Metro

De Blasio vows property tax reform — if he’s re-elected

Mayor de Blasio admitted Friday that the city’s property tax system is unfair — but made clear he’s in no hurry to change it.

Hizzoner said on WNYC radio that he’ll tackle the complicated overhaul of an “arcane” property tax system, but only if he’s re-elected to a second term.

“I’ve said very clearly, this administration has moved a host of initiatives, and now it’s time for us to focus on this very big complicated issue of property tax,” he said during his weekly radio appearance.

“And if the people continue me in office in November, we’re going to put together a process to reform our property tax system. It will be a very complicated process, it will probably take several years, but it will result in laws I will propose at both the city and state level to create more fairness and consistency in the property tax system and much more transparency.”

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the mayor has been saying essentially the same thing since he first appointed Finance Commissioner Jacques Jihas in April 2014 with a commitment to review the issue.

“This is a big, sprawling area of concern and we’re going to look at it very closely. Part of why we wanted a finance commissioner with Jacques’ experience and insight is to take a whole look at the tax system of this city and look at ways to make it clearer, more transparent and more equitable,” he said at the time.

“Some of that we can achieve locally. Some of that can only be achieved with Albany’s help. But first we have to come to an analysis of what is going on and what’s a better way to approach it.”

Three months later, Hizzoner again acknowledged the inequities in the property tax system — which had him paying just $7,098 in taxes last year on two homes that together were valued at more than $3 million.

“It has to be addressed, but this is going to take quite a while to unpack and make sense of,” he said on July 28, 2014.

When he was finally questioned by a reporter about the timing of that effort in mid-2016, de Blasio again committed to it, but without a timeline.

“I have been very clear we’re going to, but it is going to be a very big endeavor,” he told reporters on July 17, 2016. “We just have not been able to put it together yet, but we will.”

It wasn’t until earlier this year that the mayor first acknowledged he had no intention of tackling the issue during his first term.

He told WNYC radio in May that, “If my employment contract is renewed and I’m back, I’ve said we’re going to take a very public look at property tax and some of the inconsistencies there.”