De Blasio Won't Recommend Property Tax Hike

At a news conference on Feb. 4, Mayor de Blasio reiterated his intention to follow through on a promise he made during his campaign last year to not recommend any increase to New York City's property -tax rate when he releases his fiscal 2015 budget proposal. 

 

The mayor and City Council have the power to make across-the-board increases to the nominal tax rate. They can also slice up the pie a bit differently, so that one type of property pays more or less than another, as long as no one slice rises by more than 5 percent in a year. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg twice convinced the City Council to cover budget shortfalls by raising property tax rates, including a record 18.5 percent jump in 2002. The rate came down briefly during the boom years of the last decade, but the recession prompted another hike of 7 percent in 2008. 

 

Preliminary figures released last month by the Department of Finance showed that tax assessments or property values are scheduled to rise by 8 percent in July. For many property owners, that could mean significantly higher taxes. The assessment increase would be the second highest since at least 1996, city figures show, after an 8.1 percent increase in property values in the fiscal year that ended in June 2008—at the peak of the last real estate boom.