At the Juncture of Real Estate and Technology

I often got questions from families, friends and investors on how NYC property tax is calculated. The reason is that the subject is pretty convoluted and it is quite difficult to find any straightforward writings covering the topic. Here is some basic information I collected over the years along with a real example. NYC Department of Finance calculates property taxes through a 5-step process: 1) determining property’s market value, 2) determining billable assessed value, 3) applying any exemptions, 4) applying applicable tax rate, 5) applying any abatement and savings program.   It shall be noted that any tax bills (quarterly for assessed value under $250,000 or semi-annual for assessed value over $250,000) sent to the property owners are based on market value from the year before.  Step 1: Determining property’s market value NYC Department of Finance (DOF) assigns market value to all properties in the City based on the methodology enacted in the early 80’s.  The met...