Tax Assessment
We just received notice that our one family townhouse in Clinton Hill is now valued at $1.9, up from $1.4 last year. We paid under 1 million seven years ago. We also paid around $3k in taxes then. Now we are paying more like $5k and I’m worried we will be paying $7k with the new assessment. I know that’s not a lot of money outside of NYC, but for NYC it is, especially since the taxes have more than doubled in seven years. Any way to get this adjusted?
Thanks
VHR
in General Discussion 8 years and 5 months ago
22
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22 replies
nyc_sport | 8 years and 4 months ago
Cry me a river. This is just a debate about how under taxed you all are. The taxes on my 120 year old east village loft have gone from 15k a year in 2003 to almost 40k. And, no, there were no abatements etc. Everyone who does not pay taxes feels over taxes.
Arkady | 8 years and 4 months ago
I did a quick look on NYC.gov but couldn’t find it. Phone 311 & ask. There are usually 2 in each borough.
tyjvpwzvhdtcw | 8 years and 4 months ago
Hi Arkady, how often does the city host those tax seminars? and where can I find info on them?
LorEnz14 | 8 years and 4 months ago
I believe there is a way to contest the increase. Search the DOF website.
Bessie | 8 years and 5 months ago
I had the same experience as Arkady.
Arkady | 8 years and 5 months ago
VHR – I’d go to one of the seminars on RE Taxes that the City sponsors. I got taxes reduced on a building for the same reasons you cite. The seminars give private chats w/ people from Finance & they are really helpful. I am awful at dealing w/ bureaucracy but my win shows it can be done.
murph | 8 years and 5 months ago
The Mayor owns two “tear-downs” on 11th Street above 6th Avenue in Park Slope. One was his mother’s and one was his, assessed at $2 million. He rents out his two-story one-bath for $5,000/month. The RE tax is less than two thousand per year.
You can tell a lot about the real value of a property by its taxes. Asking over a million and paying only $3,000 to the City. Ask questions. The City don’t see that value.
I pay $5,000 plus, same as all of my neighbors. One neighbor converted to four-families so his new Class 2 tax is $11,000 plus. Not high enough, I think. In two years he’s raised the rents twice. I figure his annual rent roll is now $120,000. From the City perspective we should be getting 31%. Big disparity there.
Coops & Condos do badly too. How about paying Commercial Rent Tax–a tax on the rent you pay? The courts get involved too(see Hellerstein decision).
What saves owners of Class 1 properties is our numbers. Must be 800,000 now. Big rise in RE taxes–New City Council, New Mayor–No problem.
deanbh | 8 years and 5 months ago
and in case you are wondering what I mean by govt waste…..how about the wire security fence at Cadman plaza that took over 18 months to build and had equipment in rental sheds sitting there idle for a lot of that time…..pure waste but he its only money
deanbh | 8 years and 5 months ago
its getting to the stage now where when i see government waste it just frustrates the hell out of me……we are paying so much and getting so little in return.
artsynani | 8 years and 5 months ago
You are just here to blame democrats and liberals and you probably voted for trump who gets his STAR exemption on his 100 mil condo. http://www1.nyc.gov/site/finance/taxes/property-tax-rates.page
How about adding something constructive? If you cant afford to live here sell your house and buy a mansion in florida like the rest do and leave us alone.
“Each year, the City Council sets real property tax rates as part of the budget process. The Council determines the total levy necessary and each of four property classes pays a share. The formulas to calculate the class shares are codified in state law, with minimal local discretion, and are intended to keep shares relatively constant over time, with an annual adjustment for growth in market value and physical changes.”
Yes taxes go up like everything else. Sorry you are house poor and cash poor. Sell it since you probably inherited it anyway.
housepoor | 8 years and 5 months ago
” The last time tax rates changed was under Bloomberg when he raised residential rates to over 20 percent. ” Um, no.
Just out of curiosity, if taxes haven’t changed, how can I explain the following tax rates taken off my DOF account? These are applied to “the billable assessed value” on my Class 1 house:
’16-’17: 19.991%,
’15-’16: 19.554%,
’14-’15: 19.151%,
’13-’14: 19.191%,
’12-’13: 18.569%,
’11-’12: 18.205%,
’10-’11: 17.364%,
’09-’10: 16.195% for the 1st half, 16.787% for the 2nd,
’08-’09: 15.434%
Independent of the rise in assessed value, the RE tax rates have gone up 29% in less than 10 years. My actual taxes owed rose 71% from ’08-’09 to now and 25% from ’11-’12 to now (so much for the 20% every 5 year cap — it ONLY applies to billable assessed value, not total taxes owed). There were no taxable improvements. That is the simple math.
With the exception of a tiny dip in ’14-’15, it looks to be happening year in and year out. Since you said that Bloomberg jumped up RE taxes at one point (I remember that…), then it must be the Mayor (a politician….) calling t he shots here. Of course, the other two factors impacting taxes (and you are correct to note that haven’t changed in decades) are the natural increase in billable assessed value (i.e. the 5%/20%) and taxable improvements (which aren’t subject to the 5%/20% rule).
artsynani | 8 years and 5 months ago
Simple response. You are stupid and ignorant. The mayor has ZERo control over this. Nor does the governor. Its the senate and assembly..and neither body has changed the law in decades. The last time tax rates changed was under Bloomberg when he raised residential rates to over 20 percent. So..Im sorry ignorant people like you read this. And I doubt you are even a home owner. Its sad when we are trying to have an educated and grown up conversation and you stick politics into this when no politician can change.
peaceout | 8 years and 5 months ago
Simple answer: deBlasio.
artsynani | 8 years and 5 months ago
That really does not sound correct. Either your home was relatively new or rehabbed. But taxes cant go up more than the 5%. If you could give me your address I can check. I used to be a NYC tax assessor so I know how this works. Taxes only change radically when its a tax class 4 property which are stores and factories.
brikenny | 8 years and 5 months ago
My property tax was only about $1,800 when I bought my house but it went up about $200 each year after that. It suddenly doubled around 2010, and now I’m paying closer to $7,000. I examined the city’s assessment and saw that much of the data they used to determine size and upgrades was wildly off. So I appealed and asked for a in-home evaluation. The inspector who came agreed with me on every point and said the square footage alone was grossly exaggerated. I thought I’d won, but I asked if this would lower my tax bill. He said “not a chance.” Once it has been raised it almost never goes back down. All I could hope for was a slowing of the rate it was going up. Not much of a win after all.
artsynani | 8 years and 5 months ago
My market value on my home in Williamsburg is 2, 420,000 and my Assessed value is $20,571. Dividing the 20571/ 6 percent tells me exactly how much my property taxes relate to the market value of my home. Its called the assessment ratio. So, 20,571/ .06 =384,000. The city taxes me as if my house is worth 384,000. Thats VERY low because of the property tax cap. Thats the only calculation you need to do.
housepoor | 8 years and 5 months ago
True, the City effective assessment that is used to calculate your taxes can only go up 5% in any given year, 20% over 5 (on class 1 properties). This is NOT the same thing as saying your taxes can only go up 5%, 20% over 5. After all, we’ve all seen R/E taxes rise more than that. The culprit was the tax rate.
As a result of the 5%/20% cap, the assessed value bears no resemblance to market value. My market value actually fell 15% this year. Over time the two will converge, but it will take decades. The ratio of my market value to assessed value is 40 to 1.
Class 1 rates were, according to my 2009 annual notice from the city, 16.19% (of taxable value, which is equal to assessed value less any exemptions like STAR) , and 19.991% now. That alone represents a 23% increase in taxes (if I held assessed value constant).
This is on top of any improvements you may be taxed on. They are not subject to the 5%/20% rule and go right to your assessed value.
daveinbedstuy | 8 years and 5 months ago
“We also paid around $3k in taxes then. Now we are paying more like $5k” We can fool around with these numbers but if they were actually $3,300 and $4,850 then the CAGR over 7 years was 5.6%.. What were they exactly?
bk123 | 8 years and 5 months ago
A property in the Bronx also jumped a huge amount in valuation. Taxes didnt go up that much tho.