The Town of Thompson consists of many departments, all working together for you. That includes the Town of Thompson Office of the Assessor. Town Assessor Van B. Kryzwicki, IAO shares answers to the 8 most commonly asked questions about his department.

Q) What exactly does the Town of Thompson Assessor do?
A) Together with Assessor Clerk Angela Ruggeri and Data Collector Richard McClernon, our department is responsible for 3 key things:
• Providing valuation of real property in both the Town of Thompson and Village of Monticello
• Managing tax exemptions
• Maintaining property records

Q) What is something your department can do, that not everyone knows about?
A) Change of address! Yes, the Office of the Assessor handles this and we get many questions about the process.

Basically, if you need to change who receives Town of Thompson tax bills, water and sewer bills, change of assessment notices…anything…the first step is to fill out this 1-page change of address form.

Then, either mail or bring in a copy of this form to the Office of the Assessor at the Town Hall:

Town of Thompson
Office of the Assessor
4052 State Route 42
Monticello, NY 12701

What’s essential is that you provide photocopies that prove your identification. This is typically a driver’s license, Power of Attorney documentation, or other corporate documents. We cannot change an address without verifying your identity first.

Q) Anything else that you are frequently asked?
A) Yes, there are two things. Many people want to know when their tax bills are available – and where they can view them. Below are the links to that information and when it’s released:

Available on or around January 1st: Sullivan County, Town of Thompson

Available on or around September 1st: Monticello School Tax bills

Q) I looked up my property assessment using the link that you provided above, but it doesn’t show me exactly how much in taxes I owe. What should I do?
It involves a simple calculation. First, look at the tax rate. Let’s say it is 21.51%. Many people will mistakenly multiply their assessed property value by .2151. This is not correct. If you owe a $100,000 home, you don’t owe $21,510 in taxes! You only owe $2,150.
Here’s why. We apply the tax rate to each $1,000 in assessed property value. That means for every $1,000 in assessed value of your property, you owe $21.51 in taxes ($1,000 x .00251).

Q) If a Town of Thompson resident wanted to apply for a tax exemption, what would they do?
A) We have put all of the forms for the most common exemption applications on our website at the Town of Thompson Assessor’s page. You can print the exemption application, fill it out, and then mail it in or drop it off (during business hours, weekdays 8:30-4:30) to the Office of the Assessor at the Town Hall.

We may ask you to verify some of the identification information on your exemption application, depending on its requirements. This might include proof of age, income, or residency.

Q) When are tax exemption forms due?

A) It’s important that you provide us with your completed exemption applications by March 1st. This means we must have the application in hand by this day, not just postmarked.

March 1st is also known as the Taxable Status Date. This means on March 1st, the status of your property is like a snapshot that represents the entire year for property tax purposes. If there have been any major changes to your property such as a loss of a building due to fire, you must alert us before Taxable Status Date on March 1st so that our assessment is accurate.

Q) How can I find out the assessment of my property? And on what date?

A) All Town of Thompson property assessments will be made available to the public on or shortly after May 1st, which is known as Tentative Roll Date. There will be public hours for the viewing of the tentative assessment roll in person at the Town of Thompson Town Hall. Contact the Town Hall to find out when those viewing hours will occur.

The most recent tentative assessment roll is always available for viewing at the Sullivan County website. You should always check your assessment within a week of May 1st.

Q) What if I don’t agree with the Town of Thompson’s assessment of my property?

A) You can “grieve” or challenge your assessment with the Town. You do not need to pay anything to do this nor hire a lawyer. Just follow these instructions for proper grievance procedures.

You have until the 4th Tuesday in May (May 26th in 2020) to file Form RP-524 with the Town of Thompson Assessor’s Department. May 4th is Grievance Day, and this is also the date that the Town of Thompson Board of Assessment Review (BAR) will convene to review grievances submitted during a public hearing from 4-8pm.

Unless you file a grievance, the assessment of your property in the tentative roll will be officially filed on July 1st, which is a called Final Roll Date. If you went through the grievance process and didn’t get the outcome you wanted, you have 30 days from July 1st to request a judicial review of your assessment.

We hope that you found this overview of what the Town of Thompson Assessor’s Department can help you with! If you have any other questions, just let us know.