REMARKS
Council Member Restler highlights impact of high property taxes on moderate-income residents
3:43:02
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61 sec
Council Member Lincoln Restler emphasizes the severe impact of rising property taxes on moderate-income coop and condo owners in his district. He calls for a more equitable approach to assessments for these properties.
- Restler focuses on moderate-income buildings without luxury amenities that are being compared to high-end rentals for tax purposes.
- He describes how longtime residents are being forced out of their homes due to rising maintenance costs driven by increased property taxes.
- Restler urges the Department of Finance to take a more equity-oriented approach to help low and moderate-income coop and condo owners remain in their homes.
Lincoln Restler
3:43:02
And, look, I'm not here advocating for the people who own the $6,000,000 brownstones or whatever it is in my district.
3:43:10
That's not what I'm focused on at all.
3:43:11
I'm focused on the moderate income co ops and condos and the people who are being forced out of the community.
3:43:15
These are not the buildings with amenities.
3:43:16
These are the buildings that had to take the pool out.
3:43:18
You know, the Saint George doesn't have the pool.
3:43:20
Right?
3:43:20
The Saint George, you know, was a luxury hotel back many, many decades ago.
3:43:24
It it this is a building of low income people, moderate income people.
3:43:27
There's no fancy amenities in this building.
3:43:29
Same is true at 75 Henry.
3:43:31
Same is true at every condo in South Williamsburg.
3:43:33
And yet when we look up the comparables that they're compared against, it's the luxury rentals.
3:43:37
It's the stuff that 2 trees and others are renting out for gobs and gobs and gobs of money, and it's totally unfair.
3:43:44
And so I just I get that you published the comps, but what can we do to actually make the algorithm fairer?
3:43:49
That's not something that we need state law on.
3:43:52
That's something that we need the Department of Finance to actually sharpen their pens and say we're gonna take an equity oriented approach to help low and moderate income co op and condo owners be able to continue to live in their homes because their property taxes are unfairly going up.
