New York, NY – Sometimes, honesty is not the best policy.
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The city is tightening the screws on its system for awarding property-tax exemptions — a move one lawmaker attributes to his discovery that residents can get the tax breaks through an “honor system” without having to prove they’re eligible.
Sara Meyers, an assistant commissioner in the Department of Finance, is revamping the system that handed out nearly $300 million in property-tax exemptions last fiscal year to roughly 789,600 residents, agency spokesman Owen Stone said.
It is possible the agency will begin requiring more documentation, such as military papers for veteran exemptions and proof of age for elder tax breaks.
Currently, applicants for some exemptions must simply fill out a standard form stating his or her address, age, income and Social Security number. Paperwork for those exemptions is not required.
Meanwhile, the state Senate passed a bill out of committee yesterday that would allow seniors getting property-tax breaks to automatically qualify for it each year without having to reapply as they currently do.
So thats the way the NYC operates, it requires seniors, veterans, etc., to reapply each year, despite the fact that once qualified, they are qualified for life, because the paperwork keeps the unionized workforce employed and happy.
Of course approving the qualifications by subjectively evaluating the submitted evidence against a set of criteria, is to much to ask for from this workforce.
So just keep them busy shuffling annual renewal papers!
I don’t see a problem. Usually, the issue is a not-for-profit attempting to get an exemption for real estate taxes that are being levied on a property that used to be owned privately.