Values Down, Taxes Up
The market value of all property around the city is forecast to decline between 2009 and 2010 but property taxes that the city collects will rise 10 percent, according to the Independent Budget Office. The current issue of the Gotham Gazette examines why that’s the case. The main reason is that increased market values are…
The market value of all property around the city is forecast to decline between 2009 and 2010 but property taxes that the city collects will rise 10 percent, according to the Independent Budget Office. The current issue of the Gotham Gazette examines why that’s the case. The main reason is that increased market values are phased in over a five-year period; each annual increase is also capped, so properties in areas that have experienced rapid run-ups this decade can take years to get caught up. The more interesting part of the article is the discussion of how the property tax system continues to favor house owners over owners of commercial buildings and co-ops and condos. The most glaring example is that one-, two- and three-family houses are assessed at 6 percent of their market value versus 45 percent of market value for the other property types. Can you imagine what would happen to the value of your typical house if its properties went up seven- or eight-fold?
Why Property Taxes Rise While Real Estate Falls [Gotham Gazette]
the chicken…that would be more of a “carbon footprint” tax. Let’s not go there.
“If someone has the cash to pay $2 million for an ‘effin house, then they should pay A LOT more in tax than someone who paid $500k for their house.”
You don’t know whether the person buying the $2m house is wealthier than the person that paid $500k, just that they have chosen to pay more for their accomodation. You might say that you have to be wealthier to live in the more expensive house but that is a different argument. ie that property tax should be proportional to income.
Are they using up more of the city’s resources by living in a bigger house? Possibly, but equally they might be a couple rattling around a 4,000 sq ft house compared to a family of 6 squashed into half the space.
Additionally, for my lower taxes I get garbage p/u 3X a week vs. once in Manhattan and our streets get swept once a week and never did in Manhattan.
Snark…it made the market today jump and clap and that’s the collective wisdom of all. Whereas all of Europe was down 2-3% and the US futures were off about the same, the US market is now up slightly, due primarily to that number. The market is the leading indicator and it has been very strong lately.
Chicken… property tax pays for all that in NYC too (though probably *less*)… it’s just that renters and co-op/condo owners carry an inappropriate burden.
tybur6…My brownstone cost only slightly more than what I sold the UES condo for. So your argument on that basis is moot. A $2MM brownstone elsewhere in Brooklyn does pay more taxes.
> “The devil is in the details, Snark.”
I hear ya DIBS, but as good news goes, it’s not enough to make me jump and clap.
DIBS — “learn to work it” — I don’t know what to say to that…
The tax inequity is a PROBLEM, not something that needs to be “worked.” We pay for schools, public welfare, roads, sidewalks, street lights, sanitation and so on with tax dollars. If someone has the cash to pay $2 million for an ‘effin house, then they should pay A LOT more in tax than someone who paid $500k for their house.
But that’s not the case.
If our tax code was “pay what you will,” then so be it, but it’s not. It’s SUPPOSED to be indexed to the value of the home. If you can tell me why a single-family home LEGITIMATELY should have a *fraction* of the tax liability compared to a condo of the same value… I’m all ears.
Ringo is right. There won’t be major changes in the Tax Rates… but there MUST be incremental changes.
Oh — and from those of us who rent — fuck you. My rental options SUCK because of the irrational tax rates on multi-unit buildings. Yeah, it’s a pass-though. But it squeezes the landlords and makes living in this city harder and harder. What if the owner of a $2 million house paid his/her fair share? (i.e., not the perverse inverse of progressive)
(But it would be sad… less people would be able to buy a $2 million house and the prices might have to come down. Thus destroying your hopes and dreams for 150% annual growth on your property value.)
Perhaps an ignorant question but what do you get in return for your property taxes?
For comparison, my council tax (equivalent to property tax) in London works out at approx $1,300 per year for a three-bed house. In the UK, council tax pays for:
* schools
* refuse collection
* street maintenance
* leisure centres
* children’s homes and playgrounds
* social services
* home care
* residential care for the elderly
* support for people with mental health problems
* parks maintenance
What do New Yorkers get for their money?