Why Does Mayor de Blasio Get a Property Tax Discount?
We got out tax assessment today. In 2015, I wrote to Mayor de Blasio to discuss the discrepancy between our property tax and his.
First I got a form letter from his staffer.
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Then I got this after I asked for an explanation. There’s more info about this here.
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Then I spoke to the staffer on the phone, who promised me that Mayor de Blasio was committed to fixing the broken tax system.
I made this back in 2015:
It’s 2019 and my new tax is now over $9000. Bill de Blasio’s property tax is just over $4000. Mayor de Blasio actually owns two homes in Park Slope and the both together cost less in property tax than one regular-sized Bay Ridge home.
You would think that we were living in a “McMansion” with property taxes that high, but we have a regular house. Mayor de Blasio said: “Wealth is in the wrong hands.” (See here) Yes, it is – his!
Other politicians are not REALLY interested in fixing the broken tax system. Councilman Brannan has been in office for a year and I don’t think he can do anything because of City Council Speaker, Corey Johnson. Eight months ago, a new property tax commission was formed by Corey Johnson and Mayor de Blasio but they still have no answers. Who has a job for eight months with no solutions to a problem? For awhile, Johnson had them holding hearings to hear people’s concerns. Why can’t Corey Johnson look at the data and have the people working in the finance department rework the numbers according to market value? Brannan wrote an article in October about his support for the advisory committee (see here), but at some point someone needs to realize that isn’t working.
Why isn’t anyone doing anything? Because it doesn’t affect most of the elected representatives. They figure residents aren’t looking closely and they can keep putting it off as other pols before them have. (I wrote to past Speaker Melissa Mark-Vivierto and she pushed my letter off on Vinnie Gentile’s office).
Please don’t say, “If Nicole Malliotakis was mayor, this won’t happen.” Assemblywoman Malliotakis did not submit a property tax bill as she promised she would while she was campaigning – see here.
Cuomo wants to give a 2% property tax cap for the state of NY…..except for NYC. If any state senators from NYC vote for that, we will know they are in Cuomo’s pocket and not fighting for residents in NYC.
What about Senator Gounardes? I was going to wait awhile before I asked him. But two Fridays ago, he started to ask for problems in the district. He’s on social media while I’m at work and his day is over by the tine I get home and I had time to tweet (see here), so he didn’t respond to me because I was too late. The following Friday he did the same thing and took questions again from people who are available during the early hours of the day (when most people are working). Strangely, he received over 100 responses, but no one tweeted about property taxes.
It’s insane that there are politicians in office in NYC for years who are okay with a two-tiered tax system. Bill de Blasio his wife, Chirlane McCray and their Park Slope neighbors have been receiving a tax break for years. Mayor de Blasio is unwilling to fix the broken tax system because he benefits from it.
Please don’t tell me deBlasio wants to run for President. I’m so tired of politicians who think laws/taxes/whatever are for everyone else, but them.
Overtaxed in Bay Ridge
Hugs,
marlene
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