Opinion

Opinion: If New York City Council members truly want to tackle affordable housing, why not start by fixing our broken property tax system?

Here are some suggestions for addressing this ever-increasing property tax burden

New York City Hall

New York City Hall Simon11uk - Getty

Recently, a group of New York City Council members stormed the stage at a Rent Guidelines Board meeting, disrupted the proceedings and demanded lower rent increases. Their actions demonstrated how little they understand their legislative power to make housing more affordable. They can start by fixing the broken property tax system. 

Property taxes are the main drivers for expenses for apartment buildings in New York City, and how the taxes are assessed is unfair, opaque, and illogical. Despite all of the furor over the need for affordable housing, the Council spends virtually no time exploring ways to reduce operating costs for rental buildings – costs which are eventually borne in large part by tenants. There are several things the Council could do:

First, every year, the City Council determines the amount that will be raised from property taxes. Since 2018, property taxes for rental apartment buildings have been increased by 23%. Using this current fiscal year as an example, the average taxes on a rental apartment are about $5,400 a year – that’s $1,000 more than five years ago. That means that on average, about $450 of a tenant's monthly rent goes towards paying for property taxes. In Manhattan, that number jumps to $740 per month. 

Unlike the rest of New York state, where the amount of money that can be raised from property taxes is capped at a maximum of 2% annually, the city has increased property tax revenue pegged to overall assessment increases. That has meant an increase of almost 5% per year over the last five years; 21% since 2017. 

To address the ever-increasing property tax burden, the Council should adopt Truth in Taxation principles. Jurisdictions that have abided by Truth in Taxation share with taxpayers the different ways the property tax levy can be calculated. For example, the first calculation would show the tax rates and average taxes if the levy was not increased. A second calculation would show the results if the levy was increased by say 2%, like the rest of New York state. Another calculation would show what happens when you increase the levy based on changes in the assessment roll. This process would help inform the public and, more importantly, the Council about property tax-related policy choices. And, New Yorkers would finally be able to hold those in power accountable for property tax increases.

Second, relying on assessments would be an acceptable mechanism except there is near consensus that the property tax system is broken. Nowhere is that more evident than apartment buildings where the way assessments are determined leads to owners and tenants subsidizing expensive co-ops and condos. This current law is so complex that the much-lauded final report from the New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform did not even include recommendations to address the high burden of taxes on apartment buildings and the renters who live there.

The Council should increase its oversight of the Department of Finance to ensure that assessments are fair and that property owners have a timely, effective, and efficient means to have their assessments corrected. Between the Tax Commission, the Law Department, and the courts, it takes years to resolve property tax cases, which creates massive uncertainty and undermines the financing for affordable rental housing.

Third, the city’s leaders should pay attention to the law. The New York State Constitution limits how much the city can raise the property tax for its expenses. Yet several times in the last decade, the Council has violated that limit, using a creative interpretation of the Constitution to raise hundreds of millions of dollars more in taxes from property owners than is allowed. Perhaps the city’s actions are justified, but at the very least, the Council should review this practice, and seek legal guidance from the state Attorney General about the legality of its interpretation. 

Affordable rental apartments are vital to the city’s future, yet rather than using their legislative powers to fix a system that is severely broken, council members are disrupting government meetings and blaming Albany. Next month, the Council has an opportunity to take constructive actions that can help owners, tenants, and buildings when they vote on the property tax resolution as part of the City budget. If they’re so interested in theater – here’s a role they can play: that of elected leaders who use their power to do everything that can be done to keep rents affordable and the property tax system fair.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.