Receiver of Taxes and Assessments
Karen Pingelski, Receiver of Taxes and Assessments

Mailing Address:
2A Halfmoon Town Plaza
Halfmoon, NY 12065

Phone: (518) 371-7410 ext 2412
Fax Number: (518) 371-0936

Receiver of Taxes: Karen S. Pingelski
Deputy: Kiva A. Cropsey

Click Here To View Tax Bills
Click Here for Form - Address for property tax bill(s) while temporarily away

Introduction

The Tax Office is responsible for the collection of property taxes for approximately 7600 parcels.
In addition, the Tax Office also collects the water bills and permit payments. The permits are:

• Planning Board Application Fees
• Zoning Board Application Fees
• Building Permits
• Water Meters
• Water District #6 Outside District User Application Fees
• Water District #6 Outside District User Fees
• Church Hill Road Sewer Outside District User Application Fees
• Churchill Road Sewer Outside District User Fees
• Recreation Fees
• EXCEPTION: Escrow Fees for Planning are collected by Supervisor’s Office.

• Weekdays:
• Tuesday Evenings - 8:00 am to 6:00 pm (January only)
• Saturday - 9:00 am to 12 Noon (January only)
• Closed Sundays and holidays.

The Town of Halfmoon is a First Class Town. The collector is known as the Receiver of Taxes and Assessments and has one full time Clerk as well as one part time Clerk. The position of Receiver is an elected four year term. Before entering upon the duties of the office, it is required that the Receiver take and subscribe the Constitutional oath of office. The Deputy must subscribe to the oath of office. In addition, an official undertaking or bond, which guarantees the faithful performance of the office, must be executed and filed in the Town Clerk’s Office. Once the Receiver has taken the oath and executed the bond, she becomes the insurer and guarantor of all moneys, securities, books, papers and records that the law provides shall be in her custody.

• The Receiver of Taxes and Assessments collects the General Property Taxes in
  January. The bills are mailed in December. The tax bill covers the period of 
  January 1st – December 31st of the fiscal year. Payments can be made January
  1st –31st without penalty. If they are paid in February, a one percent penalty is 
  imposed, February 1st – 28th (29th). Payments made in March will include a two 
  percent penalty, plus an additional $2.00 late fee (RPTL 987).
• During the first week of March a late notice of all unpaid tax bills is sent to the owner, and his/her lender if one is indicated on the bill. This notice is to advise you of the March 31st final date of acceptance at this office. Thereafter, all payments are to be made payable to the Saratoga County Treasurer. You must phone their office prior to sending any payments.
• If a previous owner was receiving an exemption, an exemption payback amount may also appear on the bill as ‘omitted tax’ which covers the time period that the new property owner enjoyed a previous owner’s exemption to which they were not entitled to. Please contact this office if there are any questions regarding the amounts due.
• Payments are accepted in person at the Tax Office which is located at the Town Hall. Payments made in person can be made by cash, personal check, money order or credit card check. NO THIRD PARTY CHECKS. Payment may also be made by mail. 
• Make check/money order payable: Karen S. Pingelski, Receiver of Taxes – Send to: 2A Halfmoon Town Plaza, Halfmoon, NY 12065.
• If your bill has a School Relevy, of which you made payment to the Saratoga County Treasurer after November, PLEASE submit the copy for this office that was sent to you by their office. It will be clearly marked as such.
• There are 5,216 water accounts (and growing) that are billed quarterly each year for water usage. Each bill shows a due date and an amount with penalty if the due date is not met. The water bill issued in October MUST BE PAID BY THE DUE DATE. If this due date is not met, the amount shown with penalty will be relieved on the property tax bill. All payments received after the November due date will be returned to the sender as unacceptable.
• To assist our elderly and disabled residents, third party notification of the tax bill is offered. Property owners who are disabled or 65 years of age or older, and own a one/two family home, may designate an adult consenting third party to receive duplicate copies of tax bills and notices of unpaid taxes. In order to receive this service, one must fill out a third party notification form RP-923, which is available in the Tax Office.
• Many residents have their taxes escrowed with lending institutions. It is the responsibility of the lender to notify this office prior to the mailing of bills that they will be making payment. Upon receiving a request list from lenders, the records are bank coded for proper handling. It is also their responsibility to notify this office of any additions or deletions. Failure to do so may cause the bill to enter into the penalty period. Many banks contract with Tax Service Organizations, which are agencies that service escrow accounts for banks. These organizations provide us with a listing of their customers and their identifying account numbers. The larger organizations do this primarily by computer disc. In the event that a request list is not received prior to our mailing, the bills are mailed as addressed and becomes the responsibility of the owner to notify his/her lender.
• All changes of information to a tax bill is done through the Assessor’s Office and until this office receives these changes the tax bill will remain the same. Until he receives a copy of any new deed from the County there will be no change of ownership. If a bill is mailed to a former owner they are suppose to forward the bill to the new owner or return it to this office. This does not always occur. If you are a new owner it would be wise to contact this office if you do not receive your bill by the second week of January, if you have a lender contact them to make certain they requested your bill for payment.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do you accept payment with credit cards?
  No, in order to accept credit cards, the Town must pass a resolution to permit tax collecting officers to accept credit cards for payment of taxes. However, the Town would be charged a fee by the credit card companies for this service. The credit card companies do not allow those accepting them (i.e., the Town) to charge the users a fee to offset the cost the Town has to pay. Therefore, it would be an additional cost to the Town to provide this service to a limited number of taxpayers. This cost would have to be distributed to all taxpayers which would not be equitable, as not all taxpayers would be enjoying this service. A credit card check is acceptable for the payment of taxes.
  
• Can I pay my taxes in installments? 
  No, the warrant constitutes the mantle of authority for the collecting officer to receive the taxes. Therefore, the warrant must be regarded as the instrument which empowers the collecting officer to begin the collection. Collection authority cannot begin prior to the date of the warrant.
  
• I never received my bill, or received it late, do I still have to pay the penalty?
  Yes, the failure to mail a statement or the failure of a property owner to receive a statement will not affect the validity of the taxes or interest prescribed by law (NYS RPTL 922). In addition, neither the Receiver of Taxes nor any other Town official has legal authority to waive statutory penalty charges. These are fixed y the Real Property Tax Law (RPTL). If they are waived, the collecting officer will be personally responsible. As all records are audited by State examiners, there is absolutely no discretion in this matter. The Constitution and the law of the State mandates the procedure.
  
• If I mail my payment on the due date do I have to pay a penalty?
  NYS RPTL 925 provides as follows: “Payment of taxes by mail, when enclosed in a postpaid wrapper (envelope) properly addressed to the appropriate collecting officer and is deposited in a post office or official depository under the exclusive care and custody of the United States Post Office shall, upon delivery, b deemed to have been made to such officer on the date of the United States Postmark on such wrapper. The provisions of this section shall not apply in the case of postmarks not made by the United States Post Office. A postage meter postmark is not a postmark made by the United States Post Office and, therefore, is not within the provisions of Real Property Tax Law 925. Payments cannot be deemed timely because of a postage meter postmark date on an envelope containing a tax payment (Op. New York State Com. 68-626).
  
• Can I pay my taxes in installments?
  In general, taxes cannot be made in installments. This is an option that would have to be adopted first by Saratoga County, then by the Town of Halfmoon and School Districts. If it were to be adopted by the school districts, all school districts within the Town would have to adopt it.

All property owners in the town are responsible to keep their addresses current. If you are someone who winters in a warmer climate, you need to fill out a temporary change of address form to insure your property tax bill reaches you. Please contact our office each year before you leave to do so.

We cannot change your address for your tax bill without something in writing from the property owner. All permanent changes must go through the assessor's office. You can find a change of address form the Halfmoon Assessor's page.

You can find the Temporary Change of Address form on the Receiver of Taxes page. Please be sure to indicate the date the change does into effect and the date of your return.

Property tax bills show the months that payments may be made and the amounts that apply to each month. IF payment is made in January, there is no penalty, the amount shown is the total due for the year. IF payment is made in February, a one percent penalty is added to the total amount due. IF payment is made in March, a two percent penalty is added to the total amount due, plus an additional $2.00 late fee or service charge. 

If you made payment of a School Relevy to the County Treasurer prior to January, and the relevy is shown on your tax bill, subtract this amount from your total amount due and send payment of the balance, as well as the copy for this office given to you by the Treasurer’s Office. Remember, if paying in February add 1% penalty, if March add 2% penalty plus $2.00 late fee.

Payment amount must be exact, please make certain your check is correct.

Permit fees for Planning Board Application Fees and Zoning Board Application Fees may be mailed to the Receiver of Taxes and Assessments: 2A Halfmoon Town Plaza, Halfmoon, New York 12065.