Finger Lakes
Ontario County is home to 112,458 people in the Finger Lakes region. Eleven glacial lakes lined with waterfalls, gorges, and the state's biggest wine country.
How Ontario County works
County government does some local jobs, but not all of them. Cities, towns, villages, schools, and courts each keep their own work.
A parcel's value usually comes from the city or town assessor, while the county property office backs that up with tax maps and parcel details. Deeds and mortgages live with the County Clerk — and the tax bill itself may be collected by a different office again.
Most building permits in Ontario County start with the city, town, or village. County public health may join the job for a well, septic system, food business, or another health rule.
County offices are often the right place for health programs, benefits, family services, voting help, and emergency alerts. The office may be in another town, but it serves the whole county.
Ordinary example
The city, town, or village handles the building and zoning start. County public health may handle the septic work. The County Clerk keeps the deed, and the school district controls its own tax and enrollment line. The county name alone does not choose every office.
Property tax in Ontario County
The FY2025 source rows combine county + town/city + school on a full-value basis. On a $300,000 home, that is roughly $3,576–$10,115 a year before STAR, exemptions, village taxes, and special-district charges. This is not a county minimum or maximum bill; it is a broad comparison across different municipalities and school districts.
Who handles this here
New York divides everyday work among municipal, county, state, court, and City offices. This is the routing map. Confirm current forms, fees, hours, and deadlines on the official office page before acting.
Open the official Ontario County website ->County service directory
These links open the responsible county department, not a general homepage. A city, town, court, school district, or state agency may still own the final step.
County Clerk and land records
Ontario County ClerkDeeds, mortgages, recorded documents, copies, and the county's official records handoff.
Real property and tax maps
Ontario County Real Property Tax DepartmentCounty tax maps, parcel resources, and assessment support. Check whether the county or local assessor owns the roll.
Elections and voter help
Ontario County Board of ElectionsRegistration, polling places, absentee or early-mail voting, and local election information.
Public health
Ontario County Public HealthLocal public-health programs, environmental-health contacts, and current notices. Ontario County is a partial-service health department; specified environmental health services route to the New York State Department of Health's Geneva District Office.
Social services
Ontario County Social ServicesCounty-administered benefits, family services, adult services, and help finding the right program.
Emergency management and alerts
Ontario County Emergency Management OfficePreparedness, local emergency information, and the county's route to public alerts.
Official county pages reviewed 2026-07-13. Confirm current forms, fees, hours, and deadlines with the office before acting.
Probate, administration, and small estates
Ontario County Surrogate's CourtNew York Courts routes estate proceedings through the Surrogate's Court in the county of the person's domicile.
Driver and vehicle counter service
The serving DMV officeOffice ownership and available transactions vary. Use DMV's location finder before traveling, and check whether an appointment is expected.
Birth, death, marriage, and divorce records
The office that holds that event recordThe right owner depends on the event, date, and whether it happened in New York City. The records guide sorts those lanes first.
Confirm the current service arrangement on the responsible official page.
Local stories & notes
Short, sourced notes tied to this county, with the local color and the things worth knowing before you make a plan.
History & Culture
Gorham's town pages connect its Canandaigua Lake edge, 1790s formation, name changes, and Bandstand of the Finger Lakes identity.
History & Culture
Phelps has a lively village identity around Flint Creek Falls, historic downtown walks, Ontario Pathways, and its annual sauerkraut tradition.
History & Culture
Farmington's Quaker meetinghouse ties local settlement, reform movements, and crossroads geography into one civic memory.
History & Culture
Ganondagan gives Victor a Seneca town landscape of longhouse interpretation, trail memory, and Haudenosaunee history.
History & Culture
Canandaigua's story connects the 1794 Pickering Treaty, lake-country civic planning, City Pier, and Sonnenberg Gardens.
History & Culture
Geneva's identity connects Seneca Lake, nursery agriculture, Hobart and William Smith, and long-running Finger Lakes institutions.
Outdoors
Richmond's Finger Lakes identity is practical lake country: Honeoye views, shallow water, nearshore weeds, and recurring management questions.
History & Culture
The town around Canandaigua Lake has its own civic story, with local history reaching back to a 1791 town formation.
Home & Property
Manchester residents should separate building-permit questions, town/county taxes, water payments, dog licenses, and village-specific permit forms before starting paperwork.
Official starting points
Start with the county website for departments and local services. Use ORPTS for assessor, equalization-rate, and municipal profile data. Exact forms and deadlines still come from the office that owns the work.
Use this carefully: The county website comes from New York State's locality directory. Follow any redirect and confirm the current department, form, deadline, and parcel-specific details before acting.
Tax rates: NYS Dept of Taxation & Finance (ORPTS), Real Property Tax Rates and Levy Data by Municipality, data.ny.gov dataset iq85-sdzs. (FY2025). Population: U.S. Census 2020.
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