A regulation proposed by the city’s Finance Department would give property-taxpayers retroactive refunds due to incorrect abatements and assessments only from the date when the error is discovered, not from the when it occurred.

“This is just not right,’’ said one real-estate lawyer. “We’ve talked to tax officials in lots of other places, and their reaction is all the same: ‘We don’t keep people’s money if we’re wrong. It’s not, ‘If you ask for it soon enough, we give it back.’ ”

A department rep noted that “the rule is not final,” and a public hearing is scheduled for March 31.