NYC’s New Procedures Create New Tax Reduction Opportunities.

The New York City Commissioner of Finance recently adopted rules establishing new procedures to correct old assessments in certain cases. These procedures allow up to six years to apply for an assessment correction. With very limited exceptions, the only procedure to challenge a real property assessment is under the Real Property Tax Law (or New York City Administrative Code). Once the assessor publishes the annual tentative assessment roll, a property owner has a very short time frame — generally, around three to six weeks depending upon the location of the property — to file a grievance application. For taxpayers in New York City, where special rules can delay the full impact of an assessment change, the impact of an assessment increase might be reflected in tax bills issued years after the change.

This new rule allows corrections of clerical errors and errors in description occurring up to six years earlier. While these procedures do not address issues solely related to over-valuation, they are a valuable tool in the arsenal of procedures to ensure that a taxpayer pays only the appropriate amount of tax.