New York bill would make property assessments public, again
A bill passing through the Assembly and Senate in New York would make property assessments public (see
story). They were public until a 2006 court ruling that stated they should be secret to prevent unwarranted invasion of privacy. Since the ruling, people have figured out that the invasion of privacy is warranted because the only way for people to challenge their property assessment is to know what other similar properties are assessed to compare. Also, by having that information public it ensures government officials pay their fair share by not giving themselves low assessments to save in property taxes. That's why property tax assessments are public almost everywhere in this country.