Who Has The Legal Right To Protest The Real Estate Tax?

The New York State Court of Appeals has narrowed the permissible class of taxpayers authorized to grieve the real estate taxes on any property in New York.  Merely paying the taxes is not enough.  The taxpayer, other than the owner, must have the contractual obligation to pay the taxes as well as directly paying the taxes.

Merely being a triple net tenant is not enough.  Tenants must insist on appropriate terms in their lease if they want the right to protest the taxes.

New Assessments and Increased Rates

The 2019/20 school tax bills are out and have mostly increased over the last year.  The new 2021 assessments will be out in January 2020. 

Complaints to the new assessments must be made by February 28, 2020.  We expect the 2020 tax rates to increase next year by 20% or more since there were so many complaints to the revaluations assessments.

It’s a complicated system that requires the taxpayer to complain about the new assessments in January of each year, although the taxes based on that assessment will not be known for almost two years later.

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The taxpayer must protest or pay on the new assessment without knowing what the taxes will be!