Pol gets a $6G illegal tax break

CITY COUNCILMAN Mark Levine has been getting an illegal property tax break that saved him nearly $6,700 over the past four years, records show.

Levine, the front-runner in the race to become the next City Council speaker, hasn’t lived in the Washington Heights apartment that he owns since 2013 — but he still benefits from a tax abatement there.

Co-op and condo homeowners are eligible for the abatement only if the property is their primary residence, according to state law. But Levine moved out of his condo in 2013 and into a rental apartment on Fort Washington Ave.

He switched apartments so he could run for a City Council seat in District 7. The condo he owns and now rents out is in Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez’s district.

City Finance Department records show that from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017, the abatement knocked off $1,653 from his $7,344 property tax bill. Since 2013, he has saved about $6,680.

Levine’s spokesman Jake Sporn said that when the councilman moved in 2013, he notified his condo management firm, his mortgage company, the city, the state and the feds about the change of address.

At the time, Levine had been receiving the STAR credit, another state tax break for owner-occupied properties. Sporn said that credit — which saved Levine nearly $300 a year — ended after the councilman notified the state of the move.

Sporn said it was up to the city Finance Department to have stopped the abatement for Levine — but the agency never did.

“As was their responsibility at the time, the (condo) management company reported it to the city Finance Department, which failed to adjust his condo abatement status, as was their obligation,” Sporn said. “The councilman will, of course, make sure any clerical error is corrected and that his bill is up to date.”

Levine first won a Council seat in 2013. He won reelection this month and is considered a top contender to replace the outgoing Council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito.