New York judge orders city to scrap Mamdani’s rollout of tax on second homes

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/File

The rollout of New York City’s pied-à-terre tax was dealt a major setback Tuesday after a Staten Island judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.

The tax, which places a surcharge on non-primary residences in New York City valued over $5 million, as well as co-ops valued at $1 million or more, was rolled out as part of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s 2027 fiscal year budget in an attempt to close the city’s budget gap. Gov. Kathy Hochul had backed the idea.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit did not challenge the legality of the tax itself, but rather the rollout. Three petitioners alleged “the City incorrectly identified their homes as potentially subject to the surcharge despite those properties serving as their primary residences,” according to release from the law firm representing the plaintiffs.

The city’s Department of Finance website posted a tax roll in July that included names and addresses of over 900,000 New York City homeowners, even if they were not subject to the tax.

Judge Wayne M. Ozzi of Richmond County ruled the roll must be removed from the website, but can be replaced with a secondary roll “reflecting those properties actually subject to the surcharge.”

Approximately 17,000 notices were also mailed to residents at the start of the process, which notified them that they would need to file for exemption or be subject to the tax.

Those previously mailed notices must be canceled as well, Ozzi ruled. New mail notices can be mailed in compliance with a list of rules, including that they can only be mailed only after “individualized initial determination utilizing any and all resources and information available to DOF.”

“We’re gratified that the court has recognized we were right all along. The fact is that this administration failed to follow state law when it burdened New York City homeowners with proving they live in their own homes or be on the hook for paying a new surcharge,” Randy Mastro, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement following Tuesday’s ruling.

“Now the administration must go back and do what it should have done from the start: use all the information at its disposal to make an individualized ‘initial determination’ about who truly owes this surcharge before demanding that they pay it.”

CNN has reached out to New York City officials for comment.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/文件

周二，纽约市的“第二居所税”推行遭遇重大挫折，史坦顿岛的一名法官裁定原告胜诉。

这项税收对纽约市价值超过500万美元的非主要住宅以及价值100万美元或以上的合作公寓征收附加费，是市长佐兰·马姆达尼2027财年预算的一部分，旨在弥补纽约市的预算缺口。州长凯西·霍楚尔曾支持这项提案。

诉讼中的原告并未质疑税收本身的合法性，而是质疑其推行方式。代表原告的律师事务所发布的新闻稿称，三名请愿者声称“尽管他们的房产是其主要住所，但市政府错误地将其列为可能需要缴纳附加费的房产”。

纽约市财政局网站在 7 月份公布了一份税务名册，其中包括超过 90 万纽约市房主的姓名和地址，即使他们无需缴纳该税。

里士满县法官韦恩·M·奥齐裁定，必须从网站上删除该名册，但可以用一个辅助名册代替，“该辅助名册反映了实际需要缴纳附加费的房产”。

在流程开始时，还向居民邮寄了约 17,000 份通知，告知他们需要申请豁免，否则将需要缴纳税款。

奥兹法官裁定，之前邮寄的通知也必须取消。新的邮件通知可以按照一系列规则邮寄，其中包括只能在“利用财政部可获得的任何和所有资源和信息进行个别初步评估”之后才能邮寄。

“我们欣慰地看到法院承认我们一直都是对的。事实是，本届政府没有遵守州法律，它要求纽约市房主证明自己居住在自己的房屋中，否则就要承担新的附加费，”代表原告的律师兰迪·马斯特罗在周二的裁决后发表声明说。

“现在，政府必须回到正轨，做它一开始就应该做的事情：利用所有掌握的信息，对谁真正应该缴纳这笔附加费进行个别‘初步认定’，然后再要求他们支付。”

CNN已联系纽约市政府官员寻求置评。

这是一则正在更新的新闻。