This is incredibly impressive, Sebastian! I can see how this map will fill the current awareness gap and foster a more informed and engaged public. Are there any specific neighborhoods or boroughs within New York City where the property tax system seems to be particularly problematic or where reform might have a more significant impact?
There are two things that typically result in properties getting below average property tax bills:
1. Class 1 homes (those with 1, 2, or 3 housing units) that have significantly increased in value in recent years. These properties benefit hugely from the assessed value increase caps, which limit the growth in their taxes to at most +5% per year and at most +20% per rolling five year period. So, anywhere that has single-family homes with especially high value growth.
2. Areas with multi-family apartment buildings (class 2) that are in the vicinity of many rent-controlled or rent-stabilized buildings. State law requires that apartment buildings be valued based on data from nearby rental buildings. Buildings with rent restrictions almost always have lower values than the building would if it didn’t have rent restrictions (because they’re less profitable for the owners). This means that when those nearby rent-stabilized buildings’ values are used as the basis for estimating the value of owner-occupied buildings, those owner-occupied buildings also get low estimated values, which flows through to lower taxes.
This is excellent work. I am on the board of my coop in Queens and we have been lobbying our electeds (both city and state) for property tax reform for about two years. I would love to connect on how to combine forces.
This is incredibly impressive, Sebastian! I can see how this map will fill the current awareness gap and foster a more informed and engaged public. Are there any specific neighborhoods or boroughs within New York City where the property tax system seems to be particularly problematic or where reform might have a more significant impact?
I’m happy to hear you found this helpful!
There are two things that typically result in properties getting below average property tax bills:
1. Class 1 homes (those with 1, 2, or 3 housing units) that have significantly increased in value in recent years. These properties benefit hugely from the assessed value increase caps, which limit the growth in their taxes to at most +5% per year and at most +20% per rolling five year period. So, anywhere that has single-family homes with especially high value growth.
2. Areas with multi-family apartment buildings (class 2) that are in the vicinity of many rent-controlled or rent-stabilized buildings. State law requires that apartment buildings be valued based on data from nearby rental buildings. Buildings with rent restrictions almost always have lower values than the building would if it didn’t have rent restrictions (because they’re less profitable for the owners). This means that when those nearby rent-stabilized buildings’ values are used as the basis for estimating the value of owner-occupied buildings, those owner-occupied buildings also get low estimated values, which flows through to lower taxes.
This is excellent work. I am on the board of my coop in Queens and we have been lobbying our electeds (both city and state) for property tax reform for about two years. I would love to connect on how to combine forces.