Buying · Saugerties, Ulster County
What should you check before buying a house in Saugerties, NY?
Start with which Saugerties the house is in. The Village and the Town are separate governments, and the line between them decides your water, part of your tax bill and how you could rent the house. After that, the checks that matter most here are the Hudson and Esopus Creek flood map, the school district printed on the tax bill and, away from the water districts, the well and the septic.
By Ryan Rooney · Published 6 November 2026 · Last checked 6 November 2026 against the town and village codes, Ulster County's 2025 tax rate report and the village's water quality report for 2025
Is a Saugerties address in the Village or the Town?
It can be either. The Village of Saugerties is its own government inside the Town of Saugerties, with its own building department, water system, rental rules and tax. The mailing address doesn't tell you which one a house is in. The tax bill does, and so does the Ulster County Parcel Viewer.
Where does Saugerties water come from?
The village treats water from the Blue Mountain Reservoir and sells it to four town water districts: Bluestone Park, Glasco, Malden and Kings Highway. Mount Marion gets water from a private company. Most of the rest of the town is on private wells and septic.
Can I rent out a Saugerties house on Airbnb?
In the town, yes, with a yearly permit and fire inspection, as long as it's a single-family house or an approved accessory apartment. There's no cap. In the village, you register with the building inspector instead of getting a permit. My Saugerties short-term rental page has the full rules.
Does Saugerties flood?
The low ground along the Hudson and the lower Esopus Creek does. In January 2024 a storm tide splashed over the seawall at the Saugerties Lighthouse, and the 2011 and 2012 storms flooded homes in Malden, Glasco and along the creek in the village. Check the FEMA map for the specific parcel and read the seller's flood answers on the state disclosure form.
First, which Saugerties?
The Village of Saugerties sits inside the Town of Saugerties. A house in the village is in both: it pays town and village taxes and follows the village's zoning, building and rental rules. A house anywhere else in the town, including hamlets like Glasco, Malden, Mount Marion and Barclay Heights, follows the town's. The tax bill tells you which you're looking at.
| Village of Saugerties | Town, outside the village | |
|---|---|---|
| Water and sewer | Village water and sewer, billed by the village | Town water and sewer districts in some areas, billed by the town. Otherwise a private well and septic. |
| Short-term rentals | Registration with the building inspector. No cap. | Yearly permit and fire inspection, single-family and accessory apartments only. No cap. |
| Long-term rentals | Every non-owner-occupied rental registers with the village | No rental registry that I found. Ask the Building Department. |
| Taxes | County, town, school and village | County, town, school, fire district, and any district charges |
| Building department | (845) 246-2321 ext. 4 | (845) 246-2800 ext. 331 or 333 |
What the taxes look like
Saugerties assesses at full market value: the state's 2025 equalization rate and residential assessment ratio for the town are both 100. So the rates below work directly on the price. Each is per $1,000, from Ulster County's 2025 Real Property Data Report, with 2026 county, town and district rates and 2025-26 school rates.
| Line on the bill | In the village | Outside the village |
|---|---|---|
| Ulster County | 2.009 | 2.009 |
| Town general | 2.786 | 2.829 |
| Town highway | none | 1.269 |
| Saugerties ambulance district | 0.462 | 0.462 |
| Town library and library bond | 0.331 | 0.331 |
| Saugerties Central School District | 12.303 | 12.303 |
| Village of Saugerties | 5.03 | none |
| Fire district | none (village parcels aren't in a fire district) | 0.037 to 1.124, by district |
| Total per $1,000 | about $22.92 | about $19.20, plus fire |
For a $400,000 house in the Saugerties Central School District, that works out to about $9,170 a year in the village and about $8,000 outside it in the Centerville fire district (0.798), before STAR or any other exemption. The other fire districts are Glasco (0.930), Malden-West Camp (1.098), Mount Marion (1.124), Saxton (0.913) and a fire protection district (0.037). Some neighborhoods add a small lighting district charge, and village owners pay water and sewer bills on top.
Two notes on those numbers. The village rate is the latest one the county lists, for 2025, because the village's posted 2026-27 budget doesn't show a rate. And part of the town is in the Kingston City School District rather than Saugerties Central; its 2025-26 rate there is 12.507 for homes, close to the same. The school district is printed on the tax bill. I won't tell you which district to prefer; the state's school report cards are at data.nysed.gov.
Water: village reservoir, town districts, or your own well
The Village of Saugerties draws its water from the Blue Mountain Reservoir, a stream-fed reservoir in the town, and treats it at its own plant. Its water quality report for 2025 says it serves about 4,500 people through 1,475 connections in the village, plus about 5,000 people through 2,000 connections in the town. The report says the system has never had a contaminant over its legal limit, and its lead and copper results were well under the action levels. It also reports one paperwork violation: the village missed the federal deadline to file its lead service line inventory. The inventory has since been filed with the state, and the village posts a summary of it on its water department page.
Outside the village, the town runs four water districts, Bluestone Park, Glasco, Malden and Kings Highway, all buying water from the village, and four sewer districts, Barclay Heights, Glasco, Malden and Kings Highway. Mount Marion's water comes from a private company. Each district publishes its own annual water quality report on the town's water and sewer page.
Everywhere else, the house is on its own well and septic. Find out which before you write an offer. I've written up what to test in a well and how Ulster County's septic rules work.
Flooding: the Hudson sets the level
Saugerties has two flood sources: the Hudson River, which is tidal here, and the Esopus Creek, which meets it at the village waterfront. The low ground along both floods.
- Storm tides. On 13 January 2024 the Hudson's tide gauge at Turkey Point peaked at 8.42 feet above mean lower low water, about four feet above a normal high tide, and waves splashed over the seawall at the Saugerties Lighthouse, according to the Lower Esopus Watershed site. It was the third surge of eight feet or more in about a month.
- The creek can't be dredged out of it. The same site notes that how high the tide reaches in the lower Esopus is set by the Hudson's level, not the depth of the creek channel.
- Recent street flooding. In December 2022 village police reported flooding on Light House Drive and Ferry Street.
- The big storms. After Irene, Lee and Sandy, local reporting described residents forced from their homes in Malden and Glasco, along Route 212 and Clint Finger Road, and on both sides of the Esopus Creek in the village.
What to do about it:
- Look the address up on FEMA's map at the Flood Map Service Center. If the house sits in a special flood hazard area and you're using a federally backed mortgage, the lender will require flood insurance.
- Read the seller's flood answers. Since 20 March 2024, New York sellers have had to complete the Property Condition Disclosure Statement, with no $500 credit to skip it. It asks about flood zones, past flood damage, flood insurance and claims, federal disaster aid and elevation certificates.
- Get an insurance quote before you sign, not after. If the seller has an elevation certificate, the quote will be faster and more accurate.
Renting it out
In the town, outside the village
- Short-term rentals (stays of under 180 consecutive nights) need a yearly permit from the Building Department and a fire and safety inspection. No cap, and you don't have to live there.
- Only single-family houses and approved accessory apartments qualify. A two-family house can't get a permit.
- The permit doesn't transfer when you buy. You apply for your own.
In the village
- Every rental the owner doesn't live in, long term or short term, has to be registered with the village building inspector before it's offered, on a statement signed under oath.
- An owner who doesn't live in Ulster County has to name a managing agent who does.
- When you buy, the registration has to be updated within 15 days.
- Renting without registering is unlawful, with fines of $250 to $500 for each day.
Either way, Ulster County's short-term rental registration and occupancy tax apply on top. The full rules, costs and paperwork are on my Saugerties short-term rental page.
Historic review
The Town of Saugerties has a Historic Preservation Commission with real authority: if a building is a designated landmark or sits in a designated historic district, a certificate of appropriateness is required before any material change to its appearance. Its page doesn't list the designations, and the village files its building forms under a historic review board of its own. If you're planning new windows, siding or an addition, ask the town or village whether the house is designated before you buy.
Paying the taxes
Town and county tax bills go out in the first week of January and are due by 31 January without penalty, or in two installments with interest on the second. School tax is billed separately by the school district, and village tax by the village. If you qualify for an exemption, such as STAR, the town's deadline to apply for the following year's taxes is 1 March.
If you are buying in Saugerties
- Pull the tax bill first. One page tells you village or town, the school district, the fire district, any water or sewer district, and the assessment.
- Check the flood map and the disclosure before you sign, especially anywhere near the Hudson or the Esopus. Get an insurance quote if any of the parcel touches a flood zone.
- Know the water. In the village or a town district, read the latest water quality report. Outside them, test the well and inspect the septic.
- Planning to rent? In the town, check the house type qualifies before you fall for it. In the village, register within 15 days of buying.
- Ask about historic designation before you plan exterior work.
Who to call
- Town of Saugerties Building Department (permits, short-term rentals): (845) 246-2800 ext. 331 or 333
- Town Assessor (assessment, exemptions): (845) 246-2800 ext. 335
- Town Receiver of Taxes (town and county tax, town water and sewer bills): (845) 246-2800 ext. 339
- Town Water and Sewer Department (district service): (845) 246-8671
- Village of Saugerties, 43 Partition Street: Village Clerk (845) 246-2321 ext. 1, Water and Sewer ext. 3, Code Enforcement ext. 4
How this page stays current. Tax rates change every year, and the town and village codes change when their boards act. I re-check the rates when the new county report comes out and the rental rules whenever either board changes them. When something changes, I'll update the answer and record it below rather than editing silently.
Change log
6 November 2026: page published.
Looking at other towns? See New Paltz, Kingston, buying your first house in Ulster County or the full permit guide.
Send me the address
I'll tell you whether it's in the village or the town, which school, fire and water districts are on its bill, whether any of it touches the flood map, and what the rental rules would let you do with it, before you make an offer.
Ryan Rooney is a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson with Stevens Real Estate at eXp Realty, serving Ulster County and Dutchess County, New York. Born and raised in New Paltz. (845) 447-9274 · rrooney@stevensre.com
Sources, all checked 6 November 2026: Town of Saugerties Code, Chapter 194, Short-Term Rentals (Local Law 2 of 2022); Town of Saugerties Historic Preservation Commission page and the town's historic preservation law; Town of Saugerties Water/Sewer Department page; Town of Saugerties Town Taxes page; Village of Saugerties Rental Property Law, as amended by Local Law 1 of 2023; Village of Saugerties Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2025; Village of Saugerties Water Department and Code Enforcement pages; Ulster County Department of Finance, 2025 Real Property Data Report (2025-26 school tax rates, 2026 county, town and special district rates, 2025 equalization rates and residential assessment ratios); New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, 2025 final STAR credit and exemption savings amounts, Ulster County (school districts serving the Town of Saugerties); Lower Esopus Watershed, "Tidal Flooding from Winter Storm Gerri, 1/13/24"; Hudson Valley One, storm flooding photos, 23 December 2022, and "Saugerties gets $6 million to deal with flood damage," 27 July 2013; New York State Bar Association, 20 March 2024, on the amended Property Condition Disclosure Act. Tax figures are my arithmetic from the published rates and are rounded. This page reports what the public record shows. It is not legal or tax advice. Confirm current requirements with the Town or Village of Saugerties before relying on them.