A plan to restructure the property tax system in New York City is being supported by City Councilmember Zohran Mamdani. The idea calls for moving the tax burden from working-class homeowners in the outer boroughs to what he characterizes as more expensive residences in richer and whiter communities.
According to the plan, which was presented in campaign literature, existing property tax regulations unfairly favor wealthy communities by capping assessment levels, which enables expensive homes to pay less than their fair amount. Mamdani’s proposal would increase rates in affluent districts, notably those where Brooklyn brownstones have increased their tax contributions, while decreasing assessment percentages throughout the city.
The idea claims that because assessment levels are arbitrarily restricted, the property tax system is unfair and homeowners in affluent communities pay less than their fair amount. It then proposes raising taxes on properties in affluent, predominantly white areas of the city while decreasing tax payments for homeowners in communities like Brownsville and Jamaica.
The plan calls for reforming condos, cooperatives, and circuit breakers.
In order to prevent low- and moderate-income homeowners—especially elderly in gentrifying neighborhoods—from being overburdened by increased taxes, Mamdani is also advocating for the installation of circuit breakers. In accordance with income levels, this would cap the amount of property tax paid.
Section 581 of the Real Property Tax Law, which now considers condominiums and cooperatives as rental properties, is another target of the proposal. Mamdani wants the rule to be abolished because he believes it unfairly and arbitrarily affects moderate and low-income owners with taxes.
The general goal of the proposal is to create a more income-based and regionally tailored tax structure, and it is based on suggestions made by the New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform.
In order to lessen the burden on residents of the outer borough, Mamdani’s plan would raise property taxes on expensive residences in wealthy, predominantly white communities.
