"Assessment" or "Full Market Value":

The Town or County Assessor reviews the market value of all of the properties in the community. The Assessor will determine what each property would sell for in the current real estate market. Based on changes in the market and recent sales, the assessor will then determine which assessments need to be increased or decreased.

Taxing units (such as school districts, cities, towns and counties) determine the amount of taxes that it needs to collect from property owners to cover its total Budget for a year, this is known as the "tax levy".

The tax levy is then distributed over all taxable assessments in that area, usually with a dollar amount per $1000 of value.

If the total amount of taxes collected by a Taxing Unit is a pie, the SIZE of the pie is determined by city councils, town boards, school boards and county legislatures. How much do they need to run their county, school, town or district for the year?

*Information taken from https://www.tax.ny.gov