New York City remains the epicenter of the world’s economy and continues to be one of the most in-demand living spaces in the nation. While prestigious, the real estate market and property taxes can make it difficult for residents, homeowners, and business owners to afford their property. In fact, the recent affordability trend in politics was sparked by elections, showing that the people of the city want a better way to stay in their homes.
As the tax season in New York finally begins, all eyes are on the developments and changes seen in NYC in the past year. It all begins with the tentative tax roll, which previews the values that will affect bills in the years to come. In this article, we will go over what tentative tax rolls are, how they govern your future bills, and what you can do to see a lower figure when all is said and done.
What Are Tentative Property Appraisal Rolls?
We previously covered this more in-depth in a separate article, but we can do a brief overview here as well. Tentative rolls show how the assessment numbers for properties across New York have changed thanks to recent market events, documenting any rises or falls for residential and commercial properties. This is calculated by studying the sales of homes, businesses, and other types of real estate over a three-year period. The tentative rolls just released for New York City cover developments from 2023 to 2025, which will affect your 2027 tax bill.
Vital Information to Keep in Mind
While it may seem dull, this early preview of your assessment is one of the key steps in protecting your home or business. It allows you to see if all of your exemptions are applied, ensures that your property is accurately classified, and allows you to check basic information right out of the gate. This means that you can verify the general size of the property, the number of rooms, and additional buildings or construction, such as porches or garages. Spotting an error now can have big dividends in the future. This is especially true of exemptions, as they can grant some of the best savings in the state when used correctly. You do not want to be left holding the bag for a missed exemption or a garage that does not exist. These can be corrected by using a Request to Update, an appeal made specifically for these issues.
In addition to the basic information, your tax roll will also show you the fair market value for your property. This is the theoretical price that your piece of real estate would sell for on the open market. This data is also used to calculate the assessed value of your property, which serves as the basis of your future tax bill. You should review this value along with other information given, as it could be significantly higher than your property’s true value. If this is the case, then you may have the option of using a property tax appeal to get the value more inline with true market values. In other parts of New York, appeals are known as grievances, which can be confusing if you are exploring the subject for the first time.
NYC Saw Rapid Growth in Property Value for Homes and Businesses
If you own property in New York City, its taxable value has almost certainly increased. The tentative appraisal roll revealed that NYC real estate is at a level never before seen in the city’s storied history. Combined, the value of all properties across the five boroughs is estimated to be around $1.80 trillion. This was made possible thanks to growth across all classes of property in the city. Family homes saw an increase in market value of 5.8%, accounting for over $781.70 billion alone. This translated to an increased taxable value of $27.2 billion. Class 2 properties, which include apartments, added over $27.10 billion in market value. These increases could certainly lead to higher rents and mortgages across the city and represent one of the largest threats to people struggling to stay in their homes.
Commercial properties got in on the act as well. These accounts saw an increase of over 3.8% in market value, resulting in an assessed total value of $135.90 billion. This was thanks to a growing demand for office space, which has recovered well since the pandemic. While many cities, like Chicago, are struggling to fill retail, office, and other elite spaces, the demand for these properties in NYC has never been higher. This increased demand and other market pressures have made commercial property in NYC some of the most expensive in the nation, while also driving up tax bills for businesses. This is why business owners in NYC typically appeal their property assessments annually, as it acts as a counterbalance to growing values and excessive assessments.
NYC Property Tax Appeal Deadlines
As the name would suggest, tentative rolls are only temporary, but they can become permanent if you fail to protest in time. Family homes and businesses use two separate due dates when it comes to appeals. If you are a business owner, you must be especially on the ball, as you have a more complex case and a shorter window to appeal. Single family homes, also known as Class 1 properties, face an appellate deadline of March 15, 2026. Classes 2-4, which include apartments, utilities, and commercial real estate, must file their appeals by March 1, 2026. This means that time is of the essence to protest these record values.
O’Connor Specializes in NYC Commercial Appeals
Building the perfect appeal in New York is a difficult task for all property owners but is especially harrowing for businesses. You need to gather photographs, information on building statistics, and countless other aspects if you hope to have a successful appeal, requiring not only tax professionals, but also experts in the field. That is where we at O’Connor come in. We handle all property types in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, but when it comes to New York City, we focus exclusively on commercial appeals. This allows our experts to be laser-focused on some of the most important pieces of real estate in the world.
As a national brand, we have been helping clients across the nation for over 50 years. In 2024, we were able to assist over 185,000 clients. We have a local branch office in New York that takes care of not only NYC, but Westchester, Suffolk, and Nassau counties as well. This allows us to have local expertise and boots on the ground, which gives us and you the advantage when it comes to dealing with appeals. Best of all, you will never pay any upfront costs when it comes to an appeal journey. You only pay a contingency fee if we are able to lower your taxes. That means you have no risk when it comes to using O’Connor to protect your precious investment.
