Same Market Value but huge difference in Assessed Value

My property tax situation is complicated and long so I’ll just lay out the details. I just bought a 3 family property in Bushwick. My property taxes are based on an assessed value of $30,655 for a Market Value of $600,000. My neighbors have an assessed value of $7,000 (with Market Values around $545,000). However, the difference in taxes is huge. Right now the city requires I pay 4 times more than all my neighbors who have the same house and same market value. The reason this happened is that the city had the property erroneously listed as a class 2A property (6 family/rooming house) for 20 years. The previous owner flipped the house so he doesn’t know the origin of the class 2A designation. It was a 3 family when he bought it. When I called the Tax and finance offices I was told I can attend a hearing and plea my case on the grounds of inequality. They weren’t very reassuring. When I bought this house I wasn’t aware of this problem. The taxes were listed as being $2600, not $4700. I’ve somewhat created this problem by appealing the buildings class from 2a to 1, thinking it would actually lower my tax bill to be in keeping with the neighboring homes. Does anyone have advice? Been in a similar situation? I’m basically looking for some hope.

By mitblinder |