Property tax information now available on the Internet.

A long effort to provide property specific real estate tax information on the Internet has been achieved by the Department of Finance. Armed with block and lot information, Internet users can now quickly obtain a financial snap shot on more than one million properties in the City of New York.

Using the new NYCProperty web link, once particular blocks and lots are input along with user identification, within seconds, anyone can obtain access to information that includes annual and replacement real estate tax bills; current and tentative or final assessments; and Senior Citizen Rent. Increase Exemption (SCRIE) status. Armed with a water account number, those bills are also obtainable.

Within a day or two after registering, which requires your name, a user name, password and e-mail address, Finance will also permit ongoing access to the specific histories of payment.

The site link can be difficult to find, but should be available through the New York City home page at www.nyclink.org/nycproperty - try a search of the Finance agency - or through the Finance home page at www.nyclink.org/finance.

Property owners and attorneys that have tried the new system have been impressed with the service, which is free to users from around the world.

The initiative to make the information available was prompted by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who has been asking agency heads to find new uses on the internet as part of the e-commerce and e-government initiative.

"Our customers - the citizens and taxpayers of New York City - now have unprecedented access to critical public information about their properties on a timely, secure basis," said Finance Commissioner Andrew S. Eristoff. "Although this service will be particularly useful for property managers and others who oversee large numbers of units, we anticipate that many individual property owners will also take advantage of it."

Originally, the idea was to focus on information that could be useful for managing agents, owners, real estate tax attorneys, and in some cases the land title industry. But the agency realizes many homeowners will find it useful.

"The average taxpayer never sees their assessment notice, and a lot of people don't pay their real estate bills - it's paid by escrow agents - so they can use this to review their accounts," said Peter J. Lempin, Deputy Commissioner of Finance for taxpayer assistance, planning and payment operations. "We think it's a real customer service."

To create the data bank, Finance strategized and met with the business community and real estate groups including The Real Estate Tax Review Bar Association, the Rent Stabilization Association, the Community Housing Improvement Program, and the New York Land Title Association.

"We came up with categories that we thought would fit this portfolio [of users], so if you wanted to manage. a group of block and lots, this was the information most used," said. Lempin. ""We hope they use it."

The 24-hour on-line information is expected to cut down on calls to both the taxpayer assistance line and the automated version, both of which only operate during certain business hours.

The NYCProperty data is culled from. the main FAIRTAX system, but since it was created as a separate download, data should not be used to pay a bill where interest will be owed, for instance.

"At least two real estate bills will be available and you can go into the integrated voice system and get up to the minute account status," added Lempin.

The integrated voice system, obtained through the Taxpayer Assistance line's automated menu at [phone] is accessible during certain business hours. The FAIRTAX system, which runs real time as a dial up service, is available for a fee to high volume users such as title search companies.

On a recent visit, a reporter was quickly able to also research lot size, building information, and ownership data, however, the information is not always accurate if there were recent sales or demolitions. If you have purchased a property, new owners can also use the Finance web site to register to receive tax bills, which is not automatically done when filing a deed.

NYCProperty assessment information typically is available for two years, but if there is a delinquency, any charges will be shown going back to the oldest.

This is a free service and while taxpayers now need block and lots and water bills for the initial sign-up, in the future, Lempin expects the agency will add an address cross matching program and other useful data.