New Tax Assessments Are Coming For Some Buffalo Homeowners

With residents in New York State's second-largest city being just over 3 months into the 2026/27 fiscal year, many homeowners across the city are getting a letter in the mail they weren't really expecting. However, now that city government is looking to change the way it operates, there are some things that some of us might have to get used to, especially when it comes to our property assessments.

For nearly 20 years, residents in Buffalo had not had their properties reassessed for tax purposes. Due to that, there were wide inequities in what homes and businesses in the city were valued at and taxed on. A few years ago, the city did the thing it had avoided doing for decades, updating the tax rolls.

Many homeowners across Buffalo were shocked about how the values changed, but after 2 decades of ignoring it, it shouldn't be that surprising. Now the city is moving to make sure properties are reassessed every three years, and the first batch of assessments has just gone out in the mail, which is shocking homeowners again.

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If you're one of the 17,000 Buffalo homeowners who got a new assessment notice in the mail for the 2027/28 tax year, you need to know a few things to be ready for what could be a new tax bill.

You have until November 7th this year to challenge your assessment if you disagree with it. The Board of Assessment Review (BAR) is open for you to challenge your assessment informally and formally.

New York State also provides a handy guide to help property owners understand assessments. You can check that out here.

The city assessor's office isn't always right with the value they assign to your property, so it's important that you get involved.