Small-home owners jolted by a 7 percent property-tax increase last month will be climbing the walls when they read this – the market value of their properties is down, but their taxes are about to jump again, The Post has learned.
The Finance Department late yesterday very quietly issued its tentative assessment roll for fiscal 2010, showing that the overall value of all city properties has declined 1.2 percent, from $811 billion to $801 billion.
The market value of one-family homes fell much more sharply, nearly 7 percent.
But, difficult as it may be to believe, taxes on those properties are going up $265, from an average of $3,218 a year to $3,483.
That’s because the state limits annual increases on small homes to 6 percent, or 20 percent over five years.
That’s good news when values are soaring and the tax bills are capped.
It’s bad news when values drop after a boom and there are hefty carryovers from previous years that have to be calculated into the complex formula.
With the carryovers, the assessment on one-family homes actually jumped 4.2 percent even as market values headed south.
The assessed value of two-family homes jumped 4.9 percent after their value dropped 4.7 percent.
Taxes on two-family homes are going up $279 this fiscal year, from an average of $3,358 to $3636.
Co-op and condo values dipped just 1.1 percent, but owners face an average tax hike of $439 and condo owners are staring at another $636 on their bills.
Usually, the annual property-tax report is released in a full-blown press conference.
This year, it was posted without previous notice on the Finance Department’s Web site at 5:30 p.m. yesterday.
The assessment is the number the city uses as the basis for property owners’ July 2009 tax bill, unless the owner challenges it.
Additional reporting by Ed Robinson