In an embarrassing about-face for the Bloomberg administration, the city Department of Finance just gave small apartment house owners tax boosts instead of dramatic cuts.
The new figures, on which property taxes will be based starting in July, were to be posted this morning on the agency’s Web site, a Finance Department spokesman said.
The Post reported exclusively on Jan. 23 that city Finance Commissioner Martha Stark had quietly drummed up a new – and much lower – so-called equalization rate for four to 10 unit apartment buildings, thus cutting some tax bills by two-thirds.
But experts warned the cuts could be illegal. The Finance Dept. said its own lawyers OKd it, but sources said neither the corporation counsel, the Office of Management of the Budget nor the City Council knew of the scheme prior to The Post’s revelation.
“The corporation counsel advised the mayor it would cause a massive litigation backlash,” one official said.