General Information for Property Owners
All unpaid taxes are collected by the county treasurer (except properties within the City of Fulton). Please direct all questions concerning the current amount due, interest/penalties, or payment plans to the County Treasurer's Office.
Assessments/Exemptions
Your local assessor sets all assessments within their municipality and approves all applications for exemptions. No county office provides these services.
Online Resources
- Assessment roll information for every property in Oswego County is available online via the Oswego County Imagemate web site.
- Various online maps are published by Oswego County to allow better visualization of property boundaries, district information, tax maps, and other geographic data.
- All school districts and some towns/villages have their tax records online.
- Delinquent taxes are also online via the county treasurer.
Deeds/Surveys
All deeds and surveys are filed with the Oswego County Clerk's office and you may obtain copies from them for a small fee. If you are filing a subdivision (including splitting any property into one or more piece) you will need to file a copy of that map with our office first before filing it with the Clerk. The tax mapper does not keep any surveys on file.
Changing Title on Real Property
In New York State, real property title is generally transferred by deed. Every filed deed is a legal document that adds to the "chain of title" concerning the specific property in question. Deeds on file cannot be changed so in order to sell or transfer a property to a new owner (even to "add a name" to a property) a new one must be filed with all relevant forms and paperwork. We highly recommend contacting a lawyer who can advise you on the different steps you would need to take, including which type of deed to utilize, as no county agency or department is qualified to do so.
Tax Collection Periods
All property taxes are collected locally by the town, city, village, or school tax collector. Collection periods can vary by municipality, but in general they are:
- County taxes: January - March
- Village taxes: June - October
- School taxes: September - October
Tax Apportionment and Parcel Splits
If you bought or sold only part of an existing parcel you will not receive a separate bill unless the deed or survey was filed on or before March 1st. If your legal document was filed after March 1st tax bills will be created for the old parcel and you may request an apportionment of that old assessment from your local assessor in order to pay only your portion of the tax bill.
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Tax Enforcement
All property taxes, once levied, become a lien upon the property and remain a lien until they are paid. The county will pursue Article 11 tax foreclosure proceedings on all taxes that remain unpaid two years after being issued (four years for agricultural properties). All properties foreclosed on for taxes are sold at public auction to the highest bidder to quickly return them to the tax rolls.