Bill extends tax appeal timeframe.

A new city law extends the time the Tax Commission has to reduce prior years' property tax assessments, in some instances going back as much as five years.

Before this, an owner's only recourse was to file a petition with the court and continue the protest with the seriously backlogged Corporation Counsel.

"The bill gives [the Tax Commission] the power to hear the current year and one preceding year, and they have that power until the third year's application for correction is filed," explained Carlos Velasquez, president of the city's Tax Review Bar Association. "The most important thing that it did is extend the remission power long enough for them to conduct hearings, even with the expanded schedule they have now."

In previous decades, all of the reduction hearings were held beginning in March or April, and generally were over by the end of the summer, so the application of the old law was not a problem.

But now, with over 60,000 properties filing protests, hearings drag on well into December. Additionally, over 25,000 of these protests include the discussion of prior years. The old law did not allow the Tax Commission to make an offer on a prior year's assessment - i.e. two-year offers - after June 30 for properties assessed at $750,000 or less and after August 31 for all other properties.

Although the law was not followed by other administrations, when Earl Andrews, Jr. became president of the Tax Commission - he has since become Commissioner of Business Services - the agency began enforcing the rule, thus creating problems for property owners and their tax certiorari counsel. Nevertheless, the Tax Commission promoted the change to the law.

The new law also creates a situation in which a reduction can be given for an open back year up to five years back, as well as the current year, but protests have to be given up for the intervening years.

"It muddies up the issue," agreed Velasquez. "But if they think they have justification for reducing years one and four, they can grant you a reduction for one and four."

The bill was passed unanimously by the City Council and signed by the mayor in the beginning of November, thus allowing the Tax Commission to apply the measure to cases heard in November and December, and will be used this hearing season as well.

The new tentative tax roll that will be used to set property taxes for fiscal year 1998 that begins on July 1 was released last week. Owners of most properties have until March 3 to file an application for review of the tentative assessment with the Tax Commission, and tax certiorari attorneys are expecting the new law will help some owners get faster relief.