Fewer Westchester businesses and apartment buildings challenged their taxes last year, according to new data released by the County Clerk’s Office.
The amount of certiorari cases filed in 2012 dropped by about 5 percent to the lowest level since 2009.
“I think it’s a combination of the real estate market starting to come back and the fact that so many people have already filed,” said County Clerk Timothy Idoni, whose office processes all the certiorari claims.
The data does not include single-family homes or multi-family homes that have up to six units. The taxes on those properties are challenged through local grievance boards and, if necessary, a small claims case can be filed with the courts and processed by the county clerk. Idoni said those statistics will be made available later in the month.
Certioraris are indicative of the economy because it reflects the health of the real estate market as well as the health of the underlying businesses that operate out of those buildings.
“As our local economy struggled, many businesses looked at this process as a way to take advantage of declining property values and to save money,” Idoni said. Since taking office, Idoni has seen the number of tax certiorari proceedings commenced in Westchester County Supreme Court increase as follows:
- 2006 – 3,288
- 2007 – 3,294
- 2008 – 3,398
- 2009 – 3,683
- 2010 – 4,151
- 2011 – 4,268
- 2012 – 4,067
“A decline in 2012 tax certiorari proceedings will hopefully be welcome news to local municipalities and school districts faced with tight budgets and declining assessment rolls,” Idoni said. “However, as each certiorari has its own high or low price tag and timing of adjudication, it may still be a few years before the overall impact of the decline is felt”.
For more information, please visit WestchesterClerk.com or call (914) 995-3070.
