Property tax in Madison County, New York

Who sends the property tax bill in Madison County, and how do you pay it?

The bill comes from your town tax collector; in the towns of Fenner, Georgetown, Hamilton and Lincoln, the Madison County Treasurer; in the City of Oneida, the City Chamberlain. The value it is based on is set by a separate office, your town assessor, or the City of Oneida Assessor (each town and the city assess their own properties), which is who to ask if the value looks wrong. For how to look up and pay the bill, go to the county's own payment information.

Most Madison County homeowners get more than one property tax bill a year. Town and county taxes come on one bill on January 1 from your town tax collector, or from the County Treasurer in Fenner, Georgetown, Hamilton and Lincoln, or from the City Chamberlain in Oneida. School taxes are billed separately on September 1 and village taxes on June 1, each by its own collector. Madison County does not assess homes: your town or city assessor sets values and takes exemption applications. The County Treasurer takes online payments for the taxes it collects, with a $2.75 fee for an electronic check and about 3% for a card; while your town collector holds the bill, pay the collector.

When are property taxes due in Madison County?

For the 2027 town and county taxes (bills issued January 1, 2027) bill, Madison County has one due date: January 31, 2027. Bills go out January 1 and can be paid without interest through January 31. January 31, 2027 is a Sunday. State law automatically extends a tax deadline that falls on a weekend or holiday to the next business day, so the last day without interest is Monday, February 1, 2027. In the City of Oneida, the City Chamberlain collects city and county taxes and prints its own due date on the bill. Interest of 1% a month is added once the January deadline passes (from February 2 in 2027, because of the weekend extension). Town tax collectors generally take payments through April 30; after that, unpaid taxes go to the Madison County Treasurer, which adds a 5% return penalty, and interest continues at 1% a month. Some towns also add a notice fee. On July 1 of the following year a $250 fee is added to each delinquent parcel, and in the third year of delinquency the county forecloses and usually holds its property auction in September. The City of Oneida collects its own unpaid taxes.

From Madison County's published schedule, checked September 23, 2026. The county had not posted a calendar labeled for this cycle when we checked, so these dates come from state law and the county's standing schedule; the date on your bill is the one that binds you.

Estimate the property tax on a home in Madison County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Madison County's average effective rate of 2.26% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Madison County at a glance

Effective rate = median real estate taxes paid divided by median home value. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates.

How does Madison County compare in New York?

Among New York's 62 counties, Madison County has the 20th highest effective property-tax rate: 19 rank higher and 42 rank lower. That is on the higher side for New York. Nationally, it ranks 39th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. See every New York county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Madison County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Madison County's 20,545 owner-occupied homes, 65.2% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 77.4% pay at least $2,000, and 3.7% pay under $800. Another 5.2% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $4,480 and owners without one pay $3,848. Owners who have paid off a home have usually held it longer, and in states that cap how fast an existing owner's assessment can rise, long-held homes carry lower assessed values. Census table B25103.

How does the Madison County property tax bill compare with local incomes?

The median property tax bill of $4,181 is about 4.7% of the median income of Madison County homeowner households, $89,174 a year. That compares two middles, so a retiree in a long-held home can pay a far larger share. 78.3% of Madison County's occupied homes are lived in by their owners; renters pay property tax too, just folded into rent.

Have property taxes gone up in Madison County?

Yes. The median bill went from $3,422 in 2015-2019 to $4,181 in 2020-2024, a 22.2% rise. Over the same span the median home value moved 34.9%, from $136,800 to $184,600. Bills rose more slowly than values, which is what assessment caps and falling millage rates do: the county is taxing a smaller share of each home's worth.

Two Census ACS 5-year periods with no survey years in common, in each period's own dollars. A change counts only if it exceeds the combined 90% margin of error.

Property tax in counties next to Madison County

Madison County borders 6 counties.

How is a home assessed in Madison County?

New York sets the assessment rules and Madison County applies them. How New York assesses and reappraises homes.

Is there a homestead exemption in Madison County?

Not as a flat dollar amount. New York's main owner-occupancy benefit is STAR, which reduces school taxes for owners with income up to $500,000 (STAR credit) or $250,000 (STAR exemption). That is the New York rule, and it applies in Madison County. New York's exemptions and relief programs in full.

On top of the New York programs, Madison County runs its own:

• Volunteer firefighter and ambulance worker exemption: Under a 2024 county law, amended in 2025, an enrolled member of an incorporated volunteer fire company, fire department or ambulance service who lives in the city, town or village it serves, and has at least two years of active service, gets 10% off the assessed value of a primary residence for county taxes, and keeps it for life after more than 20 years of service while living in Madison County. Some surviving spouses also qualify. Apply every year to your assessor. Apply by March 1 in the towns (the taxable status date); May 1 in the City of Oneida.
• Senior citizens exemption: Homeowners 65 or older with limited income can get a partial exemption. Madison County's published schedule, dated March 1, 2026, gives 50% off assessed value with income of $33,000 or less, shrinking in steps to 5% with income from $40,500 to $41,399.99. Your town, the city, your school district and your village can set different income limits for their own taxes, so ask your assessor which apply. Apply to your town or city assessor. Apply by March 1 in the towns (the taxable status date); May 1 in the City of Oneida.

How to appeal your Madison County property assessment

In Madison County you appeal to the Your town's Board of Assessment Review (in the City of Oneida, the city's Board of Assessment Review). The deadline: In the towns, file a written complaint (state Form RP-524) with your assessor or Board of Assessment Review by Grievance Day, the fourth Tuesday in May (May 25, 2027); the tentative roll comes out May 1. In the City of Oneida, Grievance Day is the second Tuesday in June (June 8, 2027). If the Board denies your complaint, you can file for Small Claims Assessment Review or a tax certiorari case within 30 days after the final roll is filed: by July 31 in the towns, where the final roll is filed July 1, and 30 days after August 1 in the City of Oneida. How to file. Checked September 23, 2026 against the official appeal rules.

How New York's appeal process works, including the next level if the first one turns you down.

New York rules from primary state sources, reviewed September 7, 2026; sources on the New York page.

Work out your own numbers

• How much house can I afford?

  Your income, debts and down payment against the 28/36 rule lenders actually use, with Madison County's tax rate to hand.

• Mortgage calculator

  Monthly payment with principal, interest, tax and insurance, plus what an extra payment saves you.

• New York income tax

  Brackets, standard deduction and what New York actually taxes.

• Sales tax in Madison County

  The other local tax: combined state and local rate for this county.