Taxes

Village of The Branch property taxes are billed annually and payments are due on July 1. Payments will be accepted before the due date during the normal office hours of Tuesday and Thursday from 10am until 2pm. If payment will not be made in person, please make sure to mail the payment so it will be postmarked no later than July 1. Please do not slip a payment under the door or place in the mailbox on the wall. The box is not locked and anything left there is not secure. According to New York State Property Tax Law it is the taxpayer’s responsibility to pay taxes when they are due. If your taxes are not escrowed as part of your mortgage and you do not receive a tax bill by May 20 please call our office for a duplicate bill. Failure to receive a tax bill does not relieve the property owner of their responsibility to pay taxes in a timely manner. If taxes become delinquent, we cannot accept payment without the penalty. Payments postmarked after July 1 will be returned if they do not include the 5% penalty.

Residents who use online bill payment services through their bank must be sure to initiate the payment so as to leave adequate time for the payment to be received by us, usually 5-7 days. These payments are NOT sent to the Village electronically. We receive a check in the mail. Unfortunately, most of these payments do not bear a US Postal Service Postmark. Payments received with no postmark have to be considered paid on the date of receipt. As stated above, payments received after July 1 that does not include the 5% penalty will be returned.

Penalties:

 

Payments received in person or postmarked from July 2 to July 31

Tax plus 5%

Payments received in person or postmarked from August 1 -31

Tax plus 6%

Payments received in person or postmarked from September 1 - 30

Tax plus 7%

Payments received in person or postmarked from October 1 -31

Tax plus 8%

Penalties increase 1% for every month or part of a month they are late as illustrated above.

Applications for property tax exemptions (Veterans, Senior Citizens, STAR, etc.) should be made to the Town of Smithtown Assessor’s Office. The village does not process assessment valuations and exemptions.

About the Treasurer

The Treasurer is charged with the responsibility of managing all details related to the Village’s fiscal operations. The Treasurer’s office manages the following financial area: Accounts Receivable and Payable, Cash Receipts and Disbursements, Investment of Village funds, annual reporting to the State Comptroller, as well as functioning as the Receiver of Taxes. In addition to periodic audits by The State comptroller’s office, the village’s financial records are audited by an independent certified public accounting firm. Copies of the annual audit and the annual report to the State Comptroller are available at the Village Clerk’s office.