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Exemptions from Real Property Taxation in New York State: 2024 County, City, and Town Assessment Rolls

Introduction

All real property in New York is subject to taxation unless specific legal provisions grant it exempt status, whereas personal property is not subject to taxation. Real property tax exemptions are granted on the basis of many different criteria, including the use to which the property is put, the owner's ability to pay taxes, the desire of the state and local governments to encourage certain economic or social activities, and other such considerations.1 Certain exemptions provide full relief from taxation (wholly exempt property) and others reduce the taxes which would otherwise be payable by varying degrees (partially exempt property). Some exemptions apply to taxes levied for county, city/town, and school purposes, whereas others pertain only to some of these purposes. Yet another difference involves the extent of local government autonomy: while some exemptions are mandated by state law, others are subject to local option and/or local determination of eligibility criteria.

This report presents exemption data for 2024 assessment rolls prepared by local assessors throughout New York.2 It covers town, city, and county (Tompkins and Nassau Counties) assessment rolls only; village rolls are not included.

Ultimately, the accuracy of the figures presented depends on the accuracy of the data submitted on the rolls. Although the overwhelming majority of reported exemptions could be related to specific legal provisions through the standardized reporting system provided by NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, Office of Real Property Tax Services (ORPTS), a very small percentage could not be classified because incorrect codes were used, and are thus omitted from certain tables in this report. Similarly, any errors made by assessors in determining the value of a parcel, or the extent to which this value is exempt from taxation, will appear in the data contained herein. Also, experience has shown that some assessors may not keep the values placed on wholly exempt property fully up to date, as valuation of such property has, for the most part, no effect on local tax revenue. Incorrect assessed values may overstate or understate the effect of exemptions on local tax bases.

The remainder of the report presents a summary of the 2024 statewide statistics on exempt property in graphic and tabular format, followed by Appendix A, which contains a list of abbreviations and definitions for terms used in the detailed tables that comprise Appendix B.

Pie chart displaying 2024 Distribution of Exemptions By Type of Ownership

Figure 1: Two pie charts labeled Distribution of Exemptions By Type of Ownership (2024). Pie chart 1 shows the Percent of Exemptions as Partly Exempt, Private (91.9%), Partly Exempt, Public (0.3%), Wholly Exempt, Private (2.6%) and Wholly Exempt, Public (5.2%). Pie chart 2 shows Percent of Exempt Value as Partly Exempt, Private (27.6%), Partly Exempt, Public (0.4%), Wholly Exempt, Private (17.4%) and Wholly Exempt, Public (54.6%).

Table 1. Real Property tax exemptions by property group, 2024 assessment rolls

Table 1. Real Property tax exemptions, 2024 rolls
Group Number of exemptions Equalized Exempt Value ($000)
A. Residential Property other than Multiple Dwellings Non-Residential Property Owned by Certain Individuals 2,473,727 194,667,583
B. Property of New York State Government and Agencies 21,512 139,928,774
C. Property of Municipal Governments and Agencies, School Districts, BOCES, and Special Districts 115,424 279,301,041
D. Property of U.S. and Foreign Governments and Agencies, International or Interstate Agencies, and Indian Tribes 4,886 72,963,929
E. Property of Private Community Service Organizations, Social Organizations, and Professional Societies 71,762 169,194,637
F. Industrial, Commercial, and Public Service Property 18,834 95,929,344
G. Urban Renewal Property, Public Housing, and Private Subsidized Housing (Multiple Dwellings) 86,538 114,882,547
H. Agricultural and Forest Properties 116,010 15,091,763
Total, Valid Exemption Codes 2,908,693 1,081,959,618
Invalid Codes 3,807 1,977,441
TOTAL 2,912,500 1,083,937,059

Table 2. Exemptions for county purposes: Geographic areas with highest and lowest incidence of exempt value, 2024 assessment rolls

A. Ten with highest incidence
Rank Counties Cities Towns
Name Pct. exempt Name Pct. exempt Name Pct. exempt
1. Tompkins 37.89% Salamanca (Cat.) 68.88% Scriba (Osw.) 84.02%
2. Seneca 37.04% Rensselaer (Ren.) 66.93% Alfred (All.) 78.73%
3. Oswego 36.01% Ithaca (Tom.) 58.39% Blenheim (Scho.) 74.24%
4. St Lawrence 35.50% Albany (Alb.) 55.09% Romulus (Sen.) 74.04%
5. Oneida 33.49% Syracuse (Ono.) 51.05% Marcy (One.) 71.80%
6. Niagara 31.37% Ogdensburg (St. L.) 49.40% Ashford (Cat.) 71.04%
7. Allegany 30.56% Peekskill (Wes.) 49.21% Greenwood (Ste.) 70.16%
8. Schoharie 30.52% Geneva (Ont.) 48.16% Massena (St. L.) 68.40%
9 Albany 29.22% Oneonta (Ots.) 47.18% Verona (One.) 68.00%
10. Wyoming 28.54% Watervliet (Alb.) 46.20% Lewiston (Nia.) 66.23%
B. Ten with lowest incidence
Rank Counties Cities Towns
Name Pct. exempt Name Pct. exempt Name Pct. exempt
1. Hamilton 8.05% Mechanicville (Sar.) 7.72% Benson (Ham.) 0.96%
2. Putnam 9.44% Tonawanda (Eri.) 11.98% Inlet I(Ham.) 1.83%
3. Warren 9.88% Sherrill (One.) 12.30% Arietta (Ham.) 1.96%
4. Saratoga 12.33% Lockport (Nia.) 12.59% Stratford (Ful.) 2.70%
5. Washington 12.49% Rye (Wes.) 13.24% Hope (Ham.) 2.80%
6. Ulster 13.51% Beacon (Dut.) 14.10% Dresden (Was.) 3.00%
7. Columbia 14.09% Long Beach (Nas.) 14.23% Bolton (War.) 3.08%
8. Greene 15.03% North Tonawanda (Nia.) 15.51% Ellicottville (Cat.) 3.08%
9. Fulton 15.53% Saratoga Springs (Sar.) 17.99% Bleecker (Ful.) 3.17%
10. Rockland 16.10% Lackawanna (Eri.) 19.24% Horicon (War.) 3.23%

Table 3. Exemptions for county purposes: Counties ranked by percent of full value exempt, 2024 assessment rolls*

Table 3. Exemptions for county purposes: Counties ranked by percent of full value exempt, 2024 rolls*
Rank County No. of exemptions Exempt value ($000) Pct. of value exempt
1. Tompkins 7,055 6,982,276 37.89%
2. Seneca 4,922 2,040,783 37.04%
3. Oswego 11,162 5,176,411 36.01%
4. St Lawrence 12,542 4,460,170 35.50%
5. Oneida 21,295 8,981,663 33.49%
6. Niagara 18,604 8,937,175 31.37%
7. Allegany 7,148 1,370,503 30.56%
8. Schoharie 5,104 1,574,800 30.52%
9. Albany 21,149 15,376,705 29.22%
10. Wyoming 7,127 1,415,700 28.54%
11. Jefferson 11,787 4,265,206 27.87%
12. Tioga 4,998 1,394,538 26.62%
13. Rensselaer 12,431 5,907,708 26.13%
14. Cattaraugus 10,549 2,433,249 26.02%
15. Broome 13,270 4,685,222 25.53%
16. Yates 4,590 1,341,042 24.97%
17. Chautauqua 16,257 3,574,217 24.64%
18. Montgomery 6,364 1,254,408 24.41%
19. Livingston 7,662 1,711,206 24.18%
20. Onondaga 38,923 13,580,129 23.53%
21. Lewis 5,122 969,104 23.52%
22. Steuben 15,144 2,461,269 23.34%
23. Genesee 8,223 1,293,134 22.55%
24. Franklin 5,068 1,648,758 22.39%
25. Sullivan 8,389 4,468,571 22.37%
26. Cayuga 10,175 2,143,791 22.10%
27. Schenectady 9,650 4,282,000 22.01%
28. Westchester 33,044 63,789,136 21.21%
29. Cortland 5,028 1,003,566 21.08%
30. Otsego 6,756 1,670,652 20.60%
31. Madison 8,401 1,621,689 20.45%
32. Clinton 8,900 1,918,382 20.39%
33. Chenango 6,129 879,872 20.15%
34. Dutchess 19,963 11,763,909 19.77%
35. Suffolk 119,317 122,587,631 19.62%
36. Orleans 5,539 656,170 19.49%
37. Chemung 7,279 1,477,019 19.36%
38. Herkimer 6,577 1,710,190 19.18%
39. Ontario 10,817 3,428,856 18.66%
40. Nassau 111,344 81,005,105 18.62%
41. Wayne 9,769 1,893,287 18.24%
42. Orange 24,562 12,324,910 17.95%
43. Erie 70,907 22,546,474 17.69%
44. Monroe 55,269 15,723,908 17.64%
45. Schuyler 3,187 525,197 17.07%
46. Delaware 5,333 1,784,772 16.43%
47. Essex 5,335 1,943,852 16.15%
48. Rockland 15,874 11,293,502 16.10%
49. Fulton 5,016 1,006,734 15.53%
50. Greene 5,553 1,914,971 15.03%
51. Columbia 7,621 2,366,782 14.09%
52. Ulster 14,565 5,175,224 13.51%
53. Washington 8,040 1,045,467 12.49%
54. Saratoga 16,506 5,630,848 12.33%
55. Warren 6,632 1,766,203 9.88%
56. Putnam 6,585 2,085,698 9.44%
57. Hamilton 846 343,691 8.05%
*Excludes New York City boroughs; New York City data included in Table 4

Table 4. Exemptions for county purposes: Cities ranked by percent of full value exempt, 2024 assessment rolls

Table 4. Exemptions for county purposes: Cities ranked by percent of full value exempt, 2024 rolls
Rank City No. of exemptions Exempt value ($000) Pct. of value exempt
1. Salamanca 1,449 276,843 68.88%
2. Rensselaer 446 1,374,431 66.93%
3. Ithaca 857 3,914,479 58.39%
4. Albany 6,034 9,233,109 55.09%
5. Syracuse 7,268 7,313,680 51.05%
6. Ogdensburg 782 349,062 49.40%
7. Peekskill 846 2,644,632 49.21%
8. Geneva 748 675,529 48.16%
9. Oneonta 501 575,683 47.18%
10. Watervliet 361 515,438 46.20%
11. Troy 1,953 2,381,025 46.04%
12. Niagara Falls 3,588 2,152,908 45.48%
13. Rome 2,802 1,518,953 44.78%
14. Little Falls 315 218,269 44.45%
15. Jamestown 2,174 591,655 39.42%
16. Elmira 1,567 581,077 38.89%
17. Schenectady 3,154 2,138,780 37.13%
18. Utica 3,483 1,577,220 36.70%
19. Yonkers 5,357 14,584,869 35.63%
20. Olean 1,093 351,481 35.09%
21. Binghamton 2,267 1,107,332 34.84%
22. Norwich 334 163,594 34.65%
23. Cortland 769 434,798 33.34%
24. Watertown 1,549 680,771 32.54%
25. White Plains 1,210 5,571,691 32.25%
26. Poughkeepsie 1,069 1,259,847 32.16%
27. Johnstown 581 312,832 31.40%
28. Plattsburgh 1,070 575,273 30.86%
29. Oswego 1,036 572,943 30.55%
30. Dunkirk 1,064 249,660 30.20%
31. Canandaigua 564 494,287 29.92%
32. Amsterdam 1,172 364,273 29.83%
33. Auburn 1,769 611,143 29.75%
34. Oneida 1,107 282,250 29.07%
35. New Rochelle 1,811 5,470,851 28.67%
36. Buffalo 18,002 7,773,263 28.59%
37. Hornell 771 137,155 28.48%
38. Hudson 408 384,714 26.58%
39. Kingston 1,392 1,004,527 25.49%
40. Newburgh 911 691,192 25.37%
41. Gloversville 919 184,605 24.93%
42. New York City 168,858 456,264,001 24.37%
43. Mt Vernon 1,420 2,371,402 23.82%
44. Corning 854 245,340 23.49%
45. Cohoes 804 397,832 23.07%
46. Rochester 10,872 3,472,892 22.85%
47. Glens Falls 941 431,826 22.74%
48. Fulton 774 158,894 22.45%
49. Batavia 1,022 240,815 22.10%
50. Middletown 1,090 694,109 21.21%
51. Port Jervis 533 184,237 19.39%
52. Glen Cove 1,548 1,353,366 19.35%
53. Lackawanna 1,238 246,618 19.24%
54. Saratoga Springs 1,299 1,590,454 17.99%
55. North Tonawanda 2,875 498,049 15.51%
56. Long Beach 2,635 1,363,595 14.23%
57. Beacon 685 346,598 14.10%
58. Rye 450 1,791,882 13.24%
59. Lockport 1,216 189,451 12.59%
60. Sherrill 63 40,559 12.30%
61. Tonawanda 1,423 176,658 11.98%
62. Mechanicville 217 28,920 7.72%

Table 5. Exemptions for county purposes: Towns with over 50 percent full value exempt, 2024 assessment rolls

Table 5. Exemptions for county purposes: Towns with over 50 percent full value exempt, 2024 rolls
Rank Town No. of exemptions Exempt value ($000) Pct. of value exempt
1. Scriba (Osw.) 638 3,034,345 84.02%
2. Alfred (All.) 320 554,643 78.73%
3. Blenheim (Scho.) 129 184,953 74.24%
4. Romulus (Sen.) 404 903,351 74.04%
5. Marcy (One.) 584 1,924,003 71.80%
6. Ashford (Cat.) 353 533,625 71.04%
7. Greenwood (Ste.) 314 183,837 70.16%
8. Massena (St. L.) 1,024 1,487,411 68.40%
9. Verona (One.) 1,005 1,082,419 68.00%
10. Lewiston (Nia.) 1,306 4,092,857 66.23%
11. Dover (Dut.) 557 2,109,778 65.49%
12. Le Ray (Jef.) 811 1,152,930 63.85%
13. Harrisburg (Lew.) 260 100,265 62.30%
14. Tyre (Sen.) 309 178,433 60.59%
15. Arkwright (Cha.) 205 162,893 59.38%
16. Nichols (Tio.) 271 285,720 57.74%
17. Cherry Creek (Cha.) 262 120,534 55.93%
18. Cohocton (Ste.) 704 212,042 55.09%
19. Delhi (Del.) 339 640,271 52.85%
20. Wethersfield (Wyo.) 324 98,986 52.69%
21. Orangeville (Wyo.) 306 172,676 52.25%
22. Orleans (Jef.) 359 611,058 51.82%
23. Fairfield (Her.) 351 156,032 51.68%
24. Martinsburg (Lew.) 419 159,317 51.11%
25. Eaton (Mad.) 638 308,554 50.50%

Table 6. Geographic areas with highest and lowest incidence of local-option exempt value, 2024 assessment rolls

A. Ten with highest incidence
Rank Counties Cities Towns
Name Pct. local-option* Name Pct. local-option* Name Pct. local-option*
1. Fulton 24.35% Johnstown (Ful.) 41.32% Ontario (Way.) 64.14%
2. Wayne 20.56% Saratoga Springs (Sar.) 31.20% Shelter Island (Suf.) 47.88%
3. Hamilton 20.32% Auburn (Cay.) 26.81% Lake Pleasant (Ham.) 45.81%
4. Oswego 20.03% Lackawanna (Eri.) 19.76% Jewett (Gre.) 44.32%
5. Monroe 19.18% Tonawanda (Eri.) 19.11% Chautauqua (Cha.) 44.28%
6. Nassau 18.31% Buffalo (Eri.) 18.23% Rhinebeck (Dut.) 40.30%
7. Saratoga 17.87% Rochester (Mon.) 17.57% Warren (Her.) 38.04%
8. Putnam 17.82% Poughkeepsie (Dut.) 16.01% Piercefield (St. L.) 35.12%
9. Columbia 16.17% Newburgh Ora.) 15.66% Fenner (Mad.) 34.36%
10. Washington 16.13% North Tonawanda (Nia.) 15.25% Westerlo (Alb.) 34.14%
B. Ten with lowest incidence
Rank Counties Cities Towns
Name Pct. local-option* Name Pct. local-option* Name Pct. local-option*
1. Allegany 3.52% Little Falls (Her.) 1.99% Red House (Cat.) 0.00%
2. Tompkins 3.57% Ithaca (Tom.) 2.04% Blenheim (Scho.) 0.26%
3. Wyoming 3.89% White Plains (Wes.) 2.36% Harrisburg (Lew.) 0.37%
4. Seneca 4.06% Rensselaer (Ren.) 2.65% Alfred (All.) 0.46%
5. Yates 4.33% Binghamton (Bro.) 2.66% Clare (St. L.) 0.62%
6. Schuyler 4.79% Albany (Alb.) 3.27% Romulus (Sen.) 0.69%
7. Schoharie 5.11% Watervliet (Alb.) 3.36% Dover (Dut.) 0.89%
8. Delaware 5.14% Peekskill (Wes.) 3.50% Ashford (Cat.) 0.98%
9. Cattaraugus 5.28% Ogdensburg (St. L.) 3.68% Orleans (Jef.) 0.98%
10. St Lawrence 5.30% Salamanca (Cat.) 3.96% Cherry Creek (Cha.) 0.99%
*Exempt value of local-option exemptions divided by total exempt value.

Table 7. Exempt value attributable to local option, counties ranked by percent of exempt value, 2024 assessment rolls

Table 7. Exempt value attributable to local option, counties ranked by percent of exempt value, 2024 rolls
Rank County Exempt value local option ($000) Total exempt value ($000) Pct. of value exempt
1. Fulton 381,552 1,566,649 24.35%
2. Wayne 587,969 2,860,000 20.56%
3. Hamilton 83,406 410,383 20.32%
4. Oswego 1,242,050 6,201,682 20.03%
5. Monroe 4,033,072 21,026,924 19.18%
6. Nassau 18,315,440 100,052,602 18.31%
7. Saratoga 1,355,112 7,581,943 17.87%
8. Putnam 552,663 3,101,699 17.82%
9. Columbia 479,189 2,963,529 16.17%
10. Washington 260,647 1,615,952 16.13%
11. Warren 352,331 2,308,746 15.26%
12. Ulster 991,348 6,744,102 14.70%
13. Onondaga 2,444,134 16,933,279 14.43%
14. Erie 4,379,027 30,388,867 14.41%
15. Rockland 2,042,478 14,283,210 14.30%
16. Cayuga 385,393 2,827,359 13.63%
17. Dutchess 1,816,550 14,203,646 12.79%
18. Greene 323,679 2,535,596 12.77%
19. Orange 1,852,433 14,996,750 12.35%
20. Rensselaer 855,671 7,058,239 12.12%
21. Cortland 162,620 1,372,264 11.85%
22. Suffolk 16,020,711 138,812,706 11.54%
23. Essex 253,029 2,304,926 10.98%
24. Orleans 109,954 1,018,601 10.79%
25. Chautauqua 487,706 4,734,057 10.30%
26. Livingston 216,871 2,242,743 9.67%
27. Clinton 240,982 2,555,351 9.43%
28. Montgomery 156,577 1,719,035 9.11%
29. Schenectady 486,243 5,402,162 9.00%
30. Broome 535,471 6,283,798 8.52%
31. Chenango 111,086 1,307,411 8.50%
32. Steuben 276,835 3,293,360 8.41%
33. Chemung 171,945 2,175,969 7.90%
34. Albany 1,359,267 17,249,986 7.88%
35. Ontario 344,641 4,388,672 7.85%
36. Otsego 166,323 2,199,617 7.56%
37. Genesee 135,190 1,804,199 7.49%
38. Westchester 5,286,169 72,893,069 7.25%
39. Herkimer 165,383 2,314,070 7.15%
40. Oneida 752,057 10,873,411 6.92%
41. Madison 153,551 2,229,848 6.89%
42. Lewis 84,877 1,233,227 6.88%
43. Jefferson 323,702 4,966,579 6.52%
44. Sullivan 329,101 5,057,866 6.51%
45. Tioga 119,946 1,926,082 6.23%
46. Niagara 620,508 10,891,379 5.70%
47. Franklin 115,656 2,054,566 5.63%
48. St Lawrence 283,849 5,356,677 5.30%
49. Cattaraugus 165,131 3,125,151 5.28%
50. Delaware 117,296 2,283,418 5.14%
51. Schoharie 95,652 1,873,075 5.11%
52. Schuyler 33,663 703,338 4.79%
53. Yates 67,371 1,556,469 4.33%
54. Seneca 95,715 2,359,829 4.06%
55. Wyoming 69,173 1,780,422 3.89%
56. Tompkins 268,392 7,512,516 3.57%
57. Allegany 62,797 1,783,672 3.52%

Table 8. City/Town distribution of exempt value attributable to local option exemptions: 2024 assessment rolls

Table 8. City/Town distribution of exempt value attributable to local option exemptions: 2024 rolls
Percent of value in local option exemptions Number of cities/towns Percent of cities/towns
0 - 9.99 530 53.266%
10 - 19.99 347 34.874%
20 - 20.99 92 9.246%
30 - 30.99 18 1.809%
40 or more 8 0.804%

1 Most exemptions are granted under Article 4 of the Real Property Tax Law, but others are authorized by a wide variety of statutes ranging from the Agriculture and Markets Law to the Transportation Law.

2The material in the report relates to exemptions only. Not covered are the restricted assessments which apply to certain types of property (e.g., condominiums), tax abatement programs, and formerly real property which has been statutorily redefined as personal (non-taxable) property (e.g., certain switching equipment owned by telephone companies). Restricted assessments, tax abatements, and statutory redefinitions, like exemptions, are tax expenditures in that they reduce or shift tax liability.

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