New York raises taxes on Sandy-hit houses

New York homeowners from regions most severely impaired by Hurricane Sandy have suffered damage to their homes and expensive repairs – but the city is now inflicting a heavy tax hike upon those residents, claiming their property values have risen.

“Common sense dictates their property values have fallen, if not plummeted in some cases,” Councilman Michael Nelson (D-Brooklyn) told the New York Post.

But the city claims that property values for homes in Manhattan Beach, Coney Island, Staten Island and the Rockaways have shot up – even though many of these properties were damaged in the storm and still require repairs. As a result, the city is inflicting higher taxes upon many of these residents to make up for the lost revenue from the storm – including residents whose homes remain so impaired that they have not been able to move back in.

“This is totally insensitive and heartless,” Ira Zalcman, president of the Manhattan Beach Community Group, said in the interview with the Post. “We just sustained one of the worst national disasters in our nation’s history, and now the city is delusional, claiming our property values went up.”

Zalcman said he has already received more than 30 complaints from residents about the tax increases, and he himself is a homeowner whose property tax bill will go up – probably by $200 for the fiscal year.

Nelson has called the tax hikes “heartless” and “something the city must immediately remedy.”

“It raises real doubts about whether [the Finance Department] is doing enough to ensure fair and accurate assessments,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “As New Yorkers world to rebuild their homes and lives, we cannot allow them to be hit twice.”
[link to rt.com]