Property Tax Reform
“While New York City boasts innumerable characteristics of a vibrant metropolis, a fair, simple, and transparent property tax system is not among them.”
— New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform
Executive Summary
Jim Walden’s plan will shift the property-tax burden away from middle- and lower-income New Yorkers—especially outer-borough families—and toward luxury and high-value properties. Taxes will be tied to transparent, neighborhood-specific market data, with less bureaucracy and fewer loopholes. Seniors will see their taxes frozen at retirement and reduced annually.
The property tax system in New York is almost 50 years old. Any number of commissions, tax experts and elected officials have criticized it. For good reason. As New Yorkers, we know it is confusing, opaque and inequitable. As a candidate for Mayor, Eric Adams called it “fundamentally unfair” and promised to find a way to fix it. As Mayor, he has done nothing other than provide a measly rebate for homeowners. As one author aptly noted: “Everybody in New York City complains about the byzantine and inequitable system of property taxation, but for the past four decades nobody has done anything about it. Including the city’s embattled Mayor, Eric Adams.”
It doesn’t have to be this way. Fairly apportioned taxes is part of our American freedom. Or at least it should be. When I released my NYC Bill of Rights on May 8, 2025, I included the right to “fairly apportioned taxes” with property taxes in mind. As Mayor, I will actively lead the way, including by pressuring legislators to fix the laws and rules that created this mess. I won’t rest until we give New Yorkers what they deserve: transparent, rational and fair taxes.
Fair Valuation
I will base property taxes on market value. No more special exemptions, abatements (other than for truly affordable housing), or rules that elevate form over substance. New York City will use the trailing two years of neighborhood-specific sales data for:
- Purely residential
- Income-producing residential
- Commercial
- Industrial/utility
Valuation in my plan will erase the silly distinction between condos, co-ops, and apartments. On November 1 of each year, I will publish a valuation schedule for these four categories on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. The underlying sales data used for the schedule will be comprehensive, transparent and publicly available.
Among the many other advantages of this new system, it can be administered at a significantly lower cost to the city. We can get rid of assessments altogether. The implementing legislation will limit challenges to these valuation schedules to reduce the cost of vexatious litigation.
Fairly Apportioned Taxes
Make no mistake about it: this new system represents an important shift. Property owners will not be paying taxes based on an individualized assessment of their property. It is a tax based on the value of roughly similar properties in each neighborhood.
With average values for the four categories determined on a neighborhood-specific basis, the system will impose graduated taxes for each category based on market value. By way of example, the tax schedule would look like this for purely residential properties:
Income-producing properties (whether residential, commercial or industrial) would pay higher rates than homeowners, not the other way around.
Step-Down For Seniors
With this system in place, we intend to provide relief to struggling seniors. The proposed legislation will do so. For seniors who are at or beyond the retirement age, are below 50% of their borough-specific Area Median Income (AMI), and have lived in their home or apartment for 10 or more years, the plan will freeze their property tax bill in the year of their retirement, and then decrease it by 2% each year until it reaches zero. This relief will be specific to the taxpayer, not the property.
How to Set The Citywide Rates
The goals of this new system are (1) fairness, (2) transparency and (3) an overall tax levy that meets or exceeds our needs. The changes above accomplish the first two goals. On meeting the necessary overall tax levy, we are carefully analyzing the impact of new rate structures. I will provide more details later in the campaign once this analysis is completed.
But one thing is clear: the improved tax structure—including a true-market valuation, eliminating exemptions, including some not-for-profits, and using marginally higher rates on luxury properties—will allow SIGNIFICANT RELIEF FOR WORKING-CLASS AND STRUGGLING NEW YORKERS.
For too many years, we have known of the problems with the existing system. Elected officials have been deaf to the criticisms. Pandering politicians made promises to fix it—which they broke. It is high time to get the job done. As Mayor, I will build the coalition necessary to finally deliver the relief that middle- and lower-income New Yorkers deserve. In short, we will shift the property-tax burden to where it should be: on more valuable properties. We will make that shift fairly and with transparency—but we will deliver for struggling homeowners.
New Yorkers deserve real leadership, not more excuses. I put my policies in writing so people will hold me accountable.
Jim Walden,
Candidate for Mayor