The New York State Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) authorizes a property owner to petition the court for relief in the case of property assessments. Under this provision, property owners who pursue this relief may obtain a court settlement, known as a Certiorari Tax Refund Judgment, with their local taxing jurisdiction. The Westchester County Finance Department will process the judgments for only the Westchester County portion of property taxes. In Westchester County the Commissioner of Finance is also the County Treasurer.
Read more about penalties and interest on late payment of taxes.
In order to process refunds of County taxes via a certiorari judgment, the following must be provided. Please note: the Westchester County Finance Department only refunds County taxes; the local school district and the local city or town refunds their property taxes directly.
- The lawyer representing the property owner serves the county with the hard copy Consent Judgment and Stipulation of Settlement signed by the presiding judge.
- The Judgment and Stipulation of Settlement documents must contain the representative agreement signatures of the property petitioner, the respondent city or town municipality, the Westchester County Attorney, and usually the respective school district.
- The lawyer’s submission must include Proof of Payment of taxes for the applicable Westchester County tax years (not assessment years) and the name of the Westchester County sewer district (if applicable to the property).
- Lastly, the lawyer must include the actual street address of the property in either the judgment narrative or the cover letter.
The Proof of Payment of taxes is a clearly identified letter from the city or town Tax Receiver evidencing: – the tax years paid, – the billed property assessment used for each tax year, – the actual street address of the property, – and the name of the County sewer district applicable to the property (if any). – If any lots or units in multi-dwelling or multi-unit buildings are exempt then that information must be provided by the city or town and must be requested by the attorney representing the property owner.
New Requirements as of Jan 2013: – per request of the Westchester County Finance Commissioner, the letter must indicate if the property owner is paying County taxes, County Refuse District taxes, and County Sewer District taxes or if the property is exempt for any of those taxes.
– per request of the Westchester County Finance Commissioner, please include a copy of the last tax bill pertaining to the judgment for the property.
Proprietary municipal financial system screen prints are not suitable as proof of payment.
The letter is signed by the city or town Receiver of Taxes, the city or town Finance Commissioner, or their authorized subordinates.
The city or town Tax Receiver also knows the county sewer district, if any.
The attorney representing the property owner must obtain and provide the documentation detailed above.
Judgments and documentation should be sent via hard copy to:
Westchester County Finance Department 148 Martine Ave, Suite 724 – Tax Certioraris White Plains, New York 10601
For questions about your finalized certiorari judgment that you believe will generate a County tax refund, call the Westchester County Finance Department at (914) 995-2771. Questions about tax refunds of local municipal or school district taxes should be directed to those entities directly.
Related topic: For questions about SCAR agreements, call the Westchester County Finance Department at (914) 995-2772. Please see our web page concerning the requirements for receiving a tax refund using a SCAR agreement.