More New Yorkers challenging property taxes

More New York City single-family homeowners are balking at their property tax bills, according to the New York Post, after the Department of Finance stopped providing detailed explanations of how the taxes were calculated. The number of challenges to property tax bills spiked to 1,902 in 2009, up 37 percent from 2008, when just 1,389 such claims were granted. Council member James Oddo, whose district on Staten Island has an especially high number of claims, due to the borough’s larger segment of small home owners, has encouraged taxpayers to ask more questions before filing claims. “We explain to them about the process, and then people are dissuaded from challenging,” Oddo said. [Post]