Real estate
Mortgage recording tax in Onondaga and Cortland County
Two counties, forty minutes apart, and a buyer borrowing the same amount does not pay the same tax in both. Cortland raised its rate at the start of 2025 and most of what is published about New York closing costs has not caught up.
1. The short answer
New York charges a tax for recording a mortgage. It is not a tax on buying a house, which is a distinction that matters more than it sounds, and it is not the same thing as the transfer tax that comes out of the seller’s side of the table. It is charged on the loan, and the rate is set partly by the State and partly by the county the property sits in.
| County | Combined rate | On a $200,000 mortgage |
|---|---|---|
| Onondaga | 1% of the mortgage, less $25 on a one- or two-family home over $10,000 | $1,975 |
| Cortland | $1.25 per $100 secured | $2,500 |
Combined rates, before the split described in section 3. Onondaga figure and the $25 reduction from the County Clerk; Cortland figure from the State tax department’s notice of the change.
That is a difference of several hundred dollars on an ordinary Central New York house, decided by nothing except which side of the county line it sits on.
2. What changed in Cortland, and when
Until the end of 2024, Cortland County charged a combined $1.00 for each $100 secured by the mortgage — the basic tax, the special additional tax and the county tax together. Effective January 1, 2025, Cortland elected to impose an additional mortgage recording tax of $0.25 per $100, bringing the combined rate to $1.25. It applies to mortgages recorded on or after that date.
Onondaga County did not make the same election. Its rate is where it was.
This is the kind of change that is easy to miss, because it did not come from Albany. New York lets counties elect to impose additional mortgage recording tax, so two neighboring counties can charge different amounts under the same statute, and a change in one of them is a local news item at most. Closing-cost guides written nationally — and a good deal of what a search returns — quote a single New York rate as though the State had one.
If you are reading a figure for Cortland County that was published before 2025, it is out of date.
3. The part your lender pays
The headline rate is not all yours, and this is the part that surprises people who have added up their own closing costs from a blog post.
The combined rate is made of separate taxes, and one of them — the special additional tax, $0.25 per $100 — is generally the lender’s obligation rather than the borrower’s where the mortgage is secured by a building of not more than six residential units. That is New York Tax Law § 253(1-a). An ordinary house or a small multi-family is inside that description.
So on a one- to six-family home, the borrower is usually carrying the basic tax and any additional county tax, and the lender is usually carrying the quarter point. There are exceptions — some federally chartered lenders and certain not-for-profit lenders are treated differently — which is why the honest way to say this is that it is the ordinary arrangement rather than a guarantee.
Where to actually check it: your Closing Disclosure. The lender has to give it to you, it itemizes what you are being charged, and it is the document that settles arguments about closing costs. If a number on it does not match what you were told, that is a question worth asking before the day of closing rather than at the table.
4. What it looks like on a real file
Take a $200,000 mortgage on a single-family house, and assume the ordinary treatment described above.
| Item | Onondaga | Cortland |
|---|---|---|
| Combined tax | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| Usually the lender’s share | $500 | $500 |
| Usually yours, before the $25 | $1,500 | $2,000 |
The Cortland borrower is carrying about a third more than the Onondaga borrower on an identical loan. On a larger mortgage the gap widens in step.
Treat those as the shape rather than the invoice. Exemptions, credits, refinances that assign an existing mortgage rather than record a new one, and lender-specific treatment all move the real figure, and none of them can be resolved from an article. The number that governs is the one on your Closing Disclosure, and the office that collects it is the County Clerk where the property sits.
5. The other line items people forget
The recording tax is the biggest of the small costs, not the only one.
- Recording fees. Separate from the tax and charged per document. In Onondaga County the base fee to record a mortgage is $45.50 plus $5.00 for the cover page and $5.00 for each additional page, and a deed is $45.50 plus $5.00 a page. Small numbers, but they are real and they are per document.
- Title insurance. Worth understanding before you try to shop for it. Title insurance rates in New York are filed and regulated, so the premium is not the competitive variable most buyers assume it is. What does move the number is timing: when an owner’s policy and the lender’s policy are issued together at the same closing, a reduced rate can apply, which often makes adding owner’s coverage cheaper than people expect.
- The transfer tax. A different tax, normally the seller’s, charged on the sale rather than the loan. We cover it, the mansion tax, and what a non-resident seller has to pay at the table on the real estate closings page.
What to do with this
If you are buying in Cortland County, put the right number in your own arithmetic early, because the wrong one is circulating. If you are buying in Onondaga County, do not assume the Cortland figure applies to you either.
And if you are deciding between houses on either side of that county line, it is one more small thing on the pile — not a reason to choose, but a reason not to be surprised at the table.
The most useful moment to ask about any of this is when the contract is signed rather than the week of closing, because that is when there is still time to do something about whatever the title search turns up. Send us the contract and the first conversation is free.
Questions people ask
What is the mortgage recording tax in Onondaga County?
One percent of the mortgage amount, less $25 where the property is improved by a one- or two-family dwelling and the mortgage is over $10,000, according to the Onondaga County Clerk. Part of that one percent is usually your lender’s obligation rather than yours on a one- to six-family home.
What is the mortgage recording tax in Cortland County?
$1.25 for each $100 secured by the mortgage. Cortland added an extra $0.25 per $100 effective January 1, 2025, on top of the $1.00 combined rate it charged before. Published closing-cost guides written before that change still show the old figure.
Why is Cortland County higher than Onondaga County?
Counties in New York can elect to impose additional mortgage recording tax, and Cortland did so effective January 1, 2025. Onondaga did not. Same state, same statute, two different rates, decided at the county level rather than in Albany.
Do I pay mortgage recording tax if I am paying cash?
No. The tax is on recording the mortgage, not on buying the house. A cash purchase with no mortgage records a deed and no mortgage, so there is nothing for the tax to attach to. The transfer tax on the sale is separate and still applies.
Does my lender pay part of the mortgage recording tax?
Usually, on a home of one to six residential units. Under Tax Law section 253(1-a) the special additional tax of $0.25 per $100 is the lender’s obligation on those properties. There are exceptions, including some federally chartered lenders, so check your Closing Disclosure.
Is the mortgage recording tax the same as the transfer tax?
No, and both can appear at the same closing. The transfer tax is on the sale and is normally the seller’s. The mortgage recording tax is on the loan and is mostly the buyer’s. A cash buyer pays no mortgage recording tax but the transfer tax still applies.
Buying or selling in Onondaga or Cortland County?
Send us the contract early. The first conversation is free, there is no obligation, and you will speak to one of the two partners.
Sources. NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, MT-24-2, Changes to the Mortgage Recording Tax Rates Affecting Cortland County (issued December 27, 2024) · Onondaga County Clerk, Mortgages and Deeds · New York Tax Law § 253. Rates checked September 12, 2026. Counties can change these, and Cortland’s did — check the date on any figure you read, including this one.
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