STATEN ISLAND — Lawmakers and homeowners might sue the city over high property tax rates for Staten Islanders, even after a new report found no bias in assessments for the rates.
Councilmen Joe Borelli and Steven Matteo asked homeowners to contact them to be plaintiffs in a potential suit against the city over the rates after they asked the city's Independent Budget Office (IBO) to see if Staten Islanders were unfairly taxed.
The report, released on Thursday, found that while some Staten Island owners of one, two and three-family homes pay higher property tax rates than other boroughs, it's due to state real estate laws and the IBO found no bias in assessments by the Department of Finance.
"IBO concludes that the inequities observed across boroughs by the Council Members are primarily due to the assessment growth limits established in state law, which provide greater tax benefits for more rapidly appreciating properties," the report reads.
Even though one-family homeowners on Staten Island do pay a higher rate, less of their income goes to property taxes compared to every other borough except Manhattan, the report found.
The report also found that the property tax assessments are more uniform in Staten Island than other boroughs in the city.
Despite the findings, Borelli and Matteo called into question some of the report's methodology and said they were weighing a lawsuit against the city over the issue.
"It isn’t surprising that Staten Islander’s pay a higher ratio of their market value in property taxes, but what is surprising is the willingness of the city to allow it to continue," Borelli said in a statement.
"We understand the IBO’s rationale as to why this occurred in the past, but the notion of why it should continue to occur is wrong. A property tax is a tax on the value of one’s property and ought to be equal regardless of where the home is located, or the income level of the person who owns it."
The council members said the IBO did not look at time adjusted sales and averages for fiscal year 2016 and that the fact less of Staten Islanders' income goes to property tax is a "progressive tax on higher income earners."
"Though I disagree with some key parts of IBO’s analysis, it does confirm what we already know — that Staten Island homeowners pay the highest property taxes relative to real market values, and that the property tax system is extremely flawed and unfair," Matteo said.
They teamed up with lawyer John Zaccone to look into suing the Department of Finance on the disparity of assessed value for Staten Island homes compared to other boroughs, their methodology to calculate it and more.
They have asked homeowners interested in being a plaintiff to call Borelli's office at 718-984-5151.
