June — The Month of Nasty Surprises.

In early June, the NYC Department of Finance issues its property tax bills for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Property owners sometimes receive shocking news when they open their new tax bill, learning of a sudden spike over prior years’ tax bills. When potential clients call, I review their assessment history. Sometimes these surges in a tax bill can be traced back to an assessment from several years ago. If the owner did not file a challenge to that assessment shortly after the tentative roll was published — the window to challenge and assessment is roughly six weeks from the January 15 issuance of the tentative assessment — the best option can be limited to challenging future years’ assessments.

There is some good news, however. A new procedure allows the assessor to correct certain errors on assessment rolls dating back six years (see our news on this page from May 10, 2017). These changes can affect not only the assessment in which the error occurred, but future years’ assessments as well.

If you have received a nasty surprise in your tax bill, contact us to see what option may be available to correct this problem.

den spike over prior years’ tax bills. When potential clients call, I review their assessment history. Sometimes these…