Two bills have been passed by New York City Council and signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio, which allow property owners to defer the payment of real estate taxes due during the pandemic. The bills provide certain property owners the ability to defer real property tax bills at a lower interest rate for certain commercial properties and without interest for certain residential properties whose owners were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 

Residential Property Owners

One such bill defers tax liability until September 30, 2020, with no interest charges for the July 1, 2020, real property tax bill for primary residence owners of real property, who have been primary residents of said property for at least one (1) year, if such property has an assessed value of $250,000 or less and the combined annual income of the property owners of said property for the 2019 year is less than $150,000.
 

Commercial Property Owners

The other bill allows certain commercial property owners to defer the July 1, 2020, real property taxes until October 15, 2020, at a 7.5% interest rate. In order for commercial property owners to be eligible for the deferred payment, they must be either (1) classified as class 4 [class 4 property is generally all commercial and industrial properties, such as office, retail, factory buildings, and other properties not included under classes 1, 2 and 3 (class 1 property includes but is not limited to 1, 2 or 3 family residences, class 2 property is a residential property not defined under class 1 and class 3 property is utility property)] with an assessed value of more than $250,000 and less than $750,000; or (2) have an assessed value over $250,000 (i) where at least 50 percent of the property is used for residential rental dwellings; and (ii) which contains no more than 30 rental dwelling units of which at least 50% are rent regulated accommodations.
 
To take advantage of either of these real estate property tax deferrals, the property owner must submit documentation to the commissioner of finance demonstrating that such owner has been adversely affected by the pandemic, by no later than September 30, 2020.
 

Other Considered Real Estate Property Tax Benefits

New York City also has the option to extend the deadlines to file for a real property tax exemption or abatement until July 15, 2020, pursuant to a New York State bill that passed on June 8, 2020. New York City Council has not yet introduced any bills that would allow this extension.

While these City Council bills were signed into law recently, they are deemed to have taken effect as of June 25, 2020. If you believe that you or one of your properties may benefit from these bills and have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, LLP.