Commissioner Lee's testimony: supplemental roll and covered property universe
The testimony details the July 2026 supplemental roll publication, explaining that covered property is broader than properties subject to the surcharge. The supplemental roll does not establish which properties are subject to the tax but provides a basis for challenges.
After adopting these rules, the Department of Finance moved forward with implementing the surcharge and as required by law, published a supplemental role on its website.
Each year, the city publishes real property market values and assessed values for all taxable property through its annual assessment roll.
The purpose of the assessment roll is to provide the public with notice about every property subject to real property taxation throughout the five boroughs.
The assessed and market values associated
with such property and certain information necessary to identify the property and its ownership.
Both the real property tax law and the city charter require the city to publish an assessment roll of taxable property in this manner, and assessment rolls have been required to be published annually
for well over a century.
In accordance with the city charter, Finance publishes the tentative assessment role for the upcoming fiscal year every January, January 15th to be exact.
Upon publication of this tentative assessment role, property owners may challenge certain assessment related matters
including by making a filing with the city's independent tax commission.
On the date the tax commission is required to render final determinations on these challenges, May 25 of each year, Finance releases its final assessment roll.
The city's assessment role is highly accessible to the public and it has been for many years.
Any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect.
For example, this property data has been publicly available as a fully searchable database on both the finance website
and New York City Open Data.
Finances online archives include a
assessment roll data dating back to fiscal year 2009.
Many data elements included on the roll relating to property ownership are culled from land records and have also been available
through the Department of Finance's automated city register information system known to all of us as ACRES.
The city has published assessment rolls and made them available for public examination in various forms for over 100 years.
Before internet accessibility, the city's assessment rolls and land records were made available for review in person at government offices.