Finger Lakes
Ulysses, New York
Ulysses is a town in Tompkins County, in New York's Finger Lakes region, home to about 4,900 people as of the 2020 census.
Like the rest of upstate New York, an assessed value here usually isn't the market value; the state's equalization rate reconciles the two. The local rate is below, and the STAR program can lower the school-tax part of the bill.
- Type
- Town
- County
- Tompkins
- Region
- Finger Lakes
- Population (2020)
- 4,890
Local Almanac
Notes in and around Ulysses
Short, sourced notes tied to this place, its county, or nearby communities.
This place · The Outdoors
Ulysses Has a Gorge-and-Lake Identity at Taughannock
Ulysses reads as a Cayuga Lake town with a dramatic gorge landscape at Taughannock Falls.
Read this note ->This place · Rules & Licenses
Ulysses Building and Zoning Starts With the BCPZ Page
Ulysses keeps building permits, zoning map, flood-hazard resources, and fee-payment links under its BCPZ department.
Read this note ->This place · Rules & Licenses
Ulysses Small Structures Can Still Need Zoning and Site-Plan Attention
Ulysses rules say some small accessory buildings avoid building permits, but zoning, site plan, and other review can still matter.
Read this note ->This place · Home & Property
Tompkins Private Wells Start With Setbacks and a DEC-Registered Driller
Tompkins County’s private-well page gives siting guidance and says to use a DEC-registered well driller.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Lansing's Salt Point Turns Industry Into Lakefront Memory
Salt Point explains Lansing through Cayuga Lake industry, Syrian worker families, canal-era shipping, and a reclaimed natural area.
Read this note ->Nearby · The Outdoors
The Waterfall in Town That Beats Niagara on Height
Taughannock Falls drops 215 feet straight down — taller than Niagara — and it's one of more than 150 waterfalls hiding in the gorges around Ithaca.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Covert Crossed County Lines Before It Settled
Covert's local story moves from Ovid to Tompkins County, back to Seneca County, and down to Cayuga Lake at Interlaken.
Read this note ->Nearby · The Outdoors
Enfield's Glen Gives It a Wilder West-Ithaca Edge
Robert H. Treman State Park gives Enfield a rugged gorge identity on the west side of the Ithaca area.
Read this note ->Nearby · History & Culture
Cayuga Heights Was Planned as a Cornell-Edge Village
Cayuga Heights reads differently when you know it was planned as a home-focused village beside a growing Cornell.
Read this note ->Property tax snapshot
Roughly $20–$21 per $1,000
Combined full-value rate — county + town/city + school district, per $1,000 of market value (FY2025). On a $300,000 home that's about $6,121–$6,339 a year before the STAR break.
A planning estimate, not a bill. Your exact rate depends on your school district and any village. Confirm with the assessor.
Statewide links
Statewide starting points.
Good to know
- • Your assessed value usually isn't your market value — ask for the equalization rate.
- • Register for STAR; new applicants generally receive a credit instead of an automatic exemption on the bill.
- • Outside the cities, check the well, the septic, and the FEMA flood map before you buy.
Nearby
Nearby places
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. Reviewed June 2026. Source data ->
Page feedback
Send a page note
Send a note about this page. The page address will be included automatically.
Page feedback
Send a note
This is for fixing the site: wrong details, unclear wording, broken links, outdated information, or useful local context.