While Long Island and New York City get all of the headlines, it is Westchester County that boasts the highest property taxes in the entire state of New York. Not only that, but Westchester often competes for some of the highest property taxes in the entire nation. Combined with some of the highest property values in the United States, this has led to the county being unaffordable for both newcomers and longtime residents.
While exemptions such as the STAR program do provide relief, they are often just a drop in the bucket compared to the average Westchester tax bill. Instead, a growing number of homeowners and businesses are using property tax grievances to settle the score and try to keep assessed values somewhere close to the realm of sanity. While several towns in Westchester have varying deadlines, most will see the final day to grieve set for June 16, 2026.
The King of Suburban Value
While NYC and the Long Island counties of Suffolk and Nassau have higher tax rates, Westchester wins the dubious race by combining high tax rates with extreme property values. Since property values are the main basis for taxes, this often leads to massive bills. According to recent sales data, the average home in Westchester sells for around $725,000. This produces tax bills that can easily range anywhere from $9,000 to $15,000 per year.
Why are Westchester Taxes so High?
The first reason for these sky-high values is the primary cause for all large real estate values: location. Being located just to the north of New York City, Manhattan in particular, makes Westchester one of the most in-demand counties in the entire world. This offers a suburban refuge from the urban sprawl of NYC and is a relatively short commute from the financial capital of the planet. This is the same reason that property values are so high in Nassau and Suffolk counties. These suburban areas have higher values than even New York City itself.
Like NYC and Long Island, the land in Westchester is so expensive due to a relative lack of construction compared to the population and jobs present in the area. Affordable housing has always been a concern in the area, but thanks to zoning, most of the suburban residential real estate is restricted to single-family housing only, making each parcel a precious resource. While Suffolk County has explored some recent construction with multifamily housing, Westchester remains conservative in that regard.
School Taxes
The largest property tax burden in the Empire State comes from school districts. This is why the entire STAR program was created, as it is targeted exclusively at school levies. Westchester has some of the best schools in the nation, offering private school-level education for all children. This requires extensive funding, not just for teachers and facilities, but for support staff as well. Like most of New York, pensions for retired staff and teachers are also a huge demand for funding.
A Small Tax Base
Because real estate prices are so high, Westchester has a relatively small tax base in many towns. With these also being primarily residential areas, homeowners must take the brunt of the tax burden in order to fund the various amenities that make Westchester the desirable location that it is. This combines with the lack of multifamily housing to make each individual home a target of increasing taxes. This is not universally true, as cities like Yonkers have a more diversified population and economy.
Market Value
Market value is the basic worth of a property according to the assessor. This is determined by looking at property sales dating back three years. Thanks to the high demand for land, homes are often sold for extremely high prices. This, in turn, leads to a growing market value across the county, as more home sales confirm the high prices. While assessors are generally behind what the market actually is, they will base their numbers on these studies, often leading to prices far above what a home will actually sell for.
Grievances Settle the Score
Like Nassau and Suffolk counties, Westchester residents are discovering that the only real way to secure any type of tax reduction is to explore property tax grievances. Known as appeals in other states, grievances challenge the values placed on a property by the assessor, typically the market value. This allows taxpayers the chance to pierce the veil of the assessor’s values and discover what their home or business is truly worth. By correcting or lowering these values, taxes are often lowered in turn. Grievances can also be used to fix factual errors, such as the wrong number of rooms, incorrect measurements, or nonexistent improvements.
In order for a grievance to be successful, a taxpayer must have evidence on their side. If you want to show that your home is overassessed, you will need to provide several examples of home sales dating back three years. These chosen comparable properties should be in the same location as your property and have a similar room count, size, and classification. Once you have collected the sales records, you can bolster them by taking photographs of your property to document conditions or damage that may lower the overall value. Getting repair estimates can also be a boon. For many homes, especially those of high value, it could be worth the investment of an independent appraiser.
The Westchester Grievance Schedule
Unlike other counties, there is no single deadline for grievances in Westchester County. The deadlines are generally by town, with several blocks sharing a single date. The largest block, by far, will see its deadline pass on June 16, 2026. However, Yonkers, the largest city in the county, will have its deadline on November 15, 2026. The grievance window for all towns is incredibly short, usually only a couple of weeks. It starts with the release of the tentative assessment roll, which must be reviewed for errors in factual information or valuation. This was released on June 1, 2026, for most of the county, while Yonkers will see its tentative roll on November 1, 2026.
Towns with a Grievance Deadline of June 16, 2026
- Bedford
- Cortlandt
- Eastchester
- Greenburgh
- Harrison
- Lewisboro
- Mamaroneck
- Mount Kisco
- Mount Pleasant
- Mount Vernon
- New Castle
- North Castle
- North Salem
- Ossining
- Peekskill
- Pelham
- Pound Ridge
- Rye
- Scarsdale
- Somers
- Yorktown
O’Connor Helps Clients All Across Westchester County
Whether you are in Yonkers, Scarsdale, or anywhere in between, we at O’Connor can help you get the most out of your grievance process. For over 50 years, we have helped our clients reduce their taxes by challenging the values of their assessors and appraisal districts. We recently opened a branch office on Long Island to help the people of New York City and the surrounding area, including Westchester County. Our experts will gather the evidence needed to secure the best reduction possible, using data-driven techniques to identify the most appropriate comparable properties.
We offer premium service to all of our clients. When you join, you are assigned a personal client success consultant, who will be with you through the entire process. They will be your primary point of contact and someone you can rely on throughout the process. After the evidence is gathered, our hearing experts will file grievances on your behalf, and will handle meetings with the Board of Assessment Review (BAR) and the Small Claims Assessment Review (SCAR) if needed. We can even support litigation in the most extreme of circumstances. There is no cost to join, and you will only be charged a portion of your savings if we are able to lower your property taxes.
