Legislation Proposed To Put Co-ops, Condos In Same Tax Class As Single Family Homes

Responding to outcry over  for co-ops and condos, an area lawmaker introduced a bill this week to treat the units the same as single-family homes under the law. 

State Sen. Toby Stavisky, D-Flushing, introduced legislation to reclassify co-op and condo units from class two property, which is regarded under tax law as income-producing real estate, to a class one designation.

“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,” Stavisky said. “These are primary residences, not income-generating properties, and the owners should be assessed and pay taxes accordingly."

Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, D-Bayside, co-sponsored the bill in the State Legislature's lower chamber.

Single and two-family properties saw only a modest year-to-year increase in property tax assessments mailed by the city Department of Finance in January for fiscal year 2011-12. In contrast, co-op and condo buildings saw their assessments spike as much as 100 percent compared to last fiscal year.

Responding to an uproar among shareholders and co-op presidents at the increases, particularly in hard-hit northeast Queens, DOF commissioner David Frankel agreed earlier this month to a deal .

But that agreement did not placate all opponents of DOF's tax assessment policy on co-ops and condos.

At a meeting with Frankel hosted by Community Board 7 in Flushing last week, chairman Eugene Kelty  in an attempt to remove outspoken critics, including Glen Oaks Village Association president Bob Friedrich.

Another vocal opponent of the DOF's tax classification, Bay Terrace Community Alliance and local co-op president Warren Schreiber, welcomed news of the proposed legislation.

"We think it's wonderful. Right now, we're focusing our efforts on having the unfair property assessments rolled back, but that's only a temporary fix. The legislation would give us permanent relief," Schreiber said. "It gives us parity with single family homeowners. It would save us thousands of dollars — as much as $5,000, $10,000 or even hundreds of thousands over a period of years, depending on the size of the property."