Freeze the property tax, not the rent

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : Furman calculated the "effective tax rate" -- the percentage of a building's market value -- paid in property tax.
55% : Even if the tax rate holds steady, in other words, the bill goes up.
53% : A mayor focused on both affordability and fairness would pay close attention to a powerful new research report from NYU's Furman Center on Real Estate and Urban Policy explaining the disparities in the city's property tax system: how owners of multi-family apartment buildings are carrying far more of the tax load than they should.
53% : The Furman Center report compares the share of the city's $34 billion in property tax revenue paid by four classes of property: 1 to 3 family homes, multi-family buildings (including coops and condos), utilities and commercial real estate.
52% : A constructive mayoral administration would move toward a broad citywide property tax reform -- such as that suggested by a de Blasio administration's commission: tax all property based on its market value.
50% : That means increasing the "tax levy" -- the overall amount raised through property taxes.
49% : All rental buildings are worth $369 billion -- and pay $13.7 billion in property taxes.
49% : That's because the tax bills, under the city's arcane system, are calculated in different ways: residential homes are taxed based on sales, but apartment buildings are based on rental income.
48% : But there's one expense that the city should do something about; increased property tax bills that are hitting owners of multi-family apartment buildings especially hard.
47% : " It's worth noting that Mamdani compadre Brad Lander, as city comptroller, promoted a bipartisan version of property tax reform.
46% : A city in which concern about keeping rents down and housing quality up (no "rental ripoffs") has set up a system for multi-family buildings that does just the opposite by hitting landlords with increased taxes that either lead to higher rents or deferred maintenance.
46% : Per NYU: "Such changes could result in additional rental supply, because a system that imposes higher effective tax rates on larger rental properties may discourage the development of new rental development.
41% : Worse, the city might have to take ownership of the buildings for failure to pay taxes, though that may well be the socialist mayor's goal.
40% : A mayor willing to throw a lifeline to mom-and-pop landlords, many of them immigrants, would consider a property tax freeze for older rent-stabilized multi-family buildings.
39% : As he said in 2022 and still holds: "New York's opaque and inequitable property tax system is hurting working families across our city, while inhibiting the housing development our city needs amidst a housing crisis.
38% : The alternative could be an increasing number of buildings falling into disrepair, as owners are forced to choose between the tax bill and a new boiler or roof.

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