New York City’s property tax structure provides tax breaks to owners of homes, co-ops and condos while placing the greatest burden on renters, a watchdog group says.
Owners of one- to three-family houses that make up almost half of NYC’s assessed value pay only 15 percent of the $21 billion in annual property taxes collected by the city, the Citizens Budget Commission says.
The commission estimates that if condos in wealthy enclaves were taxed at their fair market value, and if caps were lifted on tax increases in neighborhoods with rapidly rising property values, the city could generate more than $4 billion in additional revenue per year.
While New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is open to studying the system, any changes would have to be approved by state legislators and the governor. Property owners who benefit from the current system would be likely to put up a fight, Bloomberg News reports. Source: bloomberg.com.
