Slower Growth Fueled by Modest Increases for Commercial, Coop, Condo and Rental Properties; Slight Decrease in Value of Small Homes
City’s Total Market Value for Taxable Properties at $807.4 Billion
January 15, 2008 – The Department of Finance today published the tentative property assessment roll for fiscal year 2009, showing an overall market value increase of 1.44% from the final assessment roll for fiscal year 2008. The total market value of City property is $807.4 billion, up from $796 billion last June.
The overall increase in market value reflects continued growth in the value of commercial properties (Class 4), as well as condominiums, cooperative apartments and rental properties (Class 2), particularly in Manhattan and the Bronx. The overall value of 1-, 2- and 3-family homes (Class 1) decreased slightly, and overall market values dropped in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
“New York City’s real estate market is still steady and remains strong after years of rapid growth,” said Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark.
Department of Finance assessors estimate market values for all properties in the City as of January 5th every year.
Changes in the FY Tentative Roll
This year, there are three notable changes to the assessment roll:
- For the first time, condo owners in buildings with 10 or more units will receive a specialized Notice of Value that provides details about the rents that were used to value their particular unit. In addition, each condo unit will learn what percentage of the condominium building or development value is attributable to their unit. Finance never shared information about this in the past. While most condominium owners know from their condominium declaration what percentage of other expenses they pay in their buildings, the percent of property taxes was not readily available. This year, our assessment notices provide this information. In many instances the number we used is not the same as the percentage in the condominium declaration. We have established a special procedure for condominium owners who want us to use the same percentage as the condominium declaration.
- Finance used the Gross Income Multiplier approach to value all apartment buildings, cooperatives, and condominiums instead of capitalizing net income. The expense ratios for apartment building properties often varied so greatly that Finance ended up with lower values for properties that may have been overstating expenses. Using a gross income multiplier eliminates expenses from the market value calculation and will make market values for apartment buildings more predictable in the future.
- Finally, Finance was able to use up-to-date sales data to value small homes. In previous years, we used sales data through September only, but this year we were able to include sales through November. Using more current sales information allowed us to make better predictions of values for small homes as of January 5th.
Finance also continued its policy regarding owners who fail to file legally required income and expense statements, or RPIEs. Last January, Finance determined values for properties whose owners failed to file an RPIE by using data from properties that did file. Subsequently, 2,500 property owners reached out to us during the “Change by Notice Period” ending March 1st to provide us with their actual income and expense data.
This year owners were required to file their income and expense information electronically and 8,000 more owners filed a RPIE in 2007 than in 2006.
Making Finance Information More Accessible to the Public
Since releasing the FY08 Final Assessment Roll last June, Finance has taken several steps to continue to make the property tax more accessible to the public. These include:
- Posting a monthly file of all real estate sales on nyc.gov/neighborhoodsales. The file includes the borough, block, lot, address, and sales price of properties since 2005.
- Posting information about sales of 1-, 2- and 3-family homes by neighborhood, so owners can compare their values with recent sales. Information will include number of sales, average, median, high, and low sales price by neighborhood in each of the last three years.
- Posting the addresses of all properties in the City that receive the tax benefits under the Industrial and Commercial Incentive Program, the J-51 abatement for renovated residential properties, and the 421-a exemption, which goes to qualified owners of multi-unit residential buildings. In addition, Finance has posted detailed information about the J-51 benefit that has been granted to properties, including the exemption each year, total abatement, and the abatement used each year.
- Posting a “Summary of Benefits” for recipients of the “Lower Manhattan Commercial Revitalization and Commercial Expansion Programs”.
If Finance’s Information is Incorrect or If You Believe Our Assessments are Wrong
The Department of Finance is dedicated to transparent, accurate and fair values. Once again, we encourage owners to help us correct our information. Owners who believe that Finance’s information is not correct may provide us with correct information by filing the “Request to Update Property Data” form for Class 1 or a “Request for Review of Property Tax Assessment” for Classes 2 and 4. The forms are available on our website at nyc.gov /propertytaxes or by calling 311.
Owners who believe that the tax class, assessed value, or exemption shown on their Notice is wrong should file an application for correction with the NYC Tax Commission, an independent City agency, by March 3rd (Classes 2, 3, and 4) and March 17th (Class 1 only). The final roll will also include changes based on the decisions made by the New York City Tax Commission, as well as new information Finance gathers about abatements, exemptions and other adjustments. In June, Finance will use the final roll and new tax rates adopted by the City Council to generate property tax bills for fiscal year 2009 beginning on July 1st.
For the first time, the entire tentative roll, along with summary material and answers to frequently asked questions, is available for download for free at nyc.gov/propertytaxes. Individual property notices are posted as well. Members of the public who do not have access to the Internet at their home can view assessment information on the public computer terminals at our Finance Business Centers located in each borough.
The entire tentative roll can be purchased on CD-ROM for $250 per disc by visiting Finance’s Manhattan Business Center at 66 John Street in Lower Manhattan.
Assessors will again conduct their annual joint outreach sessions in each borough in the month of February with the Tax Commission to answer questions from the public about how we valued their properties. The outreach schedule is:
Bronx – Wednesday, February 20th at 10:00 AM 3030
Third Avenue, 2nd Floor (East 156th Street)
Brooklyn – Thursday, February 14th at 10:00 AM
210 Joralemon Street, Room 201 (Court Street)
Manhattan – Thursday, February 7th at 10:00 AM
1 Centre Street, Room 923 (Chambers Street)
Queens – Wednesday, February 13th at 10:00 AM
144-06 94th Avenue, 2nd Floor (Sutphin Boulevard)
Staten Island – Thursday, February 21st at 10:00 AM
350 St. Marks Place, 4th Floor, Room 400 (Hyatt Street) 4
