Why has my property tax gone UP so much when my property value has gone DOWN so much? (real estate)

[lamontnow]

Just got my annual NYC property tax bill. It is 20% higher then it was in 2008! I'm comparing it to 2008 because that's when property values were still high. They have crashed since then. I would expect the property tax to reflect that.
I own a rental property. The tax in 2008 was 18K. Now it is 22K.

I just don't get it. Have they been raising the rates to compensate for the lower property value? If so they must be raising the rates sharply because the tax in $ is not only the same as it was but substantially higher.

[bluedog2]

Because the city needs money.Wall Street isn't forking over any more so we have to make up the difference.

[mathjak107]

its called inflation... paying the same taxes and getting less goods,services and fewer employess paid with those tax dollars.

[Dakota1776]

Property taxes are always a shell game. When the real estate sector is doing well and the assessed value of your property goes up they decrease the rates for everyone and say "Hey, you are getting this great tax cut!" but you are actually paying more. When assessments are decreasing then they increase the rate and say "Things are tight, everyone needs to pitch in" and despite the decrease in value you pay more in tax.

[Pruzhany]

Valuing & Assessing Real Property

Every year there is a break even rate. Even though the assessed value may have gone down the tax rate needs to go up in order to meet budget. So for most people the assessed dollar amount goes down and the tax rate goes up. Now here's the glitch. For most people their taxes went up. But for a certain number of homes above a certain dollar amount the taxes due went down. Basically someone would need to research the average dollar amount drop and turn it into a average rate. Once you have that rate, then you can figure who got the tax cut.

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