The Pied-A-Terre Tax Could Rise From The Dead

The plans for a tax on second homes, which the real estate industry managed to kill off earlier this year, may not be dead just yet.

Manhattan state Sen. Brad Hoylman told The Real Deal the tax is “still of great interest" and is pinning his hopes on a bill being ready by January.

“I hope to have a bill that’s ready for primetime as it were,” Hoylman told the publication. “I’m continuing to carry it.”

Hoylman, who first introduced the idea five years ago, said he is working on “technical aspects” of the bill and is currently seeking “buy in” from the Democratic Party. Manhattan state Sen. Robert Jackson said in a statement that the tax “presents a perfect opportunity to increase funding to public education,” per TRD.

Plans for the tax, which would have put an annual levy on homes worth north of $5M that weren't the owner's primary residence, emerged earlier this year. The proposal reportedly had widespread support in Albany, and its supporters said it would generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the city’s infrastructure. 

But the real estate industry was incensed by the plan, arguing it came from a “soak the rich mentality” and would affect prices and disrupt the development market. In the end, the finalized state budget featured a one-time mansion tax instead.

In June, outgoing Real Estate Board of New York President John Banks told Bisnow he considered killing the proposed bill a major achievement.

“We were successful in pushing back and stopping an incredibly bad piece of public policy,” he said of the bill.