STATEN ISLAND — The city failed to collect nearly $87,000 in property taxes on several Staten Island buildings because they were misclassified on tax records, an audit by Comptroller Scott Stringer found.
Stringer looked into mixed-use properties across the borough and found that city inspectors had misclassified at least 12 of them on tax records, the Staten Island Advance first reported.
Stringer estimated putting the buildings in the proper classification would have added $86,599 to the city's coffers over a five-year period.
The Department of Finance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Inspectors from the comptroller's office visited 943 mixed-use buildings across the borough last year and found that 28 appeared to be misclassified.
They sent the list to the Finance Department whose inspectors confirmed that 12 had been misclassified, including 1422 Hylan Blvd. and 47 Little Clove Road.
Some of the proprieties were listed as only one- or two-family homes with only a store or office, despite the comptroller's inspectors finding they had more businesses inside or larger lots requiring their property taxes to be higher, according to the audit.
Stringer recommended the Department of Finance makes sure the properties are correctly classified, find out why they were misclassified in the first place, improve the training of inspectors and increase the office's oversight.
Finance Department officials reported to Stringer that they reclassified the properties earlier this month, according to the audit.
