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Q&A
Discussion on property tax inequities and reform plans
5:27:35
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158 sec
Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers inquires about steps the Department of Finance is taking to address inequities in the property tax system, particularly its impact on lower-income neighborhoods. Commissioner Preston Niblack responds by explaining their assessment process and ongoing efforts for tax reform.
- The Department of Finance reviews every property annually and aims for fair assessments within legal constraints.
- They are working on legislation for tax reform to introduce greater equity and protect lower-income homeowners.
- The department plans to present proposals to the state legislature after the budget process.
Selvena Brooks-Powers
5:27:35
First one is around equity and tax burdens.
5:27:38
The current property tax system disproportionately impacts homeowners and renters in lower income neighborhoods often imposing higher effective tax rates compared to wealthier areas.
5:27:51
What steps is the Department of Finance taking to address these inequities and are there any plans to reassess how market values and tax burdens are determined across different tax classes and a follow-up to that is wanting to get a better sense in terms of what your plans are for tax reform working with the state.
Preston Niblack
5:28:16
Thank you.
5:28:20
We review every property annually.
5:28:24
We do the best job that we can using comparable sales of comparable of comparable properties in order to make valuations particularly of class one homes.
5:28:36
And there's always the option of appeal to the tax commission, of course.
5:28:43
I believe that we do our assessments fairly.
5:28:47
There are some limits on what we are able to do because of the tax law, and that's why we have been working on tax reform.
5:28:58
And the tax reform, the goal above all is to introduce greater equity into the system to make sure that we have protections and benefits for lower income homeowners and to make sure that people pay proportionate to the value of their homes as fairly and equitably as possible.
Selvena Brooks-Powers
5:29:25
But has anything to date been done yet to make some of those proposed changes?
5:29:30
I know you and I spoke about this a number of times.
5:29:32
I just wanted to know since at least last year's prelim hearing, what work the Department of Finance has done around that?
Preston Niblack
5:29:40
We have been working on legislation.
5:29:44
We had, you know, some we had lots of rounds of input, with folks on the proposal.
5:29:52
We're making some revisions to that proposal.
5:29:55
We're working with the law department, and I expect our aim is to have something to take to the legislature once they're done with the budget in order to put that into the legislative process.
Selvena Brooks-Powers
5:30:09
And I'd love to be a part of that as well.
Preston Niblack
5:30:12
We'd love to have you.
Selvena Brooks-Powers
5:30:13
And assessment methodology for co ops and condos, the method used to estimate market values for co ops and condos is widely criticized criticized as being disconnected from their actual sale prices.