City Council member floats pied-à-terre tax resolution

Manhattan City Council member Corey Johnson plans to introduce a resolution here in Gotham supporting Albany’s efforts to tax the city’s pieds-à-terre.

Johnson began crafting his measure the same day Senator Brad Hoylman, also representing Manhattan, announced legislation that would levy a tax for nonresidents who own New York City apartments valued at more than $5 million. Should Johnson’s measure pass, it would signal to Albany that New York’s City Council supports measures being pushed at the state level.

“I think that it is sensible and fair to ask folks that have apartments and property in New York City to contribute to the revenue for the city in a meaningful way,” Johnson told Crain’s. “This would only touch the folks who are very wealthy, or have very high-valued property.”

The proposed pied-à-terre tax, first outlined in a Fiscal Policy Institute blog post on Monday, speculated that the city could raise $665 million a year by imposing an annual surcharge of between 0.5 percent and 4 percent on luxury secondary homes in New York.

Several real estate insiders have sounded warning bells about the proposed legislation, which they say would have a negative impact on the market, as The Real Deal previously reported. [Crain’s] — Julie Strickland