Sen. Stavisky introduces bill to reclassify co-ops and condos in the same tax class as single family houses

For immediate release: March 30, 2011

RELEASE: Sen. Stavisky introduces bill to reclassify co-ops and condos in the same tax class as single family houses

            Last January, the New York City Department of Finance announced its annual valuation assessments on properties throughout the five boroughs.  Queens’ co-operative shareholders and condominium unit owners saw their homes’ assessed values jump – in some cases more than 100 percent – and, consequently, so did their property tax burden. Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (Flushing), together with co-op and condo leaders, has denounced the valuation hikes as an unfair burden on Queens’ homeowners, and she pledged to fight it with legislation

            Sen. Stavisky has introduced S4283.  It reclassifies co-op and condo units from class two property, which is currently assessed as rental income property, to class one property, which is the classification for one- and two-family homes.

            Sen. Stavisky – a shareholder in a cooperative residence, herself – heralded the bill as a huge step in protecting co-op and condo owners, and Queens’ middle class as a whole, from unfairly shouldering hefty property tax bills.

            “It makes sense to classify co-ops and condos the same way we do one- and two-family houses, because a co-op or condo building is essentially just a collection of one-family attached homes,” said Sen. Stavisky. “These are primary residences, not income-generating properties, and the owners should be assessed and pay taxes accordingly.  Co-ops and condos are more closely aligned in their structure of ownership to private homes than to rental properties.  These assessments must be reversed.”

            Assemblyman Edward Braunstein (Bayside) is the Assembly sponsor of this bill.

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