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New York · Through 2026-09-11

N.Y. Real Property Tax Law § 550: Definitions

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. Real Property Tax Law
  2. Article 5. Assessment Procedure
  3. Title 3. Correction of Assessment Rolls and Tax Rolls

§ 550. Definitions. When used in this title:

1. "Assessment roll" means the assessment roll as it exists from the

time of its tentative completion to the time of the annexation of a

warrant for the collection of taxes.

2. "Clerical error" means:

(a) an incorrect entry of assessed valuation on an assessment roll or

on a tax roll which, because of a mistake in transcription, does not

conform to the entry for the same parcel which appears on the property

record card, field book or other final work product of the assessor, or

the final verified statement of the board of assessment review; or

(b) an entry which is a mathematical error present in the computation

of a partial exemption; or

(c) an incorrect entry of assessed valuation on an assessment roll or

on a tax roll for a parcel which, except for a failure on the part of

the assessor to act on a partial exemption, would be eligible for such

partial exemption; or

(d) an entry which is a mathematical error present in the computation

or extension of the tax; or

(e) an entry on a tax roll which is incorrect by reason of a mistake

in the determination or transcription of a special assessment or other

charge based on units of service provided by a special district; or

(f) a duplicate entry on an assessment roll or on a tax roll of the

description or assessed valuation, or both, of an entire single parcel;

or

(g) an entry on an assessment or tax roll which is incorrect by reason

of an arithmetical mistake by the assessor appearing on the property

record card, field book or other final work product of the assessor; or

(h) an incorrect entry on a tax roll of a relevied school tax or

relevied village tax which has been previously paid; or

(i) an entry on a tax roll which is incorrect by reason of a mistake

in the transcription of a relevied school tax or relevied village tax;

or

(j) an incorrect entry of assessed valuation on an assessment roll or

a tax roll due to an assessor's failure to utilize the required

assessment method pursuant to section five hundred eighty-one-a of this

article in the valuation of qualifying real property.

3. "Error in essential fact" means:

(a) an incorrect entry on the taxable portion of the assessment roll,

or the tax roll, or both, of the assessed valuation of an improvement to

real property which was destroyed or removed prior to taxable status

date for such assessment roll; or

(b) an incorrect entry on the taxable portion of the assessment roll,

or the tax roll, or both, of the assessed valuation of an improvement to

real property which was not in existence or which was present on a

different parcel; or

(c) an incorrect entry of acreage on the taxable portion of the

assessment roll, or the tax roll, or both, which acreage was considered

by the assessor in the valuation of the parcel and which resulted in an

incorrect assessed valuation, where such acreage is shown to be

incorrect on a survey submitted by the applicant; or

(d) the omission of the value of an improvement present on real

property prior to taxable status date; or

(e) an incorrect entry of a partial exemption on an assessment roll

for a parcel which is not eligible for such partial exemption; provided

that the exemption has not been renounced pursuant to section four

hundred ninety-six of this chapter; or

(f) an entry pursuant to article nineteen of this chapter on an

assessment or tax roll which is incorrect by reason of a

misclassification of property which is exclusively used for either

residential or non-residential purposes.

4. "Improvement" means real property as defined in paragraph (b) of

subdivision twelve of section one hundred two of this chapter, and which

has been separately described and valued on the property record card,

field book or other final work product of the assessor.

4-a. "Omission" or "omitted real property" means a parcel wholly

omitted from the assessment roll or tax roll, taxable real property

entered on the roll as wholly exempt real property, or an error in

essential fact as defined in paragraph (d) of subdivision three of this

section. An omission shall also include taxable real property for which

no school district or special district tax was levied because of a

failure to include the property within the appropriate taxing district.

An "omission" or "omitted real property" shall not include real property

assessed pursuant to subdivisions two through five of section five

hundred of this article.

5. "Tax levying body" means the governing board of a municipal

corporation which annexes a warrant for the collection of taxes to a

final assessment roll.

6. "Tax roll" means a final assessment roll upon which taxes have been

extended and to which a warrant has been annexed.

7. "Unlawful entry" means:

(a) an entry on the taxable portion of the assessment roll or the tax

roll, or both, of the assessed valuation of real property which, except

for the provisions of section four hundred ninety of this chapter, is

wholly exempt from taxation; or

(b) an entry on an assessment roll or a tax roll, or both, of the

assessed valuation of real property which is entirely outside the

boundaries of the assessing unit, the school district or the special

district in which the real property is designated as being located, but

not an entry on an assessment roll or a tax roll, or both, of the

assessed valuation of real property assessed pursuant to subdivisions

two through five of section five hundred of this article; or

(c) an entry of assessed valuation on an assessment roll or on a tax

roll, or both, which has been made by a person or body without the

authority to make such entry; or

(d) an entry of assessed valuation of state land subject to taxation

on an assessment roll or on a tax roll, or both, which exceeds the

assessment of such land approved by the commissioner; or

(e) an entry of assessed valuation of a special franchise on an

assessment roll or on a tax roll, or both, which exceeds the final

assessment thereof as determined by the commissioner pursuant to

subdivision one of section six hundred six of this chapter, or the full

value of that special franchise as determined by the commissioner

pursuant to subdivision two of section six hundred six of this chapter

adjusted by the final state equalization rate established by the

commissioner for the assessment roll upon which that value appears.

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