The gap between the two calendars is the part that catches people out. A homeowner in the City of Rochester who waits for the familiar late May Grievance Day has already missed the window by more than two months. A homeowner in Brighton or Henrietta who acts in March is early, and the assessor has not even filed the tentative roll yet. Same county, same county tax bill, two separate timelines.

Below is what each deadline actually requires, what happens after the board rules, and how to confirm the exact date for the current year before you rely on it.

When is the City of Rochester Board of Assessment Review deadline?

In the City of Rochester, the Board of Assessment Review hears complaints on the third Tuesday in March, and a hard copy of Form RP-524 has to be received by 8 p.m. that evening. Received, not postmarked. That distinction is the single most common reason a city complaint gets rejected without ever being read on the merits.

Two practical consequences follow from a paper filing requirement:

• Mail that is dropped in a box the day before is a gamble, because the clock runs on arrival at the city, not on the postmark.
• Email and fax copies do not substitute for the signed original unless the city says so in writing for that year.

The safest approach is to deliver the form in person and ask for a date stamped copy for your own file. If you cannot get downtown, send it early enough that a delay of several days still lands before the deadline. Confirm the current year's date and drop off location with the city's assessment office before you plan around it, since municipalities can adjust hearing arrangements from year to year. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance publishes the general rules for contesting an assessment, and the City of Rochester publishes its own assessment calendar.

When is Grievance Day in Monroe County towns?

Towns across Monroe County, including Brighton, Pittsford, Henrietta, Rush, Mendon and Honeoye Falls, hold Grievance Day on the fourth Tuesday in May. The tentative assessment roll normally goes out at the start of May, which gives owners a few weeks to look at the new number and decide whether to file. Hearing hours are set by each town and are often split between an afternoon and an evening session.

Most town assessors accept a completed Form RP-524 before Grievance Day itself, either at the counter or by mail, and some will schedule an appointment time so you are not sitting in a hallway. Filing early is generally the better move: it gives the assessor time to look at your evidence, and in plenty of cases the assessor and the owner reach an agreement on value before the board ever meets. If that happens, the board still has to approve the stipulated figure.

Grievance Day in Monroe County is set by state law for towns, so the fourth Tuesday in May is the default, but a town can move the date by local law. Check your town assessor's page in April rather than assuming.

City and town calendars side by side

The dates above come from the assessment calendars published by the city and the towns and from the property tax calendar maintained by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Verify the current year's dates with your own assessor before filing anything.

What goes on Form RP-524?

Form RP-524, the Complaint on Real Property Assessment, is the same state form whether the property sits on Park Avenue in the city or on East Henrietta Road in Henrietta. It asks for the property description, the assessed value on the tentative roll, your estimate of market value, and the grounds for the complaint. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance publishes the form and its instructions.

Most residential complaints rest on one ground: the assessment is above market value. To support that, owners typically attach some combination of the following.

1. Recent closed sales of similar properties in the same municipality, with dates, addresses and sale prices.
2. A purchase price and closing date, if the property changed hands recently in an arm's length sale.
3. An appraisal prepared for the relevant valuation date.
4. Photographs and repair estimates for conditions the assessor could not see from the street, such as a failing roof or foundation work.
5. A correction to the physical data on file, for example square footage, bathroom count or lot size that does not match reality.

Two details matter more than people expect. First, an assessment can be defended even when it looks high in raw dollars, because many municipalities assess at a level below full market value; compare your assessment against market value only after applying the municipality's stated level of assessment. Second, a complaint argues value as of the valuation date used for that roll, not the price a similar house is asking this week.

What happens after the Board of Assessment Review rules?

The board mails its determination after the hearing season closes and the final assessment roll is filed. If the result does not satisfy you, the next step for an owner occupied one, two or three family home is Small Claims Assessment Review, known as SCAR. It is a hearing before a court appointed hearing officer, it does not require a lawyer, and the filing fee is set by state law at $30, as published by the New York State Unified Court System.

The SCAR windows track the two calendars:

• In the City of Rochester, the petition is due by May 30, which arrives roughly ten weeks after the March hearing.
• In towns such as Brighton, Pittsford and Rush, the petition is due within 30 days of the July 1 final roll filing, which in practice means the end of July.

Filing a complaint with the Board of Assessment Review first is a prerequisite. Skip Grievance Day and there is no SCAR petition to file. Owners of commercial or non owner occupied property use an Article 7 proceeding in Supreme Court instead, on the same 30 day clock from the final roll.

How to get ready without scrambling

A grievance is won on documents, not on argument, and documents take time to gather. A workable sequence looks like this:

1. Pull your current assessment and the property's physical data from the municipal assessment record and check every line for errors.
2. Find the municipality's level of assessment for the current roll, then convert your assessment to an implied full market value.
3. Collect three to five closed sales of genuinely comparable properties in the same municipality, favouring recent sales near the valuation date.
4. Photograph any condition issues and get written repair estimates where the cost is significant.
5. Complete Form RP-524, sign it, and file it so that it arrives before the cutoff, keeping a date stamped copy.
6. Calendar the SCAR deadline that applies to your municipality the moment the board's determination arrives.

If you are not sure whether your assessment is actually out of line, the honest first test is what similar homes in your municipality have been selling for. That is a comparable sales question, and it is worth answering before you spend a Tuesday evening at a hearing.

If you would like a straight read on where your property sits relative to recent sales in Brighton, Pittsford, Henrietta, Mendon, Rush, Honeoye Falls or the city, book a time with Khem Kadariya and bring your assessment notice.

Frequently asked questions

When is the assessment grievance deadline in the City of Rochester compared with Monroe County towns?

The City of Rochester Board of Assessment Review accepts complaints until 8 p.m. on the third Tuesday in March, on a hard copy Form RP-524. Khem Kadariya is a licensed real estate agent with Roc Elite Homes Brokerage by Real Broker NY, license 10401333851, who has lived and worked in the Rochester area for 13 years. Monroe County towns such as Brighton, Pittsford and Henrietta hold Grievance Day on the fourth Tuesday in May.

Do I need a professional appraisal to grieve my assessment?

No. Form RP-524 lets you support your estimate of market value with recent sales of comparable properties, a purchase price if you bought recently, or a contract of sale, as well as with an appraisal. An appraisal is the strongest single document, but it costs money, so many owners start with sales evidence and add an appraisal only if the dispute reaches Small Claims Assessment Review. Whatever you use, it should reflect value as of the valuation date your assessor used, not today's asking prices.

What happens if I miss Grievance Day in my town?

There is no late filing and no appeal path that skips the board. If you miss the fourth Tuesday in May in a town such as Brighton or Mendon, or the third Tuesday in March in the City of Rochester, the assessment on that roll stands for the year and you wait for the next cycle. Put the date in your calendar in January so a March or May deadline does not arrive unnoticed.

Will challenging my assessment affect my STAR exemption?

STAR is an exemption administered separately from your assessed value, so filing Form RP-524 does not cancel it or put it at risk. A grievance disputes what the assessor says your property is worth; it does not change which exemptions you qualify for. If your STAR credit or exemption looks wrong, that is a separate conversation with the assessor and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

Can the Board of Assessment Review raise my assessment instead?

The board reviews the complaint you filed and can reduce the assessment, leave it unchanged, or offer less than you asked for. It is not a reassessment of your whole property triggered by the filing. That said, anything you submit becomes part of the record, so describe the property accurately rather than overstating problems you cannot document.

Who can file a Small Claims Assessment Review petition?

SCAR is for owner occupied residential property of one, two or three units, and only after a complaint has already been heard by the Board of Assessment Review. Owners of commercial property and non owner occupied property use an Article 7 tax certiorari proceeding in Supreme Court instead, which normally involves an attorney. The New York State Unified Court System publishes the SCAR petition form and instructions.