Every spring, New York City mails property tax assessments to roughly one million property owners across the five boroughs. Most of them glance at the number, groan, and pay it.

What most of them don't know: that number is negotiable.

The NYC Tax Commission opens its appeal window every year, and it closes fast. For most property owners — one-, two-, and three-family homes, condos, co-ops — the deadline to file is March 1 through March 22 for properties with assessed values under $2 million. The window is always short, and the city does nothing to publicize it.

Why NYC Property Assessments Are Often Wrong

The city assesses over one million properties every year using automated valuation models — algorithms that estimate market value based on sales comps, building size, lot data, and neighborhood trends. Algorithms make mistakes. Comps get pulled from the wrong neighborhoods. Square footage data is often years out of date. Buildings with significant deferred maintenance get assessed at values that assume the roof doesn't leak.

The Department of Finance estimates it gets the assessment right about 85% of the time. That means roughly 150,000 NYC property owners are being overassessed right now — and most will pay the higher bill without saying a word.

How the Appeal Process Works

Step 1: Get your Notice of Property Value (NOPV)
The city mails these every January 15. If you didn't get yours, pull it at nyc.gov/finance. It shows your assessed value and the estimated market value the city is using to calculate your bill.

Step 2: Check the comps
Look at what comparable homes in your neighborhood actually sold for in the past 12 months. If the city's estimated market value is significantly higher than what similar properties are selling for, that's your argument. Pull sales data from StreetEasy, Zillow, or the city's own ACRIS database — all free.

Step 3: File with the NYC Tax Commission
Go to nyc.gov/taxcommission. For Class 1 properties (one-to-three family homes), you file online. It takes about 20 minutes. You'll need your BBL number (on your NOPV), your estimated market value, and any comparables you're using as evidence.

Step 4: Wait
Most decisions come back between June and October. If the commission agrees with you, your assessment is reduced and the savings roll forward. If you appeal and lose, nothing changes. There's no penalty for trying.

What's the Average Saving?

Property owners who file successful appeals save an average of $1,200 to $2,400 per year on one-to-three family homes. Co-ops and condos run lower — typically $400 to $900. For larger multifamily buildings, the numbers are substantially higher. The filing is free. The potential upside is real. The downside risk is zero.

The One Thing Most Owners Get Wrong

The most common mistake: waiting to see if the assessment "feels wrong" before checking. Your property tax bill is based on assessed value, not market value — but the city uses its estimated market value to calculate assessed value. If that number is inflated, your bill is inflated.

The bar for filing isn't "I know the city is wrong." The bar is "I'm not certain the city is right." Given the scale of automated assessment, that's almost always worth a 20-minute review.

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Metro Intel covers the intel NYC property owners, renters, and business owners need — without the fluff. Forward this to a neighbor who needs to know.

If your property is worth $1M+ or you don't want to DIY it, a tax attorney handles the whole process on contingency — meaning they only get paid if you save money. Reply to this email and I'll point you to a few I've vetted.