Re: Mansion Tax in NYC?
2 views
Skip to first unread message
Scott Baker
Sep 23, 2014, 11:41:30 AM9/23/14
to Billy Fitzgerald, Allen Smith, Ron Rubin, Anthony Persaud, Brett Barndt, Andy Mazzone, Marty Rowland, Edward Dodson, Sue Peters, Donal Butterfield, Kim Baxter, Char Lemur, Chuck Mensh, Rita Rowan, Common Ground NYC, Marcial Cordon, Marcello Ritondo, Drame Ibrahima
Thanks for finding this, Billy. This is a good pre-bill (it doesn't have a number yet), though it excludes a tax on vacant lots (land).
I called Senator Hoylman's office, then followed
up with an email, expressing Common Ground's support (I believe that is not too big an assumption, but I have CCed the group here to let them know). I requested that Senator Hoylman's office let us know when there is a bill number and then I will ask our group to support it with a petition and possibly a memorandum of support, as we did for Assembly Member Dan Quart's recent bill to tax high end properties like these at comparable rates to their value. I'll let you know when I hear back, and followup if I don't.
In the meantime, people on this list might consider writing or calling the Senator to support this bill (or pre-bill). It addresses, exactly, one of the egregious loopholes on 5 singled out properties that receive 94% tax abatements, that I brought out at my 3 recent presentations on property development at the school: Case Studies in New York City Property Development, and also A/M Quart's concerns, and A/M Rosenthal's (upper west side), who recently complained about these tax giveaways.
It's not truly Georgist, but with so much tax going unpaid on these properties, there are many ways to collect this privatized rent, and this is a good one. It deserves our support.
Scott Baker - President: Common Ground - NYC; NY State Coordinator, Public Banking Institute; Opednews Blogger/Senior Editor; Huffington Post Blogger; Author
Godfrey Dunkley
Sep 23, 2014, 10:37:38 PM9/23/14
to common-g...@googlegroups.com, Billy Fitzgerald, Allen Smith, Ron Rubin, Anthony Persaud, Brett Barndt, Andy Mazzone, Marty Rowland, Edward Dodson, Sue Peters, Donal Butterfield, Kim Baxter, Char Lemur, Chuck Mensh, Rita Rowan, Common Ground NYC, Marcial Cordon, Marcello Ritondo, Drame Ibrahima
Greetings All,
We know that tax systems around the world are crazy. We
need to gain a better knowledge of details so that we can be mutually
co-operative.
Dear Scott,
Would you be kind enough to give us details of what the
present situation is and what changes need to be made. Then we may be able
collectively to help you find the best way to achieve the required
results.
Many of us do not live in NY or even in USA and may not follow
your terminology; for instance, pied-à-terre
tax bill. We also do not know details of your local NY tax
abatements.
Keep up the good work.
Regards,
Godfrey Dunkley
|
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. |
Scott Baker
Sep 24, 2014, 6:27:28 AM9/24/14
to Billy Fitzgerald, Allen Smith, Ron Rubin, Anthony Persaud, Brett Barndt, Andy Mazzone, Marty Rowland, Edward Dodson, Sue Peters, Donal Butterfield, Kim Baxter, Char Lemur, Chuck Mensh, Rita Rowan, Common Ground NYC, Marcial Cordon, Marcello Ritondo, Drame Ibrahima
An article about Garodnick's work with the RE board and his rezoning efforts.
I, or Rita and I, have met with my councilman Garodnick at least 3X. He has heard our pitch for LVT, but felt that it was too big an "ask" and pointed out that transfer fees collect some money for the city when properties were sold. Of course, said I, but that's a one-shot and not nearly enough. He did co-sponsor the vacant land tax bills that were tabled in 2011, and might do that limited kind of support, if it came up again, but
again, we need a larger, more powerful constituency. A few hundred signatures on CGNYC's petition to bring back the tabled legislation, which I hand delivered to him at least twice, is not going to be enough.
On Tuesday, September 23, 2014 12:22 PM, Billy Fitzgerald <billyfi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Once there are more details we'll run a seminar.
Picking up on this stuff works well, as there is publicity out there already.
The predatory equity seminar (to be run again tomorrow night), picks up Dan Gardonick's work on that topic.
Well done, Scott.
Billy
Scott Baker
Oct 12, 2014, 1:00:41 PM10/12/14
to Billy Fitzgerald, Allen Smith, Ron Rubin, Anthony Persaud, Brett Barndt, Andy Mazzone, Marty Rowland, Edward Dodson, Donal Butterfield, Kim Baxter, Char Lemur, Chuck Mensh, Rita Rowan, Common Ground NYC, Marcial Cordon, Marcello Ritondo, Drame Ibrahima
Hello Common Groundlings (and friends):
Following up on the pied-a-terre tax, comes more support for it from
Crain's:
Property taxes are virtually a scandal. The system provides enormous
tax breaks for homes, condos and co-ops, as the Independent Budget
Office has repeatedly shown, while burdening most rental units with much
higher levels. One frequently quoted statistic is that property taxes
in Manhattan amount to less than 1% of a home’s value, which is in the
bottom third of all counties in the nation, according to the Tax
Foundation.
On top of that, the 421-a tax-abatement program has cut the bills
even further. In the case of the infamous billionaires' skyscraper
One57, a very dubious special piece of legislation sets the initial tax
for a $115 million unit at $18,000. Even when the break expires, the tax
might be only $300,000—or two-tenths of 1% (0.2%) of the value. (this is interesting...the last I heard, the most expensive penthouse was "just" $95m, now it is $115m already?! In any case, the absurdly low monthly tax of $1,500 seems to have stayed about the same.)
Remember, renters are generally less well off than people who own
their homes. And the 421-a tax break is more valuable the more expensive
a home is.
One doesn’t have to be an inequality fanatic to decide something is amiss here.
I'm glad to see this is getting more attention finally. Perhaps Common Ground's agitation helped in some small way - my 3 presentations at the HGS have 1300 views on Opednews and the slideshows have over 2600 views on slideshare too, plus followup emails and correspondence with the local Electeds may have helped. Some of you may have gotten their attention too.
I talked about One57 and Georgist reform in general on last night's show on Awake Radio, which you can hear in podcast form here:
And following up on One57 just a little bit more, a new article in Crain's says that the developers are having trouble finding tenants for the 92-unit building (only 92 units? In a building over 1,000 feet tall?!). Midtown condo tower needs billionaires. Sweet justice...
Perhaps if they lowered the price of these apartments they would sell? Perhaps if they returned more Land Rent to the community that provided the locational value, the public and even the politicians wouldn't be so eager to change that 94% tax deduction (surely, the fear of this must weigh on the minds of the savvy buyers of these
ultra-lux condos!)?
More Outreach
I was happy to be interviewed by Cat Waters on Awake Radio.
We talked about Public Banking, including the Bank of North Dakota, the possibilities of setting up a PB here in New York. We also talked about Sovereign Money, Georgism and other fundamental reforms to set our economy up in a sustainable way!
OpEdNews Diary: Interview on Awake Radio about Public Banking Sovereign Money, Georgism
More news to come soon, including a new interview and more. Stay tuned...
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages