New York City Publishes 2025 Tentative Property Tax Assessment Roll

On January 16, 2024, the New York City Department of Finance (DOF) released the tentative property tax assessment roll for fiscal year 2025 (FY25). A Notice of Proposed Value (NOPV) was mailed to the address on file, and appeals for most commercial properties must be filed by March 1.

The tentative assessment rolls reflect an overall total market value increase of 0.7% for all New York City properties. Citywide taxable assessed values increased by 4.2%. Many commercial property owners were surprised by these increases given the ongoing distress across the market—particularly in the office sector, which saw market value increase 3.18% overall on the new assessment roll.

Without sufficient data points, the DOF struggles to accurately reflect the behavior of buyers and sellers, who are much more agile in their approach to pricing. Rising interest rates have dramatically slowed the pacing of deals. Fewer data points create a larger margin for error and more opportunity for appeal savings.

New York City property owners and managers should consider the following questions:

• What is my new market value, and what are the implications for taxes payable going forward?
• How did the DOF calculate my market value? Is it inflated?
• Does the proposed value reflect property-specific issues that could have a negative impact on my sale price?
• Can I request a two-year review at the Tax Commission this year?
• What years do I have open at the Law Department? Are cases just sitting there?
• Did I receive any offers at the Tax Commission last year? If not, why not?

A well-informed taxpayer should be able to answer all these questions with relative ease. If you can’t answer these questions, the time is now to take a more deliberate approach to property tax management. The appeals process requires experience and tremendous attention to detail. Without proper guidance, taxpayers can find themselves in a situation where their grievances are rejected or an appeal to the Tax Commission yields little to no savings. Often, taxpayers end up waiting years for resolution of their cases because the appropriate appeal issues are not brought to light at the appropriate time and at the correct venue.

The experts at Ryan will demystify the tax certiorari process to provide clarity and increased certainty at every step in the process.