Judge orders New York City to restart secondary-home tax rollout

A Staten Island judge has ordered New York City officials to restart the rollout of a secondary-home tax, citing confusion and dismay caused by the city's initial attempts to collect the new surcharge. The ruling, which sided with homeowners who had sued the city, comes just a week before the Oct. 6 deadline for homeowners who were told they owed the tax to prove they should not be subject to the initiative.

The judge ordered the department of finance to remove a supplemental roll of over 900,000 properties from its website, cancel the 17,000 mailings informing homeowners they owed the tax, and use the most recent tax and other information to determine who is required to pay the tax and issue new, individualized notices. The new tax is expected to generate $500 million annually for the city, but critics argue it unfairly penalizes homeowners who must prove their properties are their primary residences.

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