Stavisky, Legislators Proclaim Co-op ‘Tax Revolt’

In a release issued Friday evening, State Sen. Toby-Ann Stavisky, D-Whitestone, along with legislators and co-op owners in Queens, declared a ‘tax revolt’ against assessment increases.

Stavisky, along with legislators Nettie Mayersohn, Tony Avella, Mark Weprin, David Weprin and others, said they  will support co-op and condominium owners across the borough in their fight to get their property values readjusted.

“For our assessed market values to skyrocket like this is absolutely shocking, and even the Finance Department seems unable to explain why,” Stavisky said.  “It is simply unfair to raise the assessment — and consequently the property taxes — in some cases more than 100 percent on co-ops when the sale prices on these units are actually going down.”

For the last several weeks, legislators in Queens have been fielding calls and complaints from residents who say their home value assessments — and consequently their taxes — have been rising dramatically over the sale prices of comparable units.

For the moment, there has been in indication of what the so-called “revolt” will actually entail, though legislators said they plan to propose changes to the law and help homeowners learn the process by which their home values are decided.

At a meeting Wednesday night, lawyers for some co-op owners suggested initiating lawsuits against the Department of Finance and a letter writing campaign to both the city and area newspapers.

City Councilman Mark Weprin has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out how the city’s evaluators are arriving at the new assessed values.

“The Property Valuations that are poised to be imposed on Queens co-ops are terribly flawed and must be stopped,” said Bob Friedrich, founder of the Presidents’ Co-op Council and President of Glen Oaks Village co-ops. “The consequence of these flawed valuations will lead to unprecedented hikes in property taxes that will force co-ops to impose crushing monthly maintenance increases on their owners.  The inevitable result will be enormous hardship for families and seniors that will be irreversible.”