Real Estate Property Tax Protest

Sharpen your pencils and scan local ads for real estate lawyers. It’s time to start protesting your assessed real estate value. Every year, all properties in Staten Island are assessed by employees of the NYC Dept. of Finance. The new assessed values are sent out to homeowners by mid-January. These assessments are based on sales of similar homes in your vicinity, the assessor’s professional opinion and computer programs. However, the assessed value may not entirely reflect the current market value and may actually be lower than the current market value. Don’t get caught up with market value though, because the two things a homeowner needs to concern themselves with are the assessed value and the tax rate. Since there’s no changing the tax rate, your best bet to lower your real estate taxes is to protest your assessed value. But be careful, the deadline for 1-3 family homes and condominiums in 1 and 2 story buildings is March 16th, 2009.

- Written by Adam Steinhandler, based on content from Alan Lasher

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