ALBANY — A Harlem lawmaker wants to change the city’s property tax law to better level the playing field when it comes to buying a home in the Big Apple.
Sen. Brian Benjamin (D-Harlem) is proposing legislation that would make it so that a homebuyer pays property taxes based on the market rate of the house, apartment or condo, not the assessed value.
Under existing law, properties in the five boroughs have a cap on the increase of the assessed value of 6% per year that can only go up to a maximum of 20% over five years. That cap stays with the property upon transfer to a new owner. As a result, people purchasing expensive properties can pay an effective tax rate that is as little as one-sixth of those with more modestly valued homes.
