Commissioner Lee's testimony: assessment roll history and publication requirements
The testimony explains the city's long-standing practice of publishing assessment rolls, the requirement to publish a supplemental mid-cycle roll for the surcharge, and that the data has been publicly available for over a century through various systems including ACRIS.
On May 28, 2026, as part of State's 2627 budget legislation,
the state enacted Part HH of Chapter 59 of 2026, which authorized this surcharge on certain high-value New York City residential properties
that are not used as a primary residence.
The law was enacted with support from the mayor and his administration to help close a significant budget gap.
The statutory provisions relating to this surcharge can be found in Article 30-C of the New York State Tax Law and Chapter 32 of Title 11 of the City's Admin Code.
As with all revenue collected by the Department of Finance, these funds keep help the city running.
The revenue DOF collects supports essential services that New Yorkers rely on every day, from educating our children in public schools and maintaining our parks to ensuring our streets are clean and our trash is collected.
The Department of Finance took steps to ensure the surcharge would be implemented through a transparent, consistent, and fair process that is legal.
compliant.
On June 9, 2026, the Department of Finance published proposed rules outlining how the new surcharge would be administered and applied.
As part of the rulemaking process, property owners and other members of the public had an opportunity to submit written feedback
provide testimony, and raise questions or concerns at a public hearing held on July 9, 2026.
The Department of Finance reviewed the feedback that it received through the notice and comment process, made appropriate adjustments to the rule text, and promulgated the final rules necessary to implement the surcharge.
These rules were thereafter adopted on July 14, 2026 and took effect immediately.