Read the memo Mamdani's team sent to NYC lawmakers explaining the controversial pied-à-terre tax rollout

City Council is holding a nationalist proceeding Tuesday astir Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rollout of a caller taxation connected luxury 2nd homes. cmart7327/Getty Images

New York City homeowners opportunity they're confused by Mayor Zohran Mamdani's rollout of the pied-à-terre taxation — and they're joining City Council connected Tuesday to testify.

The Mayor's Office opted to forgo an in-person quality astatine the hearing, alternatively submitting a written memo. In a transcript obtained by Business Insider, Mamdani's squad said their merchandise of location values and addresses up of the levy is standard, pinch Department of Finance Commissioner Richard Lee penning that the accusation is "highly accessible to the public, and it has been for galore years. Any proposal to the contrary is incorrect."

The levy connected luxury 2nd homes sparked a nationalist uproar successful precocious July aft the NYC Department of Finance sent letters to 17,000 addresses that could perchance beryllium a pied-à-terre based connected spot worth and soul records. The DOF besides published a database of complete 900,000 properties and their valuations crossed the city.

In the Tuesday testimony, Lee continued that "the supplemental rotation does not found which properties are taxable to the surcharge," and is intended to supply "a ground for spot owners to situation the worth of their properties." Residents person until September 18 — an extended deadline — to beryllium their spot doesn't suffice for the taxation earlier it starts showing up connected bills successful 2027.

On societal media, immoderate New Yorkers said that they mistakenly received a missive for their superior residence, while others felt their privateness was violated during the DOF records release.

Council Member Gail Brewer, who represents Manhattan's Upper West Side, told Business Insider that her agency has been "bombarded" by concerned constituents successful caller weeks. Brewer said that she and different assembly members complied "pages and pages" of questions astir the pied-à-terre rollout they dream the Mayor's Office will address.

A lawsuit — revenge by 3 residents based successful Manhattan and Staten Island — is besides pending, pinch a tribunal day scheduled for August 31. The plaintiffs are seeking "emergency relief" aft the records merchandise that tribunal documents allege "caused wide confusion" and "facilitated, invited, and amplified unwanted scrutiny of homeowners' individual information."

Their attorney, Randy Mastro, said hundreds of thousands of New York City homeowners were "subjected to a process they ne'er should person been a portion of successful the first place."

The metropolis said it has hired 2 twelve staffers to reply resident questions astir the taxation and assistance pinch appeals. Passed successful May, the argumentation will enforce a progressive levy connected non-primary homes weighted by the DOF astatine slightest $5 cardinal and condos and co-ops weighted astatine slightest $1 million.

Deputy Press Secretary Matt Rauschenbach told Business Insider past week that "the Law Department is prepared to vigorously take sides the metropolis against this suit" and the money raised by the levy will "help present the metropolis New Yorkers deserve: cleaner parks, safer streets, and captious nationalist investments that make our metropolis a much affordable place," to the tune of $500 cardinal a year.

Lee said successful his grounds that he is submitting only written worldly owed to the ongoing litigation and will beryllium disposable to attest aft the suit is settled.

Read the afloat memo:

Chair Gale Brewer, Chair Linda Lee, and Members of the City Council,My sanction is Richard Lee, and I americium the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Finance (DOF).Thank you for the opportunity to taxable grounds regarding the implementation of the surcharge connected non-primary residence properties, commonly referred to arsenic a "pied-a-terre."I understand the Council's liking successful holding this proceeding to talk the implementation of this surcharge. The nationalist understandably has a scope of questions astir this surcharge and the mode successful which it has been implemented. I person been engaged pinch members of your team, and straight pinch galore of you, to guarantee that New Yorkers person the accusation that they need. I would person welcomed the opportunity to look successful personification and section your questions directly, but the pending and progressive litigation precludes maine from doing so. The Administration requested that the City Council postpone the proceeding to the adjacent early but the Council declined. In the meantime, I admit the opportunity to reside immoderate of those questions successful my written testimony.First, fto maine locomotion done the steps that led to implementation of the surcharge — from the transition of the authorities government authorizing the surcharge, done the rule-making process, to the posting of a supplemental rotation and transmission of first determination letters.On May 28, 2026, arsenic portion of the State's 2026/2027 fund legislation, the State enacted portion HH of section 59 of 2026, which authorized this surcharge connected definite high-value New York City residential properties that are not utilized arsenic a superior residence. The rule was enacted pinch support from the Mayor and his Administration to thief adjacent a important fund gap. The statutory provisions relating to this surcharge tin beryllium recovered successful Article 30-C of the New York State Tax Law and Chapter 32 of Title 11 of the City's Administrative Code.As pinch each gross collected by DOF, these costs thief support the City running. The gross DOF collects supports basal services that New Yorkers trust connected each day, from educating our children successful nationalist schools and maintaining our parks to ensuring our streets are cleanable and our trash is collected.DOF took steps to guarantee the surcharge would beryllium implemented done a transparent, consistent, and adjacent process that is legally compliant. On June 9, 2026, DOF published projected rules outlining really the caller surcharge would beryllium administered and applied. As portion of the rulemaking process, spot owners and different members of the nationalist had an opportunity to taxable written feedback, supply testimony, and raise questions aliases concerns astatine a nationalist proceeding held connected July 9, 2026. DOF reviewed the feedback that it received done the notice-and-comment process, made due adjustments to the norm text, and promulgated the last rules basal to instrumentality the surcharge.These rules were thereafter adopted connected July 14, 2026 and took effect immediately. After adopting these rules, DOF moved guardant pinch implementing the surcharge and, arsenic required by law, published a supplemental rotation connected its website.Each year, the City publishes existent spot marketplace values and assessed values for each taxable spot done its yearly appraisal roll. The intent of the appraisal rotation is to supply the nationalist pinch announcement astir each spot taxable to existent spot taxation passim the 5 boroughs, the assessed and marketplace values associated pinch specified property, and definite accusation basal to place the spot and its ownership. Both the Real Property Tax Law and the City Charter require the City to people an appraisal rotation of taxable spot successful this manner, and appraisal rolls person been required to beryllium published annually for good complete a century. In accordance pinch the City Charter, DOF publishes the tentative appraisal rotation for the upcoming fiscal twelvemonth each January. Upon publication of this tentative appraisal roll, spot owners whitethorn situation definite assessment-related matters, including by making a filing pinch the City's independent Tax Commission. On the day that the Tax Commission is required to render last determinations connected these challenges—May 25 of each year—DOF releases its last appraisal roll.The City's appraisal rotation is highly accessible to the public, and it has been for galore years. Any proposal to the contrary is incorrect. For example, this spot information has been publically disposable arsenic a afloat searchable database connected some the DOF website and NYC Open Data. DOF's online archives see appraisal rotation information making love backmost to fiscal twelvemonth 2009.Many information elements included connected the rotation relating to spot ownership are culled from onshore records and person besides agelong been disposable done DOF's Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS). The City has published appraisal rolls and made them disposable for nationalist examination, successful various forms, for complete a 100 years. Before net accessibility, the City's appraisal rolls and onshore records were made disposable for reappraisal successful personification astatine authorities offices.Section 11-3205 of the Administrative Code, portion of the statutory model governing the surcharge, requires the City to administer and enforce the surcharge "to the top grade practicable . . . successful the aforesaid mode utilized to administer and enforce existent spot taxes," and requires the publication of corresponding spot valuation accusation connected a roll. The rule authorizing the surcharge was adopted aft the appraisal rotation for fiscal twelvemonth 2026-2027 had already been published. As a result, the rule governing the surcharge required the City to merchandise a supplemental mid-cycle rotation for the 2026-2027 taxation twelvemonth successful bid for the surcharge to beryllium administered. Stated differently, for the 2026-2027 fiscal twelvemonth only, DOF published a caller appraisal rotation mid-year — the July 2026 supplemental roll. This mostly progressive republishing information from the May 2026 last appraisal roll.DOF published the required supplemental rotation connected July 24,2026. The supplemental rotation includes applicable spot valuation information, and definite descriptive accusation regarding each spot that meets the surcharge statute's meaning of "covered property." The beingness of properties considered "covered property" for purposes of the rule is overmuch broader than the properties that were sent first determination letters, arsenic explained below, aliases that will yet beryllium taxable to the surcharge.In ray of this, it is important to stress what the supplemental rotation does not do. The supplemental rotation does not found which properties are taxable to the surcharge. It mostly includes definite accusation to place specified properties and their ownership. Like the appraisal roll, publication of the supplemental rotation provides a ground for spot owners to situation the worth of their properties.The rule besides requires DOF to nonstop first determination letters to spot owners whose properties whitethorn beryllium taxable to the surcharge and whose superior residency could not beryllium confirmed based connected the accusation disposable to the agency, arsenic described successful DOF rules. Only a very mini subset of the organization of properties that were listed connected the supplemental rotation received an first determination letter, astir 17,000 homes retired of a full of astir 960,000 listed homes. The surcharge only applies to those people 1 properties —which typically see 1 to 3 family homes — pinch marketplace values greater than aliases adjacent to $5,000,000 and cooperative and condominium dwelling units pinch marketplace values greater than aliases adjacent to $1,000,000. Some properties that would person different received an first determination missive did not yet person 1 because DOF already possessed information that sufficiently demonstrated that the spot was utilized arsenic a superior residence and was truthful not taxable to the surcharge. For example, homeowners who affirmatively established superior residency pinch DOF already for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, specified arsenic homeowners who person the Senior Citizens Homeowners' Exemption (SCHE), aliases the Disabled Homeowners' Exemption (DHE), and truthful person provided impervious of residency arsenic good arsenic impervious of income for eligibility, did not person this first determination letter.One of the astir important aspects of this process is that this first determination is not a taxation bill. These notices simply pass spot owners that, based connected the accusation presently disposable to DOF, their spot whitethorn beryllium taxable to the caller surcharge. This is an first determination, not a last one.Property owners who judge their spot should not beryllium taxable to the surcharge person an opportunity to taxable impervious the spot is utilized arsenic a superior residence. This process allows spot owners to supply accusation that is readily disposable to the owners but whitethorn not beryllium reflected successful DOF's records. Through this process, spot owners tin supply DOF pinch the accusation DOF needs to make meticulous determinations regarding surcharge eligibility earlier the surcharge is applied. For example, a superior homeowner tin taxable their driver's licence arsenic impervious of superior residency. Property owners tin alternatively situation DOF's first determination straight pinch the Tax Commission if they are besides challenging their marketplace value. For the 2026-2027 taxation year, they person until March 2027 to do so.In implementing the surcharge, we person focused connected providing transparency astir which properties whitethorn beryllium affected and ensuring homeowners person a straightforward measurement to resoluteness their status. We admit that homeowners request clear accusation and meaningful support arsenic they navigate the process. That is why DOF has prioritized nonstop assistance and outreach.DOF has been engaging homeowners and plans to further behaviour proactive outreach astatine elder centers, organization meetings, and different nationalist forums; supply accusation done our dedicated website, nyc.gov/npsurcharge, and 311; and proceed to activity straight pinch co-op and condominium boards, spot managers and building representatives to stock accusation pinch residents. Where interaction accusation for a spot proprietor is available, we are besides reaching retired straight to homeowners who received notices to reply questions and supply guidance connected the first determination appeals process. In addition, we are partnering pinch elected officials, organization leaders and constituent services unit to administer meticulous accusation and link homeowners pinch disposable resources.We person besides announced an hold done September 18, 2026 for homeowners to taxable appeals of first determinations. We judge these efforts bespeak the Administration's committedness to guarantee that each perchance affected homeowner understands the process, knows wherever to move for support and has a adjacent opportunity to situation a DOF first determination.I understand location are concerns regarding this surcharge. I besides understand that location are individuals who received an first determination missive who whitethorn not yet beryllium the surcharge. That is precisely why DOF has expanded its customer work and extended the deadline for spot owners to situation first determinations. DOF is moving straight pinch building managers, elected officials, and homeowners to reply questions and make the process arsenic straightforward arsenic possible.Whenever authorities implements a caller rule affecting thousands of spot owners, questions inevitably arise. Government should pass intelligibly and efficaciously astir caller policies, and DOF is committed to doing that, not conscionable pinch respect to this law, but crossed each aspects of DOF's work.DOF is committed to ensuring that this surcharge is only applied to those properties thatare taxable to the surcharge nether the law. DOF is focused connected making judge each homeowner has the accusation they request to understand the cardinal contours of the rule and to find whether they are taxable to the surcharge.DOF's domiciled is to administer and instrumentality the law. As implementation moves forward, DOF has continued to prosecute pinch elected officials, respond to constituent concerns, and supply updates and guidance to thief New Yorkers navigate the process.We invited continued feedback from the City Council and each stakeholders arsenic we activity to administer this caller rule pinch fairness, consistency, and clarity. I americium prepared and would invited the opportunity to attest aft August 31.