Form RP-1573-ACR-A: Application for Review for Maintenance of Improved Real Property Tax Administration Aid

Form RP-1573-ACR-A is issued by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Office of Real Property Tax Services (ORPTS), and it’s tied to the state’s Aid for Improved Real Property Tax Administration program. This particular version — the “ACR-A” — is the application local assessing units file when they want to keep, or renew, their standing under a previously approved system of improved tax administration. In plain terms: if your municipality already received state aid for upgrading its assessment practices, this is the paperwork that keeps that aid flowing year after year.

The state created this aid program to encourage cities, towns, and counties to modernize how they assess real property — better data systems, more consistent valuation methods, updated property records, and stronger administrative practices overall. Once an assessing unit gets initial approval, it doesn’t get to coast indefinitely. ORPTS requires periodic review to confirm the unit is still meeting the standards that justified the aid in the first place. Form RP-1573-ACR-A is how that review request gets submitted.

Who Needs to File This Form

This form is relevant almost exclusively to assessors, assessing unit administrators, or local government officials responsible for property tax administration — not individual taxpayers or property owners. If your city, town, or county assessing unit currently participates in the improved real property tax administration aid program and needs to demonstrate continued compliance, this application is the mechanism for that. It’s essentially an accountability check: the state wants proof that the systems and practices that earned the aid are still in place and functioning as intended.

Assessing units that are applying for the very first time typically go through a different intake process. RP-1573-ACR-A is specifically for maintenance — meaning the unit already has an approved system and is seeking to continue receiving aid rather than establish eligibility from scratch.

When This Form Comes Into Play

Review applications like this one are generally tied to ORPTS’s ongoing monitoring schedule for the aid program. Assessing units should watch for review deadlines set by the department and submit their application within the required window to avoid a lapse in aid. Missing a review cycle can put continued funding at risk, so local assessors’ offices typically build this into their annual compliance calendar alongside other reporting obligations, similar to how they’d track deadlines for programs discussed in our overview of the Agricultural Assessment Program, which also involves periodic recertification.

How to Get and Complete the Form

Form RP-1573-ACR-A is available directly from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website as a fillable PDF. Because it includes AcroForm fields, you can type your responses directly into the document on a computer before printing or submitting it, rather than filling it out by hand. That said, expect the form to ask for detailed information about the assessing unit’s current administrative practices, staffing, technology systems, and any changes since the last review — so it helps to gather supporting documentation before you sit down to complete it.

Given that this form deals with certification-style review, it shares some procedural similarities with other ORPTS applications, like the process assessing units go through when applying for status under Form RP-3002 for Approved Assessing Unit certification. Both require the local office to document that it meets specific state-defined standards, and both involve a review rather than a one-time approval.

Once completed, the form is typically submitted to ORPTS according to the instructions printed on the document or provided in the accompanying guidance for the aid program. If you’re unsure whether your assessing unit is due for review, it’s worth reaching out to your regional ORPTS office before a deadline creeps up, since continued state aid depends on staying current with these submissions. Local officials who also handle other state tax filings, such as those related to utility and telecommunications tax returns, will recognize the general pattern here — periodic paperwork that keeps a benefit or status active rather than a one-and-done filing.