments are approximately 61.5 percent of full market value and, thanks to market appreciation, the equalization rate has decreased as property values ​​increase,” said reassessment contractor Robert Koszarek.

The city said regular reassessments ensure all property owners pay their fair share of the tax burden. However, some neighbors said that’s not the case.

“During the last reassessment, some of the wealthiest homeowners in the city were able to successfully challenge their property assessments at a price much lower than what they were originally assessed for, while turning around and selling those properties at a much higher price,” said homeowner Amber Powers.

At Monday’s meeting, neighbors said their biggest concern was transparency in the process.

“It’s just something that we would like to see more education on and that everyone is treated fairly,” Powers said.

Starting in September, all owners will receive a Data Assessment Impact Notice by mail, which they can return if they find any errors. They can then schedule a review session.

“We can’t go into your house. We can’t know what’s inside the house. It’s up to the owner of the property to say, ‘Hey, you know, you made a mistake,’” Shell said. “We’ll work with them, that’s part of the job, to make sure everything is perfect.”

The new assessed values ​​will be used for the July 2025 property tax bill.

“A third of property taxes could go down slightly, a third could stay about the same and a third could go up,” Koszarek said.

More information about the process, the full Equity Assessment Project presentation and the reassessment schedule can be found here or by calling (716) 632-2400.

There are eight meetings remaining, one for each of the remaining districts. They will all begin at 5:30 p.m.

See the list of meetings below:

South Quarter: Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at Southside Elementary School, 430 Southside Parkway

University district: Thursday, July 11, 2024, at Kensington-Bailey Neighborhood Housing Services, 995 Kensington Ave.

Lovejoy Neighborhood: Monday, July 15, 2024, at the Autumnwood Senior Center, 1800 Clinton St.

Ellicott District: Thursday, July 18, 2024, at the Downtown Branch Library, 1 Lafayette Sq.

Masten District: Thursday, July 25, 2024, at the Northland Workforce Training Center (community room), 877 E Delavan Ave.

Niagara District: Monday, July 29, 2024, at the Richmond-Summer Recreation Center, 337 Summer St.

North Quarter: Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at West Hertel Academy, 489 Hertel Ave.

District of Delaware: Thursday, August 1, 2024, at the North Buffalo Community Center, 203 Sanders Road