Westchester Cities, Towns and Villages: Which Municipality Is a Property In, and Why It Matters for a Sale

Westchester County is divided into six cities and 19 towns, and 20 villages sit inside those towns. Three more places, Scarsdale, Harrison and Mount Kisco, are each a town and a village at once. Every property is in exactly one city or one town. If it is in a town, it may also be in a village. The answer decides which building department holds the certificate of occupancy (CO) file, which offices send tax bills, which local code rules apply on a sale, and where the municipal searches are ordered. The mailing address does not tell you, and getting it wrong sends searches to the wrong office.

This guide covers Westchester County only. New York City has no towns or villages, and its records sit with citywide agencies. For what each municipal search shows, see Westchester municipal searches explained.

How many municipalities Westchester has

The county’s About Westchester page says Westchester “is made up of six cities, 19 towns, and 20 villages.” Other sources say 23 villages. Both are right, because they count Scarsdale, Harrison and Mount Kisco differently. The county Planning Department’s Databook puts it as “45 local governmental units, of which there are 6 cities, 16 towns, 20 villages and 3 town/villages” (Westchester County Databook, Government). Those three are each a town and a village with the same boundaries. Count them as towns and you get 19 towns and 20 villages; count them as both and you get 23 villages.

How cities, towns and villages fit together

Cities stand alone. Under New York law, towns cover all territory in the state except cities and Indian reservations (NYS Department of State, Local Government Handbook: Town Government). A property in Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains, Rye or Peekskill is in that city and no town.

Villages sit inside towns. A village does not leave its town when it incorporates. The Department of State says village residents “continue to be residents and taxpayers of that town” and “are liable for payment of taxes to the town in which their village is located” (Local Government Handbook: Village Government). A house in the Village of Dobbs Ferry is also in the Town of Greenburgh.

Unincorporated areas belong to the town only. Land in a town but outside any village is governed directly by the town. Names like Edgemont, Valhalla, Armonk, Chappaqua or Katonah are hamlets or place names, not municipalities. The county’s municipal map lists them separately as “Hamlets & Place Names” (Westchester County municipal map).

Three coterminous town/villages. Scarsdale, Harrison and Mount Kisco are each a town and a village with identical boundaries (NYS Department of State, Legal Memorandum LG06). Mount Kisco has been a “coterminous and independent Village/Town” since January 1, 1978 (Village/Town of Mount Kisco). There is no unincorporated part, so one local government handles the property.

Two villages straddle town lines. The Village of Briarcliff Manor is “situated within the Town of Ossining and the Town of Mount Pleasant,” with over 91% of residents in Ossining (Village of Briarcliff Manor). The Village of Mamaroneck lies in the Town of Mamaroneck and the Town of Rye; the Rye part is known as Rye Neck (Village of Mamaroneck). For these, you need to know which side of the town line the lot is on.

Two towns are entirely villages. The Towns of Rye and Pelham “do not encompass any land that is not part of an incorporated village” and do not exercise land use regulatory authority, but they still levy and collect taxes (Databook). Every Town of Pelham property is in the Village of Pelham or the Village of Pelham Manor. Every Town of Rye property is in Port Chester, Rye Brook or the Rye Neck part of Mamaroneck.

The City of Rye and the Town of Rye are different places. The city is its own municipality. The town contains Port Chester, Rye Brook and Rye Neck. A “Rye” reference on a contract needs to say which.

Which government handles what

Function In a city In a village Town, outside villages
Building dept., COs City Village Town
Local code on sale City Village Town
Town tax None Town Town
Village tax None Village None
County tax City Town receiver Town receiver
School tax Varies Varies Varies
Deed recording County Clerk County Clerk County Clerk

Building records and COs. Every local government must enforce the state Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, and for this purpose “local government” means “a village, town (outside the area of any incorporated village) or city” (NYS Department of State, Legal Memorandum LG03; Executive Law § 381). So a house in the Village of Tarrytown is in Tarrytown’s building file, not Greenburgh’s. That also decides which local code applies: Tarrytown requires an updated CO on sale, while unincorporated Greenburgh is a different code entirely. See which Westchester municipalities require an updated CO on sale. The county keeps a list of local building department contacts.

Property taxes. Westchester County does not collect property taxes. They are paid to the local town or city, and collection of current and delinquent taxes is carried out by “towns, cities and villages throughout the county” (Westchester County Tax Commission). In a town, the receiver of taxes collects town and county taxes. Who collects village and school taxes varies:

  • Briarcliff Manor collects its own village tax; town and county taxes are paid to the Town of Ossining or the Town of Mount Pleasant, depending on where the lot sits (Briarcliff Manor tax payment information).
  • The Town of Pelham collects taxes for both villages, the schools, the town and the county (Town of Pelham).
  • The Town of Rye receiver collects town, county, school and village taxes for Port Chester and Rye Brook, and serves the Rye Neck section of Mamaroneck (Town of Rye Tax Office).
  • Harrison’s receiver collects town and village taxes and acts as collection agent for school and county taxes (Town/Village of Harrison).

The county publishes a table of tax due dates by city, town and village, which shows where each municipality bills separately. School district lines do not follow municipal lines either: two districts, Briarcliff Manor and Ossining, serve the Village of Briarcliff Manor.

Recording and transfer tax. Deeds and mortgages for every Westchester municipality are recorded with the County Clerk; see recording a deed or mortgage in Westchester. Only three cities add a local transfer tax; see Yonkers, Mount Vernon and Peekskill transfer taxes.

Where the municipal searches go

Building, CO, fire, street and highway searches go to the government that holds the records: the city, the village if the property is in one, or the town if it is in an unincorporated area. The tax search has to cover every collecting office on the bill, which in a village usually means the town receiver and the village. In Scarsdale, Harrison and Mount Kisco there is one government. For a Briarcliff Manor or Village of Mamaroneck property, the tax search must go to the correct town.

Why the mailing address misleads

Postal names follow post office areas, not municipal boundaries. The Village of Ardsley’s own FAQ says Ardsley Road “is in unincorporated Greenburgh in an area known as Edgemont and with a Scarsdale postal address” (Village of Ardsley). A listing reading “Scarsdale, NY 10583” may be in the Village of Scarsdale or in unincorporated Greenburgh, with a different building department, different taxes and a different school district. The Town of Greenburgh’s own facilities carry Scarsdale, Hartsdale, Elmsford and White Plains mailing addresses (Welcome to Greenburgh packet).

How to confirm the municipality

  1. Read the tax bill. It names the town or city and any village, and its tax map number (section, block and lot) identifies the parcel.
  2. Check the county parcel viewer. The Westchester County GIS Municipal Tax Parcel Viewer searches by municipality, address, print key or owner name. The county says boundaries are approximate and that only the local assessor holds authoritative tax maps, so treat it as a check.
  3. Read the deed. The legal description in the vesting deed names the city or town, and often the village. Recorded deeds are indexed in Westchester Records Online.
  4. Call the assessor if the lot is near a town or village line.

Do this before ordering searches and before relying on a local requirement, such as a CO-on-sale rule or a sewer certificate.

Westchester municipalities: full list

Municipality Type Town it sits in
Mount Vernon City n/a
New Rochelle City n/a
Peekskill City n/a
Rye City n/a
White Plains City n/a
Yonkers City n/a
Bedford Town n/a
Cortlandt Town n/a
Eastchester Town n/a
Greenburgh Town n/a
Lewisboro Town n/a
Mamaroneck Town n/a
Mount Pleasant Town n/a
New Castle Town n/a
North Castle Town n/a
North Salem Town n/a
Ossining Town n/a
Pelham Town n/a
Pound Ridge Town n/a
Rye Town n/a
Somers Town n/a
Yorktown Town n/a
Harrison Town/village Same boundaries
Mount Kisco Town/village Same boundaries
Scarsdale Town/village Same boundaries
Ardsley Village Greenburgh
Briarcliff Manor Village Ossining, Mount Pleasant
Bronxville Village Eastchester
Buchanan Village Cortlandt
Croton-on-Hudson Village Cortlandt
Dobbs Ferry Village Greenburgh
Elmsford Village Greenburgh
Hastings-on-Hudson Village Greenburgh
Irvington Village Greenburgh
Larchmont Village Mamaroneck
Mamaroneck Village Mamaroneck, Rye
Ossining Village Ossining
Pelham Village Pelham
Pelham Manor Village Pelham
Pleasantville Village Mount Pleasant
Port Chester Village Rye
Rye Brook Village Rye
Sleepy Hollow Village Mount Pleasant
Tarrytown Village Greenburgh
Tuckahoe Village Eastchester

Bedford, Lewisboro, New Castle, North Castle, North Salem, Pound Ridge, Somers and Yorktown contain no villages, so every property in them is governed by the town. Note the shared names: the City of Rye and the Town of Rye, the Town and Village of Mamaroneck, the Town and Village of Ossining, and the Town and Village of Pelham are separate municipalities with separate records.

Official sources

Related guides

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