WAWARSING – Property owners in Wawarsing and Ellenville have received their notices from Maxwell Appraisal Services by now. It seems a majority are looking at increased valuations, and are already worrying about how much higher their property taxes may go. An equally apparent minority, mostly in the Village of Ellenville, are enjoying the opposite emotions, with a lightness to their steps and a song in their hearts.

So you have your notice from the Appraisal Service, what do you do next? If you come to the conclusion that the appraisal is about right, give or take a few thousand dollars, then you don't have many options. You may have to accept that for years you've been under-taxed.

This is not a concept that comes easily, of course.

If, on the other hand, you feel that the appraisal is off, that your property is not worth anything near as much as what the appraisal notice puts it at, then you start with a call to 1-866 727 2650 and set up an appointment with the appraisal service people to discuss things. The meetings will take place on the third floor of the Ellenville Government Center (not the Wawarsing Town Hall), at 2 Elting Court (the former Provident Bank office building).

Please note, the notice you have received from Maxwell Appraisal Services is a preliminary assessment of your property. At one of these meetings with the appraisal service people you can present information regarding your views of the assessment. You should bring all the relevant stuff you can, including recent photos of your house and property, even real estate listings of the property and similar ones in your neighborhood. Just note, though, that there will not be a determination made at this meeting, nor any changes in property valuations. In fact you will only hear back from the appraisal service in the first week of May, in a letter.

But that will not be the final determination, either. If, after receiving that letter in May you still feel that the appraisers got it wrong and that your property has been grossly overvalued (or, conversely, undervalued) and you disagree with the tentative assessment you can file a formal grievance with the Board of Assessment Review. For that purpose you need form RP-524, which you can obtain at your local assessor's office, or online now at www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/orpts/grievancebooklet.pdf. Another useful file to look at is a guide to performing your own estimated appraisal of your property, available at www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/publications/orpts/mv_estimates.pdf.

For any self-appraisal, you want to find at least three sales of properties like your own — meaning a similar size house, on a similarly-sized and situated parcel of land, with similar amenities and so on. These can be found at your local assessor's office, or online. Search under terms like "comparable home sales" and then include your neighborhood, hamlet, town, or road address.

Another useful tool in all this is the Ulster County Parcel Viewer available at ulstercountyny.gov/maps/parcel-viewer. This allows you to see the valuations of all your neighbors' properties, with previous valuations too.

Remember that you must file your concerns and complaints about the appraisal of your property on Form RP-524.

Working with the Parcel Viewer, info from the assessor's office and online databases you should be able to produce a reasonably solid assessment of your property. If that disagrees markedly with the assessment produced by the appraisal service, then you can take the next step and file a formal grievance with the Board of Assessment Review. The board will meet in May, an exact date and time to be announced after May 1. It is crucial to file a grievance if you believe you will proceed towards further legal review.

If, following formal grievance proceedings, you are still unsatisfied, you may continue to file suit in court, in small claims court, and even by entering a case of tax certiori in State Supreme Court. For these steps you will need an attorney. Law firms that specialize in this aspect of things can be found at www.lawyers.com/tax-certiorari/ulster-co/new-york/law-firms.

Why, you may be asking yourself, would the town and village undergo a revaluation anyway? Why disturb things and upset property owners?

"Municipal-wide reassessments are the best way to ensure that assessments are fair and accurate," explains the state on its website.

When there has not been a reassessment in a long time, as was the case for Wawarsing and Ellenville, anomalies build up between properties that were once taxed on the same basis. Over enough time fairly heavy imbalances appear. In the case of Wawarsing and Ellenville, the previous supervisor, Scott Carlsen, felt that there was a need for a revaluation because it was felt that the village was broadly overtaxed and the commercial heart of the municipality was carrying too much of the tax burden. Meanwhile, it was sensed that the residential areas of Wawarsing were undervalued, reflecting valuations from fifty years ago when Ellenville was a vibrant small town with dozens of businesses and Wawarsing was seen as less desirable.

"During a reassessment, the assessor (or a hired contractor) will review the market values of all of the properties in the community," the state's description of revals and why they are necessary, continues. "Based on changes in the real estate market, the assessor will determine which assessments need to be increased or decreased. Depending on how long it has been since the last reassessment, the assessor may send information requests to property owners and/or do physical appraisals of properties."

Remember, you must get that Form RP-524 if you intend to seek grievance over your assessment.