SCHOOL TAX

School tax for the fiscal year July 1st through June 30th is levied as of September 1st.  Due to the Town Board action, it may be paid in two installments as follows:

1. The first half is due by September 30th to avoid penalty (see penalty chart below).
   ​
2. The second half is due by January 31st to avoid penalty and may be paid any time after September 1st provided that the first half has been paid, through January 31st, without penalty.   

This bill is mailed on the first of September. Please note that only ONE (1) school tax bill is mailed to the residents.  Each bill will have two perforated payment stubs at the bottom of the statement which is to be used for making payments for each installment.  No reminder notices are sent out in January.    
                                         
         Penalty Chart:              First Half         Second Half

September                          None                    None
October                                 2%                       None
November                             5%                       None
December, January             7%                        None
February, March                  10%                     10%
Thereafter until sale           12%                      12%

NOTE:  The Town has no control over school budgets and acts merely as a collecting agent for your school district.   Listed below are the school districts and phone numbers:

• Yorktown Central School District:           243-8021       
• Lakeland Central School District:            245-1700
• Ossining Union Free School District:       941-7700      
• Croton Harmon School District:              271-4713

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

• All payments can be made by either check, cash, money order or online check payments.
• Please note that there will be a service charge of $20.00 for returned checks.
• Duplicate bill requests will be charged a fee of $1.00

PAYMENT IN PERSON
Homeowners are always welcome to come in to the Tax Office and pay in person.  Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  

ONLINE CHECK PAYMENTS **New**
As a convenience to our taxpayers, the Town of Yorktown offers the option of paying school taxes online via electronic check.  Using this option is fast, easy and safe. The transaction will be complete with five steps as detailed on the web page.  There is no fee for paying by electronic check.   To make online payments for multiple parcels, each parcel must be paid individually.  Please note that the website shuts down every Wednesday morning from 1:45 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Eastern time for routine maintenance.

PAYMENT BY MAIL
Payments are to be made to the Receiver of Taxes of the Town of Yorktown and mailed to the following address:

                                   363 Underhill Avenue, P.O. Box 703
                                         Yorktown Heights, NY 10598
         
If paying by mail, please note the following POSTAGE information:

• If mailing a tax payment, please make certain that you witness a timely official United States Post Office postmark being affixed to the envelope no later than the due date. No other postmarks (i.e. – Pitney Bowes, foreign postmarks, etc.) will be accepted.  An envelope, containing payment of local taxes, without a United States Post Office postmark date is deemed paid on the date received.  (New York State Real Property Tax Law, section 924a).
   
• Acceptable Postmarks – Effective January 1, 2003, new legislation now allows us to accept FedEx, UPS, DHL and Airborne as timely deliveries if postmarked by the last day of the collection period (New York State Real Property Tax Law, section 925).
   

• Postage purchased online.   Without a valid United States Post Office postmark, payment is deemed made on the date of receipt.  Homeowners printing out stamps for postage purchased online must be aware that there are no fields in place which prove the date of mailing for your  item.  Additionally, the automated postal sorting system is not cancelling any of these stamps.   Homeowners who mail their payments should make sure that they witness a timely U.S. Post Office postmark being affixed to the envelope.   No other postmarks will be accepted.
   

• ​Online Payments sent by your bank via bulk rate permits.   Without a valid United States Post Office postmark, payment is deemed made on the date of receipt.   Homeowners who pay scheduled tax payments via their banks must know that the banks send those payments with a bulk rate permit.   The envelopes do not show when it is actually placed in the U.S. Postal Service mailbox.  Also, those envelopes are not endorsed by the postal service due to the bulk rate permit.   Please be sure not to pay this way at the last minute since there is no way to trace  the mailing date.  Penalty is due if it is received after the day of interest free collection.

NOTICE OF TAXES DUE WITH OR WITHOUT A BILL
New York State law provides that a property owner is not relieved of the responsibility for payment of taxes or interest prescribed by law (New York State Real Property Tax Law, section 922) despite the failure to receive a notice of such taxes due.   With or without a bill, it is the responsibility of the homeowner to follow up on their taxes.  

PENALTY INFORMATION
New York State Real Property Tax Law provides that a municipality cannot waive penalties on real estate taxes received after the due date for any reason.  Neither the Receiver of Taxes, nor any other official have legal authority to waive statutory penalty charges.