Download Official Form RP3042 (PDF)
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Form RP-3042, officially titled “Application for Continuing Education Review,” is issued by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance through its Office of Real Property Tax Services (ORPTS). It’s a niche but essential document for anyone involved in the education side of property tax assessment in New York State. If you’re a course provider, instructor, or organization looking to have a training program recognized for continuing education credit toward assessor certification, this is the form you’ll need.
What Is Form RP-3042 Used For?
New York requires assessors, county directors of real property tax services, and certain appraisal personnel to complete ongoing continuing education to keep their certifications current under the Real Property Tax Law. Not every training course automatically qualifies for these credit hours — the course, seminar, or workshop first has to be reviewed and approved by the state.
Form RP-3042 is the mechanism for requesting that review. A provider submits the form to ORPTS along with details about the proposed course — things like the curriculum, instructor qualifications, course length, and learning objectives — so the state can determine whether it meets the standards required for continuing education credit in the assessment field.
Who Needs to File This Form?
This isn’t a form for the general public or for individual taxpayers. It’s specifically for:
- Educational institutions or private training organizations that want to offer approved courses for assessors and appraisers
- County or municipal assessment offices developing internal training programs
- Professional associations in the real property valuation field seeking state recognition for their seminars or workshops
- Individual instructors submitting a specific course or session for review on behalf of a sponsoring organization
If you’re an assessor simply trying to track your own continuing education hours, this isn’t the form you’ll be filling out — that’s typically handled through separate reporting to ORPTS. Form RP-3042 is filed by the entity offering the course, not the person taking it.
When Is Form RP-3042 Used?
The form should be submitted before the course is offered to assessors or appraisal personnel who intend to claim continuing education credit for attending. ORPTS reviews the submission and determines the number of credit hours, if any, the course will be worth. This review process protects the integrity of the certification system by making sure all approved courses meet a consistent educational standard across the state.
Providers often submit new applications each time they revise a course significantly, or when offering a brand-new program that hasn’t previously gone through the approval process. Recurring, unchanged courses may not need to be resubmitted every single year, though it’s worth confirming current ORPTS policy since requirements can shift.
How to Fill Out and Submit the Form
Form RP-3042 is a fillable PDF (AcroForm), meaning you can complete it electronically on your computer before printing or submitting it — no need to fill it out by hand. Typical information requested includes:
- Name and contact information of the sponsoring organization or instructor
- Course title, description, and total instructional hours
- Learning objectives and outline of topics covered
- Instructor credentials and teaching experience
Once completed, the form is submitted to the Office of Real Property Tax Services for review. It’s a good idea to keep a copy of the submission along with any correspondence from ORPTS regarding approval status, since that documentation may be needed later if questions arise about whether a given course was properly credited.
Like other specialized state tax and property forms, RP-3042 fits into a broader system of documentation that keeps New York’s assessment and certification processes standardized. If you work with property-related filings regularly, it’s also worth reviewing related forms such as Form ST-65 on recaptured sales and use tax benefits or Form TP-385 for certifying residential energy use, both of which involve similar certification-style reporting to New York State agencies.
Because approval determines whether attendees receive usable continuing education credit, providers should submit RP-3042 with enough lead time before the course date. Waiting until the last minute can leave attendees without confirmed credit hours, which defeats the purpose of offering the training in the first place.
Download Official Form RP3042 (PDF)
Opens the official government PDF in a new tab