NYC Officials Preparing Overhaul of ‘Arcane’ Property Tax System

New York City finance officials are hammering out a proposal to reform the city’s property tax structure—a major step to reconfigure a complicated system that lawmakers have long acknowledged is inequitable, but has eluded wholesale change.

City Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack said Tuesday that the finance department has begun work on what will become a “major legislative drafting” effort and plans to reach out to elected officials and stakeholders in the coming months to review the proposal with them. Any change to the property tax system must be approved by state lawmakers.

“Reforming such a complex system will not ...