City Council hearing takes aim at NYC's pied-à-terre tax rollout
The New York City Council is holding a hearing Tuesday afternoon on the controversial new pied-à-terre tax rollout.
Lots of frustrated New York City residents and homeowners are expected to attend Tuesday's hearing, although no one from the mayor's office will be present. They will be giving written testimony instead. The mayor's office says they are submitting written testimony because of ongoing litigation involving a lawsuit filed by homeowners seeking to delay implementation of the tax.
"The pied-à-terre surcharge is an important source of revenue for our city. This revenue is essential to funding safer streets, cleaner parks and other critical investments that New Yorkers across all five boroughs deserve," a spokesperson for the mayor said in a statement.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin appeared to take issue with the mayor's office not sending someone to testify in person.
"Oversight is one of the key and critical functions that the City Council performs. And the idea that there's active litigation, oftentimes administrations, in fact all the time, testify when there is active litigation," Menin said Tuesday morning.
The new tax is part of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's efforts to increase taxes on wealthy property owners of secondary homes valued at more than $5 million, as well as co-ops and condos worth more than $1 million that are not used as a primary residence.
The public hearing comes amid some backlash against the rollout, which has sparked confusion and has had some homeowners filing legal challenges.
"Particularly, people want to know why did I get a letter when I'm a full-time resident," City Councilmember Gale Brewer said.
Supporters say the new tax is an important step toward addressing the city's budget shortfall.
The Department of Finance sent letters to more than 17,000 property owners as part of the rollout, including to people who say their New York City home is their primary residence. The city published more than 900,000 addresses, including many property owners who are not impacted by the tax.
The Real Estate Board of New York said it is calling for a pause on the tax, citing difficulties with the rollout.
"We warned from the beginning that this tax would be extremely difficult to administer. The rollout has been plagued by confusion, errors, and unanswered questions. The city cannot enforce first and explain later. The Mamdani administration should pause implementation until it can demonstrate it is ready to administer the tax fairly, accurately, and transparently," said James Whelan, president of REBNY.
Earlier Tuesday, there were three rallies held on the steps of City Hall that were both for and against the new tax.
"We need to address a city-made crisis, and that is the pied-à-terre tax rollout, which has been completely botched," one rally speaker said.
The deadline to apply for an exemption from the new tax is Sept. 18.