NYSSCPA member volunteers shared their expertise with more than 150 area residents on Friday at the New York Public Library’s (NYPL’s) annual Financial Planning Day, an eight-hour event open to the general public featuring financial planning seminars and access to regulators, nonprofits, state and local governments and other groups who can aid New Yorkers looking to increase their financial acuity. The event took place at NYPL’s Science, Industry and Business Library on 34^th Street in New York City.

Form 990, which tax-exempt organizations are required to file annually, was dramatically redesigned in 2008 to account for the changing needs of its users. However, the less-often filed Form 990-PF, which tax-exempt private foundations and nonexempt charitable trusts are also required to submit, remains unchanged; it’s the same form the IRS rolled out in 1974, the year President Nixon resigned from office.

The Big Apple’s real estate market is booming—as evidenced by the pace at the New York City Tax Commission, which reviews property tax assessments set by the city’s Department of Finance. Last year, the commission received 52,221 claims in connection with some 193,305 tax lots citywide, and it’s poised to receive between 50,000 and 53,000 applications for property tax assessments this year. In fact, according to Tax Commission President Glenn Newman, most of the city’s major players are filing applications through the commission’s office these days. I recently sat down with Newman to discuss how CPAs and their clients could ensure a smoother tax assessment process. Here are the key takeaways from the conversation.