Who handles your taxes, permits and records on Long Island depends on which town or city your home is in, and whether it is also in a village. In this guide, Long Island means Nassau and Suffolk counties. Nassau has three towns and two cities, with 64 villages inside the towns. Suffolk has 10 towns, with 32 villages inside them.
Every property is in one city or one town, and may also be in a village. That decides who assesses your home, who sends each tax bill, which building department holds your permit and certificate of occupancy (CO) file, and which local code applies. Deeds and mortgages are different: they are always recorded with the county clerk, wherever the property is.
Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island geographically, but they are New York City boroughs, with city agencies and ACRIS (the city’s online land records) for recording. They are not covered here.
How many towns, cities and villages there are
| Nassau | Suffolk | |
|---|---|---|
| Towns | 3 | 10 |
| Cities | 2 | 0 |
| Villages | 64 | 32 |
| Indian reservations | 0 | 2 |
Nassau County says it has “2 cities, 3 towns, 64 incorporated villages and over 100 unincorporated areas” (Nassau County, Cities, Towns & Villages). The cities are Glen Cove and Long Beach. The towns are Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay.
Suffolk County’s towns and villages page lists 33 villages, but one, Mastic Beach, no longer exists. Its residents voted to dissolve it in 2016, and the Town of Brookhaven took over on January 1, 2018 (Town of Brookhaven, 2018 budget message). The current count is 32.
How towns, cities and villages fit together
Towns cover everything except cities and reservations (Local Government Handbook: Town Government). A house in Glen Cove or Long Beach is in that city and in no town.
Villages sit inside towns. If you live in a village, you are still a town resident and pay town taxes (Local Government Handbook: Village Government). A house in the Village of Rockville Centre is also in the Town of Hempstead. A house in the Village of Northport is also in the Town of Huntington.
Some villages cross town lines. Floral Park, Mineola and New Hyde Park each lie partly in Hempstead and partly in North Hempstead. Nassau County lists them under Hempstead, and North Hempstead lists them as its own villages (Town of North Hempstead, villages). In Suffolk, the county lists Sag Harbor under East Hampton, but Southampton’s tax rate sheet also has a Village of Sag Harbor line. For these villages, the town your lot is in decides which town tax collector handles it and, in Suffolk, which town assessor.
Hamlets are not governments. Levittown, Hicksville, Massapequa, Commack, Ronkonkoma and Montauk are well-known names, but none is a village. They are unincorporated communities, and the town provides their services, including building permits (Town of Babylon, What is a Hamlet?). As the State Archives puts it, hamlets “are unincorporated entities and, thus, not local governments” (NYS Archives).
Two reservations in Suffolk. The Shinnecock Reservation, next to Southampton, and the Poospatuck Reservation of the Unkechaug Nation, in Mastic, are outside any town (Patchogue-Medford Library, Unkechaug Indian Nation). This guide doesn’t cover them.
Which government handles what
| Function | City | Town | Village |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building permits, COs | City | Town | Village |
| Nassau assessment | County, plus city | County | County, plus some villages |
| Suffolk assessment | n/a | Town | Town, plus some villages |
| Town, county, school tax | City or town | Town receiver | Town receiver |
| Village tax | n/a | n/a | Village |
| Deed recording | County Clerk | County Clerk | County Clerk |
The Town column means the parts of a town outside any village.
Who sets your assessment
Nassau: one county roll. The Nassau County Department of Assessment values property across the county for county, town, school and special district taxes (Nassau County, How Is My Property Tax Determined?; Village of Freeport, Assessor). The county adds that cities and some villages “establish their own tax rolls” for their own taxes.
Suffolk: ten town rolls. Suffolk County doesn’t assess property. Each town assessor does, and must finish the town’s roll by May 1 (Suffolk County Tax Act). The County Clerk keeps a directory of town assessors. The county’s Real Property Tax Service Agency keeps the tax maps.
Villages: three options (state law). A village can:
- Keep its own assessor and roll
- Use the town or county roll as the base for village assessments, while still counting as an assessing village
- Stop assessing and tax from the town or county roll. Then there is no separate village grievance.
The state’s list of village choices (updated August 12, 2025) shows how this plays out:
| Village approach | Nassau examples | Suffolk examples |
|---|---|---|
| Not an assessing unit | Atlantic Beach, Bayville | East Hampton, Quogue |
| Uses county or town roll | Lawrence, Sea Cliff | Port Jefferson, Northport |
| Own assessor and roll | Freeport | Lindenhurst |
Freeport’s assessor values all village property and publishes its own tentative roll on November 1. The county handles the other taxes “on a different timeline” (Village of Freeport, Assessor). Lindenhurst’s assessment department prepares rolls for almost 10,000 parcels and holds its own Grievance Day in November (Village of Lindenhurst, Assessment).
Both Nassau cities also assess for city taxes. Long Beach’s assessor values all property in the city and takes grievances in January (City of Long Beach, Tax Assessor). Glen Cove has its own assessor and Board of Assessment Review (City of Glen Cove).
So if your home is in an assessing village or a city, it has two assessments, each with its own grievance process (a grievance is a formal request to lower your assessment). County and town grievances are covered in property tax grievance in Nassau and Suffolk.
Who sends your tax bills
Nassau towns. The town tax collector (receiver of taxes) in Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay sends two bills (Town of North Hempstead, Tax Payments; Nassau County Treasurer):
- The school tax
- The general tax, which combines county, town and special district taxes
Village taxes are separate: “Each individual village, if applicable, collects village taxes” (North Hempstead, Closing Information).
Nassau cities. In Glen Cove, the city’s Receiver of Taxes mails three bills on the city’s own schedule: city on December 1, county on January 1 and school on August 1. The city’s Finance Department takes payment for all three, each payable to a different body (Glen Cove taxpayer FAQs). Long Beach’s Tax Department bills city taxes and the current Nassau County tax (City of Long Beach, Tax).
Suffolk towns. Each town’s receiver of taxes sends one bill for town, county and school taxes. It also includes fire, ambulance and library district taxes where they apply (Town of Islip, Tax Overview; Town of Brookhaven, Receiver of Taxes). Suffolk villages bill their own tax. Lindenhurst, for example, sends one village bill a year, due April 1 (Village of Lindenhurst, Tax Department).
Special districts on your tax bill
Many Long Island services come from special districts, not from the town or village. Nassau’s general tax includes “other special districts providing specific services to people in their boundaries” (Nassau County). Suffolk bills carry fire, ambulance and library districts. School district lines don’t follow town and village lines. Your tax bill, not your mailing address, shows which districts apply.
Who issues building permits and COs
The state building code is enforced by each village, by each town outside its villages, and by each city (state law; NYS Department of State, LG03). For example:
- A house in the hamlet of Hicksville is in the Town of Oyster Bay’s building file.
- A house in the Village of Garden City is in Garden City’s file, not the town’s.
- A house in Long Beach is in the city’s file.
Open permits and COs are covered in Long Island certificates of occupancy and open permits. In Suffolk, the county Department of Health Services also approves sanitary systems; see cesspools and septic systems on Long Island.
County clerk or town clerk?
Deeds are recorded with the clerk of the county where the property is (state law): the Nassau County Clerk in Mineola or the Suffolk County Clerk in Riverhead. A town clerk keeps the town’s own records, board minutes and local laws, and issues certain licenses and permits (Town Law). Village clerks do the same for the village. Neither records deeds. To search county records, see Nassau and Suffolk County Clerk land records.
Shared names and misleading addresses
On Long Island, one name often means two governments:
- Hempstead. The Village of Hempstead is one village inside the Town of Hempstead, which also contains 21 other villages and its hamlets.
- Babylon, East Hampton, Southampton. Each is both a town and a village inside that town, with separate building departments and separate village taxes.
- Oyster Bay, Huntington, Islip. Each is a town, and the community with the same name is a hamlet. No village by that name is on the county lists.
Mailing addresses follow post office areas, not government lines. A “Garden City” or “Floral Park” address doesn’t prove the lot is inside that village. A hamlet name on a listing says nothing about which school or fire district applies.
How to confirm which government your property is in
- Read the tax bill. It names the town or city, the school district and the special districts, and gives the tax map number. You get a village bill only if the property is in a village.
- Use the tax map number. Nassau uses section, block and lot. Suffolk’s four-part number starts with a district code tied to the town (Suffolk RPTSA, Tax Map Division). Nassau’s Land Records Viewer shows parcel details by address.
- Read the current owner’s deed. Suffolk rejects deeds whose property description leaves out the town and village, so recent Suffolk deeds name both.
- Ask the assessor if the lot is near a town or village line.
Long Island villages by town
Nassau County
| Town | Villages |
|---|---|
| Hempstead | 22 |
| North Hempstead | 27 |
| Oyster Bay | 15 |
Hempstead: Atlantic Beach, Bellerose, Cedarhurst, East Rockaway, Floral Park, Freeport, Garden City, Hempstead, Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Harbor, Hewlett Neck, Island Park, Lawrence, Lynbrook, Malverne, Mineola, New Hyde Park, Rockville Centre, South Floral Park, Stewart Manor, Valley Stream, Woodsburgh.
North Hempstead: Baxter Estates, East Hills, East Williston, Flower Hill, Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Manorhaven, Munsey Park, North Hills, Old Westbury, Plandome, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, Port Washington North, Roslyn, Roslyn Estates, Roslyn Harbor, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock, Sands Point, Thomaston, Westbury, Williston Park.
Oyster Bay: Bayville, Brookville, Centre Island, Cove Neck, Farmingdale, Lattingtown, Laurel Hollow, Massapequa Park, Matinecock, Mill Neck, Muttontown, Old Brookville, Oyster Bay Cove, Sea Cliff, Upper Brookville.
The counts follow the county’s list, which names each village once. Floral Park, Mineola and New Hyde Park also extend into North Hempstead.
Suffolk County
| Town | Villages |
|---|---|
| Babylon | 3 |
| Brookhaven | 8 |
| East Hampton | 2 |
| Huntington | 4 |
| Islip | 4 |
| Riverhead | 0 |
| Shelter Island | 1 |
| Smithtown | 3 |
| Southampton | 6 |
| Southold | 1 |
Babylon: Amityville, Babylon, Lindenhurst. Brookhaven: Belle Terre, Bellport, Lake Grove, Old Field, Patchogue, Poquott, Port Jefferson, Shoreham. East Hampton: East Hampton, Sag Harbor (partly in Southampton). Huntington: Asharoken, Huntington Bay, Lloyd Harbor, Northport. Islip: Brightwaters, Islandia, Ocean Beach, Saltaire. Shelter Island: Dering Harbor. Smithtown: Head of the Harbor, Nissequogue, Village of the Branch. Southampton: North Haven, Quogue, Sagaponack, Southampton, West Hampton Dunes, Westhampton Beach. Southold: Greenport.
Riverhead has no villages, so the town handles every property in it.
Details for attorneys and title professionals
- Village assessment counts. The state’s list shows 18 Nassau villages that have stopped assessing and 22 that build on the county roll. In Suffolk it shows 11 villages that don’t assess and 8 that use the town roll.
Official sources
- Nassau County, Cities, Towns & Villages, How Is My Property Tax Determined?, Pay Delinquent Property Taxes and Land Records Viewer
- Suffolk County, Towns and Villages, County Clerk: Town Assessors and RPTSA Tax Map Division
- NYS Department of State, Local Government Handbook: Town Government and Village Government; Legal Memorandum LG03
- NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, RPTL § 1402 village assessment options
- NYS Archives, Are hamlets considered local governments?
- New York Executive Law § 381, Real Property Law § 291, Real Property Tax Law § 1402, Town Law § 30, Suffolk County Tax Act § 5
- Town of North Hempstead, Incorporated Villages, Tax Payments and Closing Information
- Town of Brookhaven, Receiver of Taxes and 2018 budget message
- Town of Islip, Receiver of Taxes: Tax Overview
- Town of Babylon, What is a Hamlet?
- Town of Southampton, Tax Rate Sheet
- City of Glen Cove, Taxpayer FAQs and Board of Assessment Review
- City of Long Beach, Tax and Tax Assessor
- Village of Freeport, Assessor
- Village of Lindenhurst, Assessment and Tax Department