Treyger Pushes For $500 Property Tax Rebates

Concerned by rapidly increasing property taxes for middle-class New Yorkers, the City Council is pushing a bill that would offer a property tax rebate of $500 for qualifying homeowners.

A similar law was passed in 2004 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but it was cut in 2007 due to the economic recession. Now that the city is rumored to be less cash strapped, Councilman Mark Treyger and Councilman James Vacca reintroduced the rebate last week, saying it would grant middle class homeowners much needed relief.

“We need to have a very serious discussion about a middle class agenda in New York City,” said Treyger. “This has become the forgotten class… These people are the working class of New York, where their wages stagnate, but where the cost of living in New York City skyrocketed.”

To be eligible, homeowners would have to own a one-, two-, or three-family home, coop, or condominium that is used as their primary residence, and they cannot owe more than $25 in back property taxes.

When the bill was first passed by the Bloomberg administration, its stated purpose was to offset an 18.5 percent rise in property taxes that was creating a burden for small property owners. Since 2007, property tax rates on one- to three-family homes have similarly ballooned by an additional 18.6 percent, primarily due to annual property assessments that automatically trigger the increase, said Treyger. Condo and coop property tax rates have risen by .9 percent.

Property tax increases also drive up local rents, making it a wide-reaching issue for New York’s middle class families, according to Treyger.

“We need to have a broad robust middle class agenda,” the councilman said. “And this need to be a part of it.”

Since the tax-related laws require state approval, Treyger and Vacca are calling on Albany to approve the bill. They expect to have large support from City Council.