New York City appeals order to redo secondary-home tax rollout

A New York state judge on Tuesday ordered New York City to cancel previously issued notices for a new tax on secondary homes and restart the rollout, prompting the city to appeal the ruling.

A New York state judge on Tuesday ordered New York City to cancel previously issued notices for a new tax on secondary homes and restart the rollout, prompting the city to appeal the ruling.

The appeal triggered a stay, temporarily putting the judge’s order on hold and allowing the city to continue implementing the surcharge while the case proceeds.

State Supreme Court Justice Wayne Ozzi, sitting in Staten Island, ruled that the city’s Department of Finance had improperly required homeowners to prove that their properties were not subject to the tax instead of first determining which properties qualified.

Ozzi ordered the department to remove a supplemental property roll from its website and issue new individualized notices based on verified information. The ruling affects roughly 17,000 notices sent to homeowners.

Matt Rauschenbach, a spokesman for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, said the city would continue implementing the surcharge “fairly, efficiently and in full compliance with the law” while the appeal is pending.

The annual surcharge applies to certain non-primary residences, including one-, two- and three-family homes valued at more than $5 million and condominiums and co-ops valued at more than $1 million. The city expects the measure to raise about $500 million a year.

The ruling does not invalidate the surcharge itself. It concerns the way the city determined which properties might be subject to it and notified their owners.

The city’s Department of Finance has set Oct. 6 as the deadline for property owners who received notices to submit exemption applications.

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The rollout has faced opposition from property owners and other critics. Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and casino executive Steve Wynn filed a separate lawsuit on Monday challenging the constitutionality of the tax, arguing that it discriminates against people who live outside New York City.

President Donald Trump also criticized the tax in August, calling it a “dangerous political experiment” and saying he was examining whether the federal government could challenge it.