Buffalo Property Taxes May Rise By 25% This Year

The residents and business owners in New York's second-largest city are in for a rough ride on the tax front as the financial chickens come home to roost, as they say.

Over the last few months, members of the Buffalo Common Council and the Mayor of Buffalo have been talking about the condition of the city's finances. We've known for a while that Buffalo was having problems with its budget, but the last 4 months have been especially insightful as the new city administration has pulled the curtain back on the situation in Western New York.

In a recent meeting, according to WIVB-TV, the city is staring at a more than $100 million budget deficit. To help close that gap in the budget, state leaders have offered additional financial assistance to Buffalo, while city leaders are proposing making some cuts to programs. However, that's not going to be enough to make the city's bank account whole, so there is going to be a pretty big increase in property taxes of at least 25%.

Buffalo Property Tax Levy To Increase by 25% in 2026

According to the 2025/26 City of Buffalo Budget, the tax levy was set at just over $179 million. If that number is increased by 25%, the city would bring in an additional $44 million in tax revenue in the 2026/27 tax year.

Now, a 25% increase in the tax levy doesn't automatically mean everyone's taxes will go up by 25% due to the way tax rates are calculated and separated between homesteaded and non-homesteaded properties.

Sixty percent of the homeowners in the city will pay $26 a month to close this gap... Almost 20 percent of the homeowners in this city have houses worth less than $100k and that would be $15 a month for them.
-Sean Ryan, Mayor of Buffalo, New York

While it's clear that something has to be done, a lot of this discussion is speculation, as there is a lot of math that needs to be done and documented before the date the Mayor has to deliver his draft budget to the city council, which is April 15, 2026.

The mayor is being pushed to have more public hearings so people can express their opinions and get more information about the city budget process.