Authorizes the commissioner of finance of the city of New York to establish a property tax amnesty program

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why the sponsor says this is needed

The pandemic has been difficult and many homeowners and businesses have fallen behind on their property taxes. According to the annual report on Property taxes in New York Cityl, the city's property tax delinquency rate went from 1.69% in FY2019 up to 2.36% in FY2021. The increase in the amount of people not paying their property taxes creates two signif- icant problems: the City's tax revenue suffers, while property owners are hit with enormous interest on their unpaid taxes, which then makes it even harder to pay. This program mirrors a similar program recently instituted by New York City and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), where inter- est on overdue water bills would be forgiven if customers settle their outstanding balance 2. With the future of NYC's lien sale program in doubt, this program would provide an excellent mechanism to bring in a significant amount of tax revenue to New York City, while helping property owners who have strug- gled to pay their property taxes. This program will allow individuals and businesses an opportunity to get back on track with their tax payments and not fear losing their home or business due to back taxes. 1: https://www.nyc.gov/assets/finance/downloads /pdf/reports/reports-property-tax/nyc_property_fy22.pdf 2: https:www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor /news/077-23/mayor-adams-helps-new- yorkers-save-up-150-million-over- due-water-bills

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.