Update: Group Claims Department of Finance has ‘Reckless Disregard’ for Accuracy

Update, Feb. 27, 2:51 a.m.: A group of legislators present at the meeting said they would stand with the group as co-complainants in a lawsuit the group is considering filing. The body of local politicians included Council Member Mark Weprin, D-Oakland Gardens, Council Member David Weprin, D-Little Neck, state Sen. Toby Stavisky, D-Flushing and Assemblyman Ed Braunstein, D-Bayside, .

Fighting skyrocketing property valuations that have increased as high as 150 percent, a self-described ‘think tank’ of Eastern Queens co-op and condo presidents met with the Commissioner of the Department of Finance on Tuesday to make sense of his agency’s computing.

“New York City’s reckless disregard for accurate valuation numbers is a stunning example of a disconnect between faceless bureaucrats and families,” read a statement by the group. The surge in property value assessment by the city would mean a likened increase in city taxes.

“Newly released numbers issued by the NYC Department of Finance are wildly inflated beyond economic reality,” the group further claimed.

Commissioner David Frankel told the crowd of presidents that assessments were never done with an eye toward raising revenue for the city, but using good valuation practices, according to , president of the Bay Terrace Community Alliance.

own co-op unit, he said, has gone up about 40 percent, which could result in a 33 percent increase in property taxes. He believes the apartments are being assessed in the same range as if they were rental properties, producing revenue. But many of the Bay Terrace property owners live in their units, he pointed out.

Condo and co-op market values overall across the city rose 4 percent over last year, or about 13 percent for larger properties, according to the DOF.

Frankel told the group that their properties were being assessed by comparison to “comparable” ones, said Schreiber.

“Where did those comparables come from—Manhattan?” Schreiber asked. Schreiber still has a lot of questions, but of Frankel, says, “the main thing was that he heard us.”

Frankel said he would get back to him to name the specific developments his co-op was compared to, but has not as of yet.

The Department of Finance did not respond to a press inquiry asking the same, as of press time. Councilman Mark Weprin, D-Oakland Gardens, that he has invoked the Freedom of Information Act, filing a request to procure documentation of the DOFs methods in assessing local properties.

Additional reporting by Nathan Duke. Check back in with Bayside Patch for updates on this story. See the Department of Finance’s Web site to learn how to appeal your tax assessment. The deadline to appeal for many property classifications is March 1.