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Corrections of Errors

Corrections to assessment rolls and tax rolls can happen at any time throughout the year, but it can sometimes be confusing to know whether:
  1. A correctable error has occurred or
  2. Which form should be used to correct the error
First, only errors that are described in Real Property Tax Law are able to be corrected. In brief, these errors will fall under one of these 3 categories:

(a) an incorrect entry of assessed valuation on an assessment roll or on a tax roll which, because of a mistake in transcription, does not conform to the entry for the same parcel which appears on the property record card, field book or other final work product of the assessor, or the final verified statement of the board of assessment review; or

(b) an entry which is a mathematical error present in the computation of a partial exemption; or

(c) an incorrect entry of assessed valuation on an assessment roll or on a tax roll for a parcel which, except for a failure on the part of the assessor to act on a partial exemption, would be eligible for such partial exemption; or

(d) an entry which is a mathematical error present in the computation or extension of the tax; or

(e) an entry on an assessment roll or on a tax roll which is incorrect by reason of a mistake in the determination or transcription of a special assessment or other charge based on units of service provided by a special district; or

(f) a duplicate entry on an assessment roll or on a tax roll of the description or assessed valuation, or both, of an entire single parcel; or

(g) an entry on an assessment or tax roll which is incorrect by reason of an arithmetical mistake by the assessor appearing on the property record card, field book or other final work product of the assessor; or

(h) an incorrect entry on a tax roll of a relevied school tax or relevied village tax which has been previously paid; or

(i) an entry on a tax roll which is incorrect by reason of a mistake in the transcription of a relevied school tax or relevied village tax.

(a) an incorrect entry on the taxable portion of the assessment roll, or the tax roll, or both, of the assessed valuation of an improvement to real property which was destroyed or removed prior to taxable status date for such assessment roll; or

(b) an incorrect entry on the taxable portion of the assessment roll, or the tax roll, or both, of the assessed valuation of an improvement to real property which was not in existence or which was present on a different parcel; or

(c) an incorrect entry of acreage on the taxable portion of the assessment roll, or the tax roll, or both, which acreage was considered by the assessor in the valuation of the parcel and which resulted in an incorrect assessed valuation, where such acreage is shown to be incorrect on a survey submitted by the applicant; or

(d) the omission of the value of an improvement present on real property prior to taxable status date; or

(e) an incorrect entry of a partial exemption on an assessment roll for a parcel which is not eligible for such partial exemption; or

(f) an entry pursuant to RPTL, Art. 19 on an assessment or tax roll which is incorrect by reason of a misclassification of property which is exclusively used for either residential or non-residential purposes.

(a) an entry on the taxable portion of the assessment roll or the tax roll, or both, of the assessed valuation of real property which, except for the provisions of RPTL, §490, is wholly exempt from taxation; or

(b) an entry on an assessment roll or a tax roll, or both, of the assessed valuation of real property which is entirely outside the boundaries of the assessing unit, the school district or the special district in which the real property is designated as being located, but not an entry on an assessment roll or a tax roll, or both, of the assessed valuation of real property assessed pursuant to RPTL, §500, subds. (2)-(5); or

(c) an entry of assessed valuation on an assessment roll or on a tax roll, or both, which has been made by a person or body without the authority to make such entry; or

(d) an entry of assessed valuation of state land subject to taxation on an assessment roll or on a tax roll, or both, which exceeds the assessment of such land approved by the state board; or

(e) an entry of assessed valuation of a special franchise on an assessment roll or on a tax roll, or both, which exceeds the final assessment thereof as determined by the state board.

To correct the errors above we'll start with the most common occurrence: you notice a correctable error on the tax bill. This can be corrected in one of two ways:
  1. If the bill is unpaid and still being collected by the local tax collector the Owner files form RP-554 with the County Director of Real Property Tax Services
  2. If the bill was paid, or was returned as unpaid, the Owner files form RP-556 with the County Director of Real Property Tax Services
Errors corrected via this process will also correct the Final Assessment roll so the error does not occur again on tax levies that utilize that year's assessment roll.

Filing forms with the County Director of Real Property Tax Services
In Person
Real Property Office
Legislative Office Building (Floor 2)
46 East Bridge Street
Oswego, NY 13126

Post Mail
Oswego County
Attn: Real Property
46 East Bridge Street
Oswego, NY 13126

By Fax
Fax to: 315-349-8281

By Email

If the error is on an assessment roll and taxes have not yet been extended, the error can be corrected in one of two ways:
  1. If the Tentative assessment roll has been filed (May 1st) and grievance day has not yet occurred (typically 4th Tuesday in May) the Assessor may file form RP-552 with the local Board of Assessment Review (BAR) on Grievance Day to correct the error before the Final Roll is filed.
  2. If the Final Roll has been filed (July 1st) or Grievance Day has already passed, the Assessor may file form RP-553 with the local Board of Assessment Review (BAR) at one of their second meetings in order to correct the final assessment roll before taxes are extended.
If taxes have already been extended, see above for the procedure to correct a tax roll. This procedure will also correct the final roll to fix the error before any further taxes are extended.

Correction Forms