Property tax in Rockland County, New York

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

The bill comes from the Receiver of Taxes in your town (Clarkstown, Haverstraw, Orangetown, Ramapo or Stony Point). The value it is based on is set by a separate office, your town's assessor's office (each of Rockland County's five towns assesses its own properties), which is who to ask if the value looks wrong.

Rockland County homeowners get two main property tax bills. The town and county tax comes on one bill from your town's Receiver of Taxes in early January. School taxes come on a separate bill in early September, also paid to the town; Clarkstown takes them without penalty through September 30. The county does not assess homes; your town assessor sets values and takes exemption applications, including STAR and senior exemptions. The county's online payment site is for quarterly and delinquent payments, with a 3% fee for credit cards and no fee for electronic checks; the regular January bill is paid to the town.

When are property taxes due in Rockland County?

For the 2027 town and county taxes (bills mailed in early January 2027) bill, Rockland County has one due date: January 31, 2027. Paid to your town's Receiver of Taxes, interest-free in January. 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. Every town also offers a quarterly plan with a 5% service charge: the first payment, due January 15, goes to the town, and the April 15, July 15 and October 15 payments go to the county Commissioner of Finance. Miss a quarterly payment and the whole unpaid balance becomes due with a 5% penalty and 1% interest a month. Paid in February, the bill carries 1% interest; in March, 2%. Taxes still unpaid on March 31 are turned over to the Rockland County Commissioner of Finance on April 1, when a 5% penalty is added plus 1% interest a month counted from February 1. From May 1 the county offers installment agreements to those who qualify (20% down, the rest over 12 or 24 months at 12% a year). Unpaid taxes become subject to foreclosure in about the third year. Mailed payments count by the U.S. Postal Service postmark, not a postage-meter mark, and penalties cannot be waived.

From Rockland 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 Rockland County

Enter a home's market value for a ballpark at Rockland County's average effective rate of 1.68% (Census). The real bill depends on the home's assessed value, the millage where it sits and any exemptions.

Property tax in Rockland 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 Rockland County compare in New York?

Among New York's 62 counties, Rockland County has the 47th highest effective property-tax rate: 46 rank higher and 15 rank lower. Nationally, it ranks 204th of 3135 US counties by effective rate. Both ranks use the capped $10,000 bill, so the county's true rate, and its true rank, may be higher still. See every New York county ranked.

How much do homeowners in Rockland County actually pay?

The median is only the middle bill. Across Rockland County's 70,564 owner-occupied homes, 91.9% pay $3,000 or more a year in property tax, 94.1% pay at least $2,000, and 1% pay under $800. Another 3.4% report paying no property tax at all, which usually means an exemption covers the whole bill.

Owners with a mortgage pay a median of $10,000+ and owners without one pay $10,000+. At least one of those medians hits the Census cap, so the gap between them cannot be measured here. Census table B25103.

Property tax in counties next to Rockland County

Rockland County borders 5 counties, 2 of them across the state line.

How is a home assessed in Rockland County?

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

Is there a homestead exemption in Rockland 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 Rockland County. New York's exemptions and relief programs in full.

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

• Cold War veterans exemption from county tax: Rockland County grants the Cold War veterans exemption on county taxes for a veteran who served more than 365 days on active duty between September 2, 1945 and December 26, 1991, was discharged under honorable conditions and holds the Cold War recognition certificate (or the spouse or unremarried surviving spouse), on a primary residence: 15% of assessed value up to a $12,000 cap, plus an added amount for a service-connected disability up to a $40,000 cap, each adjusted by the town's equalization rate. It is not available to a veteran receiving the alternative or eligible funds veterans exemption, and since a 2018 county law it lasts as long as the veteran owns the home. Apply to your town assessor. Apply by March 1 in most towns (the taxable status date).
• County senior citizens exemption: Homeowners 65 and older (or a married couple where one is 65) with limited incomes get a partial exemption from county taxes: 50% of assessed value with income of $50,000 or less, shrinking in steps to 5% with income from $57,500 to just under $58,400, under the schedule the county adopted for 2023 and later. Towns and school districts set their own limits for their own taxes. Apply to your town assessor. Apply by March 1 in most towns (the taxable status date).
• Volunteer firefighter and ambulance worker exemption: Under a state law that applies to Rockland County's size and a 2023 county law, an enrolled member of an incorporated volunteer fire company, fire department or ambulance service with at least two years of service gets up to 10% off the assessed value of a primary residence in the area the company serves, for county taxes, and for life after more than 20 years of service. File the membership certificate with your town assessor. Apply by March 1 in most towns (the taxable status date).

How to appeal your Rockland County property assessment

In Rockland County you appeal to the Your town's Board of Assessment Review. The deadline: File a written complaint (state Form RP-524) with your town assessor or Board of Assessment Review so it is received by Grievance Day, which state law sets as the fourth Tuesday in May in most towns (May 25, 2027). If the Board denies it, you can file for Small Claims Assessment Review or a tax certiorari case within 30 days of the filing of the final assessment roll. A village that does its own assessing holds a separate grievance day, usually in February, so check with your village clerk. 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 Rockland 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 Rockland County

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