November 22, 2023
Recently, the NYS Dept. Tax & Finance released data regarding the STaR Credit amounts. These are compared to the STaR exemption amounts for the five school districts in Franklin, as follows:
| Town of | School district | Enhanced STAR credit | Enhanced STAR exemption savings | Difference | Basic STAR credit | Basic STAR exemption savings | Difference |
| Franklin | Delhi | $897.00 | $812.00 | $85.00 | $348.57 | $348.57 | $0.00 |
| Franklin | Franklin | $914.00 | $827.00 | $87.00 | $462.97 | $421.00 | $41.97 |
| Franklin | Sidney | $1,035.00 | $965.00 | $70.00 | $423.00 | $415.00 | $8.00 |
| Franklin | Walton | $857.00 | $776.00 | $81.00 | $368.00 | $357.00 | $11.00 |
| Franklin | Otego-Unadilla (Unatego) | $1,183.00 | $1,072.00 | $111.00 | $561.00 | $548.00 | $13.00 |
** Note ** there are no STaR exemptions in the Unatego School District in the Town of Franklin **
Based on this data, if you were to make your decision regarding switching to the STaR Credit (giving up your STaR exemption) exclusively on the dollar amount of savings, switching will give you ‘more bang for your buck’. There are other considerations, which each Taxpayer will need to take into consideration. More details may be obtained on the DTF website.
October 13, 2023
Real property taxes tend to be ‘regressive’. That is, higher income earners typically pay a lower percentage of their income to their property tax. And, inversely, lower income earners typically pay a higher percentage of their income to property taxes.
This regressivity can be exacerbated by regressive assessments. That is the situation where properties at higher market values are assessed at a lower percentage of market value than are properties with ‘typical’ market value. To mitigate any possible regressivity in assessments, town-wide reappraisals on a regular schedule are required.
For an example of what can happen when an assessing unit goes for an extended time between reappraisals, consider this presentation regarding the Town of Philipstown in Putnam County NY.
July 3, 2023
The 2023 Final assessment roll has been published and is available for inspection at 2023 Final assessment roll
May 1, 2023
The 2023 Tentative assessment roll has been published and is available for inspection at 2023 Tentative assessment roll
February 1, 2023
On December 23, 2022, NYS Real Property Tax law was amended to require each Town statewide to send notification to all residential property owners regarding the Senior Citizen tax exemption. The requirements to qualify are as follows:
- The property owner must be at least 65 years of age
- The property must be the primary residence of the owner.
- The owners’ income may not exceed the income limit set by each taxing district
For the purpose of calculating income for the Senior Citizens’ exemption, annual Social Security benefits must be included as income. Each taxing district sets the income limit for that district. Current limits established by taxing districts within the Town of Franklin are:
| District Name | Annual Income Limit |
| Delaware County | 27,700 |
| Town of Franklin | – |
| Delaware Academy | |
| Franklin Central School | 25,000 |
| Sidney Central School | 13,699 |
| Walton Central School | 8,700 |
| Unatego | 16,000 |
More information regarding the Senior Citizen exemption may be found at
Publication 1091, Senior Citizens Property Tax Exemption (9/22) (ny.gov)
An application for the Senior Citizens’ exemption can be downloaded at https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/current_forms/orpts/rp467_fill_in.pdf
Instructions are available at
https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/current_forms/orpts/rp467i.pdf
July 1, 2022
The 2022 Final assessment roll has been published and is available for inspection at current assessment roll..
June 3, 2022
The Town of Franklin has published a new official website at https://franklindelco-ny.gov/ As required by NYS Real Property Tax law the current assessment roll will be posted on that official Town website.
A copy of the current assessment roll and copies of historical assessment rolls will continue to be posted on the Town Assessor’s website.
May 2, 2022
The 2022 Tentative assessment roll has been published and is available for inspection at 2022 Tentative assessment roll
March 16, 2022
The NYS Dept. Tax & Finance has terminated the contract with Tyler Technologies for development the next generation of assessment administration software. The Tax Department is partnering with the New York State Office of Information Technology Services to develop the next Real Property System software in-house.
February 22, 2022
The NYS Dept. Tax & Finance has issued a stop work order to Tyler Technologies. Tyler has been developing the next generation of assessment administration software.
July 7, 2021
The Town of Franklin 2021 Final Assessment roll has been published. Pursuant to New York State Real Property Tax Law §1590, a copy can be viewed here.
April 30, 2021
The Town of Franklin 2021 tentative assessment roll has been published.
February 26, 2021
A FAQ regarding reappraisal was added to the Assessor documents on this site. It can be found at Reappraisal FAQ.
February 10, 2021
The best way to keep up with the ever-changing STaR Exemption program is to check the resources provided by the NYS Department of Taxation & Finance. Their main STaR Resources can be found here.
Beginning in 2016, no new STaR exemptions were available throughout New York State. The Dept. of Tax & Finance is transitioning to the STaR Credit program. Anyone receiving the STaR exemption may choose to voluntarily switch to the Credit program. DTF maintains a specific page with their opinions on why you might decide to switch.
The Assessor can not give you legal advice. Any tools found on this website are provided to help you be better informed so that you can make the best decision for your individual circumstances regarding whether to voluntarily switch to the STaR Credit. Though I have requested STaR Credit versus Exemption amounts from the Dept. of Tax and Finance, they have as of this writing refused to provide the amount of the Credit checks. The Dept. has indicated to me
‘Best we can say is that more than 75% of Enhanced STAR recipients and roughly half of Basic STAR recipients receive a larger benefit if they’re receiving the STAR credit.’
I have compiled below the two most recent year’s maximum exemption savings by School District:
| Maximum STaR Benefit for September School Tax bill (Town of Franklin) | ||||||||
| 2019 | 2020 | |||||||
| STaR Exemption | STaR Credit | STaR Exemption | STaR Credit | |||||
| School District | Basic | Enhanced | Basic | Enhanced | Basic | Enhanced | Basic | Enhanced |
| Delhi | $405 | $812 | $405 | $812 | ||||
| Franklin | $421 | $827 | $421 | $827 | ||||
| Otego-Unadilla | **see note** | **see note** | ||||||
| Sidney | $472 | $965 | $472 | $965 | ||||
| Walton | $357 | $776 | $357 | $776 | ||||
| Note: There were no STaR exemptions in Unatego School District on the 2015 Town of Franklin assessment roll. Thus, this exemption is no longer available. The STaR Credit would be the only option here for a primary resident. | ||||||||
| Also Note: The STaR Credit cannot be less than the Exemption, though it may increase by up to 2% annually. Because the State has yet to provide the STaR credit maximums for either year, the above data will not tell you definitively which benefit would have been greater in either year. | ||||||||
For specific questions you may have regarding the STaR program, please contact the Assessor’s Office.
January 13, 2021
At a special meeting – January 12, 2021 – the Franklin Town Board resolved in support of a 2021 reappraisal. This reaffirmed their prior commitment to maintain equitable assessments through regular, periodic reappraisals.
June 30, 2020
The 2020 Town of Franklin 2020 final assessment roll has been published. Pursuant to New York State Real Property Tax Law §1590, a copy can be viewed here.
June 21, 2020
By NYS Governor Executive Order 202.44, the Real Property Tax Law Article 5, is modified to allow the final assessment roll to be filed up to 30 days late;
This Executive Order also modified Real Property Tax Law § 1212, to allow the commissioner of Dept. of Tax and Finance to certify final state equalization rates, class ratios, and class equalization rates no later than 10 days before the last date sent by law.
On June 9, 2020 the Dept. of Tax & Finance issued their final equalization rate for the Town of Franklin at 87.50
June 1, 2020
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
On Tuesday, May 5, 2020 the 2020 Town of Franklin tentative assessment roll was published to this website. Pursuant to Executive Order 202.22 there will be no provision for in-person examination of this assessment roll. Anyone having questions/concerns regarding this roll should contact the Assessor directly at (607) 230-0900 ext# 1 or AssessorFranklin@Gmail.com If you would like to video conference regarding the assessment roll, that will be arranged for you.
For 2020, the Board of Assessment Review (BAR) will meet by video conference on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 from 4 – 8 PM. Any Complainant that wishes to be heard that night must file an RP-524 for any parcel for which they believe themselves to be aggrieved. That form must be received at the Assessor’s Office on or before Thursday, May 21. As this is an open meeting, any member of the public may choose to attend the BAR video conference meeting.
Though the Assessor is generally avilable by telephone or email throughout the month of May, I will specifically be available through video conference at the following times:
Thursday, May 21 1 PM – 5 PM
Friday, May 22 4 PM – 8 PM
Saturday, May 23 10 AM – 2 PM
Tuesday, May 26 10 AM – 2 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
On Tuesday, April 21, the Franklin Town Board considered the State disaster emergency declaration regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, and its financial and emotional impacts on the community. After much consideration and out of deep concern for the well-being of Franklin Taxpayers, the Town Board unanimously resolved to postpone implementation of the current reappraisal until 2021.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday, April 20, 2020
NYS Governor Cuomo directed in pertinent part as follows:
” . . . Article 5 of the Real Property Tax Law, and analogous provisions of any other general or special laws that require a tentative assessment roll to be filed on or before June 1, 2020, to allow the tentative and final assessment rolls to be filed, at local option, up to 30 days later than otherwise allowable, to allow an assessing unit to set a date for hearing assessment complaints that is at least 21 days after the filing of the tentative roll, to allow notice of the filing of the tentative roll to be published solely online so long as the date for hearing complaints is prominently displayed, to suspend in-person inspection of the tentative roll, and to allow local Boards of Assessment Review to hear complaints remotely by conference call or similar service, provided that complainants can present their complaints through such service and the public has the ability to view or listen to such proceeding; . . . “
Thus, the Town of Franklin tentative assessment roll will be filed on or before May 5, 2020. Notice of filing that roll will be posted on this website.
The Board of Assessment Review will meet Wednesday, May 27, 2020 from 4-8PM. That meeting will be via video conference. Anyone wishing to be heard that day must submit Form RP-524 on or before Thursday May 21, 2020. Upon receipt of any RP-524 by the Assessor, the Complainant will be provided with the details for attending the video conference Board of Assessment Review hearing.