NY’s Highest Court: NYC Property Tax System Violates Fair Housing Laws

“New York’s highest court issued a new ruling on Tuesday that could upend the way New York City collects billions of dollars in property taxes each year,” reported WNYC's Gothamist. “The state Court of Appeals sided with a coalition of homeowners and real estate industry groups — known as Tax Equity Now New York — who sued the city, claiming the property tax system sets far higher rates on rental buildings and small homes in lower-income neighborhoods than on condos and homes in wealthier areas. In a 4-to-3  decision, the court said TENNY should be allowed to argue the current system violates the federal Fair Housing Act and real property tax law after lower courts dismissed their claims. The judges also wrote that a number of city officials have criticized the way taxes are levied without doing anything about it.”

“Martha E. Stark, TENNY’s policy director and a former finance commissioner under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said there was no timetable yet. But she said the court’s decision made clear that the city could and should act to make the tax system more fair. ‘The city has an opportunity here to fix its notoriously broken property tax system,’ she said. ‘It has some of those tools within its own toolbox,’” reported the New York Times.