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New York · Finger Lakes · #534 Most Populous County in the US
Ontario County, New York
The Finger Lakes gateway county - from Canandaigua Lake's stunning 16-mile expanse and the Sonnenberg Gardens to Geneva's Hobart and William Smith Colleges, the wine trails of the Seneca and Canandaigua lake corridors, and Victor's rapidly growing suburban communities along the Rochester metro's eastern frontier. Property tax, courts, public records, and senior services for Ontario County residents.
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Ontario County's assessment ratio means effective tax rates are low — but incorrect appraisals still cost money. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Office: Ontario County Emergency Management – 2914 County Rd. 48, Canandaigua, NY 14424 | (585) 396-4310
Services: Ontario County 911 Center, located within the Sheriff’s Office, covers all or part of 34 fire districts, 11 EMS agencies, and multiple police departments; uses the Hyper-Reach outbound notification system for emergencies like water main breaks and dangerous conditions.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: NY-332 and NY-21 serve Canandaigua, one of the county’s two cities (alongside Geneva) and the county seat, on the northern end of Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes region
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Individual towns and cities issue building permits – e.g., Town of Canandaigua Code Enforcement, (585) 394-1120
Notes: Ontario County comprises 16 towns, 8 villages, and 2 cities (Canandaigua and Geneva), each issuing its own separate building permits.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Ontario County Veterans Service Agency – Canandaigua, NY
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Wood Library – 134 N Main St, Canandaigua, NY 14424 | (585) 394-1381 | Hours: Mon–Thu 9 AM–9 PM, Fri 9 AM–6 PM, Sat 10 AM–5 PM, Sun 1–4 PM
Services: Part of the OWWL Library System serving Ontario, Wayne, Wyoming, and Livingston counties; holds 50,000–100,000 volumes; offers notary public service, a community health and wellness hub (“The Hub at Wood Library”), and a seniors’ walking club.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Ontario County’s seat, Canandaigua, was genuinely the site of one of the most significant trials in American history – United States v. Susan B. Anthony, held at the Ontario County Courthouse on June 17–18, 1873; after Anthony and fourteen other women voted in Rochester during the 1872 presidential election to challenge laws restricting suffrage to men, she was arrested for illegal voting under the federal Enforcement Act of 1870; her trial was moved from her home county of Monroe to Canandaigua after both the judge and prosecutor agreed no local jury there would likely convict her, so Anthony responded by touring Ontario County for 21 days delivering speeches before the trial even began; presiding Judge Ward Hunt directed the all-male jury to find her guilty without deliberation, a verdict that became a landmark moment in the women’s suffrage movement – a portrait and bust of Anthony remain displayed in the courthouse today, with the bust’s inscription reading “Justice Denied Here, June 1873”; the Ontario County Courthouse, built in 1858, is a National Register-listed contributing property within the broader Canandaigua Historic District, which spans 125 acres and includes 354 historic residential, commercial, and civic buildings dating from the 1810s to the 1930s
Notes: Ontario County’s genuine role as the site of the 1873 trial of Susan B. Anthony – a landmark moment in the fight for women’s suffrage – makes Canandaigua one of the most historically significant county seats found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Ontario County GIS – accessible via ontariocountyny.gov
Parcel Search: Ontario County Real Property Tax Service – Canandaigua, NY
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Ontario County Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Ontario County Humane Society (Happy Tails Animal Shelter) – 2976 County Road 48, Canandaigua, NY 14424 | (585) 396-4590 | Hours: Tue–Sat 10 AM–4 PM (Animal Wards 10:30 AM–3 PM)
Services: A no-kill, nonprofit shelter providing rabies control, dog license enforcement, adoptions, low-cost spay/neuter, and emergency response support through the Ontario County Sheriff’s Department after hours.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) – dec.ny.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Canandaigua, Ontario County’s seat, is genuinely the site of the landmark 1873 trial of Susan B. Anthony for illegal voting, a pivotal moment in the women’s suffrage movement. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Ontario County
Ontario County is a Finger Lakes county and the 534th most populous in the United States, covering 644 square miles of the Finger Lakes region between Rochester and the Finger Lakes’ western corridor.
Canandaigua (the county seat, population ~13,000) sits at the northern tip of Canandaigua Lake – a 16-mile Finger Lakes lake of extraordinary beauty with steep wooded hillsides and a downtown that has successfully maintained its character as a regional destination. The Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion (a Victorian summer estate with nine formal gardens and a remarkable mansion) and the Granger Homestead (an 1816 Federal-style mansion and carriage museum) anchor Canandaigua’s heritage tourism. The lake’s shoreline and wine trails draw significant visitors from Rochester and western New York.
Geneva (population ~13,000) is the county’s second city – home to two excellent liberal arts colleges, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (a coordinate college system, combined enrollment ~2,400, founded 1822 and 1908 respectively) on the shores of Seneca Lake. Geneva’s waterfront on Seneca Lake and the surrounding Seneca Lake Wine Trail make it one of the Finger Lakes’ most dynamic tourism communities.
Victor (population ~16,000 town) is Ontario County’s fastest-growing community – a suburb on Rochester’s southeastern edge that has grown substantially with master-planned residential development, premium retail at Eastview Mall (one of the largest malls in upstate New York), and corporate employment along the US-90/Route 96 corridor.
The Finger Lakes Wine Country extends through Ontario County – the Canandaigua Lake Wine Trail and portions of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail offer dozens of wineries producing Riesling, Cabernet Franc, and Gewürztraminer that have earned significant national recognition.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
New York assessment practices vary by municipality. Grievance Day: third Tuesday in May. If dissatisfied, file with SCAR (residential) by October 1 or Article 7 (larger properties). NY estate tax: Above $7.16 million (2025) with 105% cliff. No NY inheritance tax.
OWNWELL CTA: Ontario County Grievance Day: third Tuesday in May. Canandaigua Lake waterfront and Victor Rochester suburb both strong appreciation. NY estate tax above $7.16M with cliff. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Recommended
Ontario County Grievance Day: third Tuesday in May. Canandaigua Lake waterfront and Victor Rochester suburb both strong appreciation. NY estate tax above $7.16M with cliff. Ownwell manages the appeal with no upfront cost.
Courts & Legal
Courts & Legal
Surrogate’s Court (Probate): The Ontario County Surrogate’s Court at 27 N. Main Street, Canandaigua, NY 14424, phone 585-396-4239, handles wills, estate administration, and guardianships.
Supreme Court: The Ontario County Supreme Court at 27 N. Main Street handles major civil and criminal matters.
County Clerk: The Ontario County Clerk at 20 Ontario Street, Canandaigua, maintains real property records. Land records searchable online.
Senior Services
The Ontario County Office for the Aging at 3019 County Complex Drive, Canandaigua, NY 14424, phone 585-396-4040, serves the county’s senior population with in-home services, caregiver support, nutrition programs, and transportation. F.F. Thompson Hospital (Rochester Regional Health) provides significant geriatric care.
Recommended
Assisted living, memory care, and independent living across Ontario County - from Canandaigua and Geneva to Victor, Phelps, and the Finger Lakes wine country communities.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
20 Ontario St, Canandaigua, NY 14424
(585) 396-4200
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Ontario County Surrogate’s Court, Canandaigua (probate case files – see Probate section above).
The 1858 Ontario County Courthouse, NRHP-listed, is a significant local landmark, notable as the site of the Susan B. Anthony trial.
Local societies
No dedicated Ontario County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Ontario County Surrogate’s Court 27 North Main Street, Canandaigua, NY 14424 (585) 396-4200
Ontario County is in New York’s Finger Lakes region, seated in Canandaigua. The 1858 Ontario County Courthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was the site of the 1873 trial of Susan B. Anthony.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
New York probate and estate administration is governed by the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA) and handled by the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled. New York has 62 counties, each with its own Surrogate’s Court.
Voluntary Administration / Small Estate Affidavit (SCPA Article 13) – available when the decedent’s PERSONAL property (not real property) has a gross value of $50,000 or less, excluding certain property automatically set aside for a surviving spouse or children under 21 (EPTL 5-3.1). Owning real property does NOT disqualify an estate from this process – only the personal property counts toward the $50,000 cap. The filing fee is just $1.00.
Probate – required when there’s a valid will and the estate exceeds the small-estate threshold or involves real property.
Administration – required when the decedent died intestate (no will); the Surrogate’s Court appoints an administrator following the statutory priority order under SCPA 1001.
Step 2: filing for probate or administration
File the will (if any) with the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the decedent was domiciled, along with a probate or administration petition.
The court issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without a will) to the appointed fiduciary.
The fiduciary notifies creditors and beneficiaries and inventories the estate’s assets.
Debts, expenses, and any required New York State Estate Tax are paid.
The fiduciary distributes the remaining assets according to the will or New York’s intestacy law and files a final accounting to close the estate.
What it costs
Voluntary Administration filing fee: $1.00.
Full probate/administration filing fees vary and generally scale with estate value.
UNIQUE TO NEW YORK: New York imposes its own separate state ESTATE TAX. For 2026, the New York basic exclusion amount is $7,350,000 – estates at or below that owe no state estate tax. New York has an unusual “cliff”: if the estate’s value exceeds the exclusion by more than 5% (over $7,717,500 in 2026), the ENTIRE estate becomes taxable from the first dollar. No portability between spouses. Rates range from about 3.06% to 16%.
New York has no separate state inheritance tax.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
3010 County Rd 48, Canandaigua, NY 14424
(585) 394-4560
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
20 Ontario St, Canandaigua, NY 14424
(585) 396-4230
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Public Health
3019 County Complex Dr, Canandaigua, NY 14424
(585) 396-4343
Social Services
2914 County Rd 48, Canandaigua, NY 14424
(585) 396-4415
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Ontario County Public Health Department – Canandaigua, NY
Editorial independence: CountyOffices maintains strict editorial independence from our affiliate partners. Our content is researched from official government sources. Affiliate relationships do not influence our recommendations or the information we publish.
Recommended for New York
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