City Taxes

btw this now works out that out $60k per year running cost over $32k ($7899 per qtr) is now going to the city.

WTF??

My 87-apartment co-op's RE taxes went from $505,000 in 2006 to $1,018,000 in 2011.

Get ready for more.

The city is smart, they say they aren't raising taxes; so instead increase the assessed property value. What I don't understand is how the maintenance in some fancy 5th Avenue buildings is the same as apartments half the price in standard post war buildings East of Lexington Avenue.

You know what they say, "You can't fight city hall", when you've had enough you'll move to a more tax friendly venue.

Yup, get ready for more.
Look at our city and state politicians. Which will they do? Cut the bloat and waste out of budgets or keep raising taxes to make up for budget deficits?

Why people are so selfish? It's your honor to contribute more to help the city and the people to get through this tough time!

If you don't pay more tax, the city administration will go down hill, and it'll soon hurt the private sector and all city residents!

Our taxes dropped.

Ahhhh yes, don't even want to think about it. They increased ours DRAMATICALLY and they were already high. And yes, they did it by somehow deciding that all of a sudden, when nearly every prior year the assess value was around 50K yoy in increase, this year it was a nearly 150K increase. It really is ridiculous how they try to justify these things. I wanted to take the last 20 years of assessments and have someone explain to me what changed in 2012 that suddenly our value increased SO much more.

If they would update the city subway system to be even HALF as decent as Hong Kong's, maybe I would't feel so unhappy about it.

They're too busy replacing thousands of perfectly good refrigerators in the projects.

>If they would update the city subway system to be even HALF as decent as Hong Kong's, maybe I would't feel so unhappy about it.

Hong Kong's subway is stellar. But not fair, it was built some 60 years later than NY.
However as we continue to build up brooklyn/queens coastlines, our water taxis/transportations may surpass Hong Kong down the road.
Biggest obstacle though is weather,our winters could be problematic as Hong Kong is equivalent to Miami on the lattitude map (maybe even Key West).

what is the breaking point? better- when shall we reach it for the many mid level coops on the west or east side of the city?

lol i noticed the rental agreement came down last night for 2% and 4%.....can someone explain how the city can put up my co-op taxes last qtr 8.75%

very good point

> Is there anything we can do about this?

nope and expect to get worse. $ needed for the unfunded public pensions in US will come from the least mobile capital to tax: real estate. i can think of only 1 fix: if you are willing to change properties, selling yours to somebody not yet aware of this off-the-books liability and buy another with a very long tax abatement.

> btw this now works out that out $60k per year running cost over $32k ($7899 per qtr) is now going to the city. WTF??

just realize that "owning" is a myth when it comes to 1st residency. in reality you rent to different landlords: the bank if you didn't pay cash, the city and its payroll if you don't have a very long tax abatement.

> If they would update the city subway system to be even HALF as decent as Hong Kong's, maybe I would't feel so unhappy about it.

hey, a ton of the money is gonna have to go to pay for pensions, not better services. you can think of pensions as past under-payment of services that people received in the past generation. many of those service recipients play the tax arbitrage by moving to florida when they don't need the services anymore. the deal they offered was "gov jobs pay low but the pension to be paid by those coming after me will make up for it"... well, now you get to compensate the previous generation under-payment to those ex-employees.

good news: in 3-4 decades the pension burden might not be as bad cause the new tiers with less benefits will kick in.

> lol i noticed the rental agreement came down last night for 2% and 4%.....can someone explain how the city can put up my co-op taxes last qtr 8.75%

mkt timing indicator!!! you know the enthusiasm with housing is really over when ex-proud property owners envy stabilized renters.

Taxes won't come down. The unions are better organized for the off-season and primary elections than the apartment owners. And they know no one will sell because NY real estate can only go up.

On the bright side, if broker babble is right about all the overseas buyers, then it is their money you are siphoning to keep the city solvent.

really..seems like states like wisconsin are leading the way for pension reforms.

> Taxes won't come down. The unions are better organized for the off-season and primary elections than the apartment owners. And they know no one will sell because NY real estate can only go up.

look at the mess that a few days without schools cause in the city (they had to accept kids on the 25th & 26th for free as parents couldn't get childcare). many parents cannot work and take care of them at the same time. many households are double-income or single-parent homes. take the MTA, they can close down the city when unhappy. it's not only about politics, these guys with pensions are providing needed services society totally relies on.

if taxpayers want to fight the unions, then they should be less reliant on their services: bike to commute, be one-income families with mom or dad at home while kids are young...

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/06/22/apartment-owners-could-face-massive-tax-increase/
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/06/19/despite-bloombergs-efforts-property-tax-abatement-is-likely-to-be-renewed/
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2012/06/15/city-pushes-bill-to-restrict-tax-abatements/

deanc, your bill included a discount that might not happen, so get psychologically ready for a 17% increase.

State lawmakers refused yesterday to extend some $445 million in property-tax abatements for 365,000 apartment owners, the New York Post reported. That means apartment owners could experience sticker shock when they get their tax bills.

The city’s Department of Finance already sent out tax bills assuming the law would be extended, the Post said.