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Common Questions and Answers - Property Assessments |
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- Question:
How do I begin my research to challenge my assessment?
Answer:
Start by carefully reading and understanding the Assessment Review Instructions before proceeding.
- Question:
Where can I find more information about property assessments, terms, or the assessment process?
Answer:
You may visit the New York State Real Property Services website. You may also refer to the General Assessment and Special Assessment Topics areas on our Assessment Review Instructions page.
- Question:
Why can't I find a specific property or address on your website? What is the best way for me to perform my search?
Answer:
You will be able to search for a property by street address, section, block & lot (SBL) number, or owner name. You may also use the online mapping function to locate a property. Details about these options are below.
Address search - The most common problem visitors encounter is they do not enter the property address as it appears in the Assessor's database. This is often easy to correct. The most important thing to remember about entering an address is to keep the prefixes and suffixes abbreviated. DO NOT spell out words like east, west, north, south, road, avenue, boulevard, street, etc. Instead, use standard abbreviations with NO punctuation.
For example, East is E, West is W, Avenue is Ave, etc. Remember to NOT use a period following these standard abbreviations.
When in doubt enter part of the street name or the street number only. Select your property from the drop-down listing that follows. The listing may include several potential matches, but the property should be found in the drop-down list.
For example,
if you live at 123 Maple Rd,
simply enter "123 Maple" or "123 Map"
(without the quotation marks).
SBL search - If you happen to know the SBL for a property, you may simply enter all or part of the number and select from the resulting property set. SBLs generally appear as a series of numbers with periods and dashes (e.g., 16.00-4-1.3).
Owner Name search - This feature has recently been restored to the Town of Amherst website. It is intended to serve as a useful way to find a property if you do not know the exact address or SBL number. The owner name information is captured from our Assessor's property database and reflects the most accurate information available at this time.
Entering part of the owner name will result in better results. If you enter "James" (without the quotation marks), your results will return owner names that contain "James" as first, middle or last name.
Online Mapping - Some users may want to locate the property on a map in order to begin their research. The online mapping tool allows users to zoom in and pan across the Town of Amherst until they find the property in question. Advanced users may perform additional mapping functions as well.
- Question:
Can I find comparable properties in other neighborhoods or areas of Amherst?
Answer:
The design and functionality of this website DOES NOT allow the visitor to find comparable properties in neighborhoods different from the subject property.
- Question:
What is limiting the results in the comparables listing?
Answer:
The online assessment information is limited by Neighborhood, Home / Building Style, Square Footage and Sale Date. The user can adjust the square footage and sale data parameters resulting in a larger or smaller comparables listing.
- Question:
How many years of sales information are available online?
Answer:
The online database includes sales information from 1988 through the current year.
- Question:
How can I find out what election district a property falls within?
Answer:
You may contact the Erie County Board of Elections at 858.8891 for information about Election Districts and polling places.
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