Brewer addresses notification letters and burden of proof on homeowners
Brewer notes that 17,000 property owners received notices, many of whom are primary residents. She criticizes the burden being on homeowners to prove residency rather than the city verifying existing records like the co-op and condo abatement.
Finance ultimately only sent notifications to around 17,000 property owners, notifying them that they would be subject to the tax.
That number is still larger than most estimates.
My office and other council members, we have received calls from constituents who received these letters.
Even though
The property listed is their primary residence and has been for many years.
Homeowners who believe that they received the letters in error initially had only a short window to contest the surcharge.
Although the deadline was ultimately extended by four weeks, this still puts a burden on property owners, which upset people tremendously.
They have to prove, not the city, that the property in question is their primary residence.
Rather than, as I said, the onus being on the city to ensure that only properties being used as the pied-à-terre are subject to the tax.
The city already has plenty of records showing which taxpayers are city residents.
For example, the co-op and condo abatement already requires that property owners submit documentation
showing that the units are owner-occupied, so DOF should already know that these units are not peer-to-peers.
DOF should have used the information they already had before publishing people's names and addresses and requiring them to affirmatively prove again
that they reside in the city.