Forum Archive: Taxes

Property Taxes and assessed value of the property on a class 4 building is going up by 14% I just wanted to know of a good consulting group or lawyer to appeal the tax/assesed value hike.

I ahve another question spurred by this morning’s tax question. If a property is currently paying taxes based upon a “transitional assessment”, and work is done (with DOB approval), what happens to the transitional assessement? Is it affected by the work done (assuming there is no C of O change)?

I own a floorthrough condo apartment in Fort Greene in a building with three residential units and one commercial (a restaurant). The taxes are staggeringly high, over $650 a month for my unit (around $8K a year). What my neighbors in the building are paying is in line with that–the one with a larger unit pays even more. But could this be a mistake for all of us? (I’m told of a person with a $2.5 millon apartment in Manhattan who pays about the same as I do, and we paid about a quarter of that amount for our place. Another person I know pays about $3K a year in tax for an entire brownstone in Carroll Gardens/Red Hook.)

Our “Notice of Property Value” from the City is confusing but it appears the tax rates are very different for “1-3 family homes” and for “4-10 unit homes” (much higher for the latter) and that they have treated us as a “4-10 unit home,” which I don’t totally understand. Are they possibly treating us as if we own the entire building? Or if not, should they still be treating us as a 1-3 family home since the building has only three *residential* units, and one commercial? Help would be so appreciated. Or a reference to a RE attorney who’s savvy about condos, honest, competent, etc…

My mother is an artist and rents a studio in a commercial building comprised of mostly other artists as well as some architects, writers etc. When she first started renting (1992) the real estate tax was only a few hundred dollars a year (in the lease stated as 1.5% of the total tax for the building) It is now about $5000 and about 50% of her rent for the year. Does this seem legit? She is paying the same amount in tax as her next door neighbor who has a studio literally twice the size. I’m assuming both my mother’s lease and the neighbor’s lease stipulate 1.5% for each of them but shouldn’t tax be based on size of the studio or does that not matter if the lease has been signed? My mom spoke with the management company at one point (before she spoke with the neighbor) and was told by them that in fact it was calculated by size. And another thing, she signed her lease for a 2 year period (1992 – 1994) and never actually renewed it and has been renting without one ever since so not sure if what the lease actually says is relevant.

Does anyone have any insight as to how this all works? Thanks in advance, wasn’t sure if this was the correct forum to post but want sure where else to turn.

I recently purchased a new construction 3 family. It was built attached to another 3 family. I’ve owned it for about 5 months. The developer told me that he is trying to complete a tax abatement, which will save us about $6000 a year. I did not factor the tax abatement into my negotiations to buy the property, so it would all be gravy to me.

However, I just learned that if we receive a 421a tax abatement, the units are supposed to become rent-stabilized for the duration of the benefit. Is this always the case, and are there any ways around it? Also, I wonder if I can stop him from proceeding with this, since it was not described to me and was not part of our sales agreement. I would not have bought the property if I thought it could/would become rent stabilized.

I believe the reason the developer wants to get the tax break is to reimbursed from the city for the taxes he paid during the building etc.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Signing off for the night….

Yes, I know you may not be an accountant, but this situation has probably come up for someone.
My primary place of business is my home, and I deduct a percentage of my home as office space (a room’s worth).
Last year, I re-did my bathroom. Can I deduct the same percentage, or any percentage of those costs as a business expense? Thanks!

Can someone recommend a tax certiorari that handles Park Slope? I need to appeal my property taxes.

Thanks in advance.

Can someone recommend a good property tax appeal attorney for a Park Slope condo?

Get a whiff of this. The WSJ has written that Mayor Bloomberg is thinking of proposing for private residences a charge for garbage collection. But Mayor Bloomberg, this service is already paid for now by our taxes. I wonder if the Mayor is thinking of setting up an appointed Garbage Board to set rates. This way politicians don’t have to dirty their hands when rates are increased. This will probably work in the same way our water and sewer rates are reasonably set by the Water Board, with annual double digit increases. What are they going to do when someone doesn’t pay? Cut off their garbage collection. Mayor Bloomberg keep busy. Go paint another line in the street!