Higher Property Taxes for Bay Ridge Homeowners
Bay Ridge home owners got their new property assessment. Most homes have crazy value increases. This has been going on for years here. We think we will need a class action suit as the mayor’s office told me he was going to work on this four years ago. deBlasio paid $7098 for his TWO homes in Park Slope, while we pay a lot more than that for one one home.
People are asking the important questions like:
- What rate are we being taxed at? It was 6% – see here for current. You can see the NYC Dept of Finance tax map (scroll in – you don’t need the block and lot to look)
- Why is our tax so much higher than Park Slope when their homes are worth more and they have better services (trains, police, etc)? The city is using an old tax plan.
- If it is unfair, why hasn’t anyone fixed it? The city and state’s point at each other. Our state senator didn’t say anything about the taxes today. Senator Golden wrote a bill to give huge tax breaks to developers in Manhattan because he is owned (Nicole Malliotakis voted in favor of Golden’s bill).
People who don’t own property say this because they don’t understand:
- Isn’t it good that your home is worth more now? Answer: It’s only good for the city who is collecting more tax on these properties. If you intend to live here for a long time, you aren’t concerned about the value.
- How can the senior citizens afford it then? Senior Citizens can file for the property tax exemption – see here But for some, the tax is too high and they will be forced to sell.
- Are you lucky because your property tax is so much lower than Long Island or NJ? Nine years ago when we bought our home, the property tax was half of what is is now. We looked at the property tax before we purchased and there were only small increases each year (like deBlasio’s home now). In Long Island, they don’t pay a city tax like we do here.
- You can challenge the property tax. Yes, you can. But the city is ready with a comeback paper so don’t count on a reduced rate. But the following year you may not be hit as hard we discovered.
Update 2019:
Corey Johnson and Mayor de Blasio made a property tax commission in May 2018.
It’s May 2019. Councilman Brannan asked about the property tax commission, but received no response. Brannan has not said Corey Johnson’s name on social media, as Johnson will be running for mayor.
Councilman Brannan and Jummane Williams said they were waiting on the state’s vote. Senator Andrew Gounardes voted in favor of tax breaks for Governor Cuomo and NYS, excluding NYC. (I’m not kidding….you can hear Gounardes speak about that here) Gounardes didn’t introduce a bill until June, so of course it wouldn’t be heard.
Councilman Gentile gave us this book on property value. Although informative, they didn’t help us get a lower tax. The only way to fix this is to reset everyone’s property value and the city is against doing it. deBlaiso doesn’t see the problem because he is paying a low property tax and he doesn’t want to raise his neighbors. #TaleOfTwoCities
Hugs,
marlene
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