The discourse surrounding New York City’s property tax has largely concentrated on the mayor’s proposed 9.5% hike in tax rates. Yet, by focusing solely on these rates, we risk overlooking the broader policy choice at play: the total revenue the city opts to generate through its property tax levy.

Tax rates don’t operate in isolation; they result from two main factors: assessed property values and the total levy determined by city officials. Altering the levy inherently affects the rates. When the rate is treated as the primary policy, the significance of the levy vanishes.

The city’s financial forecast anticipates around a $5.6 billion surge in property tax collections for the fiscal year 2027, potentially marking the largest dollar rise in years. While some of this is due to increasing property assessments reflecting market trends, a significant amount is a conscious decision to boost revenue. These are deliberate policy choices and shouldn’t be mistaken as mere repercussions of market dynamics.

This differentiation is crucial because New York’s Constitution imposes restrictions on the amount of property tax that can be raised for operational expenses. While these limits do not pertain to debt service—treated separately to safeguard bondholders and ensure fiscal responsibility—operational levies fall under a framework designed to promote transparency and accountability.

Historically, the city has adhered to these constitutional limits by excluding certain abatements from the operating levy, a practice rooted in a crisis-era attorney general’s opinion concerning reserves for uncollectible taxes linked to debt service. As the city considers a major tax increase, it might be time to reassess whether this interpretation remains valid.

This is not a call for legal challenges or a stance against revenue increases. Cities must adapt to economic shifts and changing priorities. However, when billions in additional taxes are involved, New Yorkers deserve a transparent account of the city’s proximity to constitutional limits and the methods behind these calculations.

This is ultimately about transparency and institutional responsibility. Each year New York City makes an affirmative decision about how much property tax revenue to raise. Yet when tax bills rise, property owners are often told that assessments — not policy choices — are to blame. Assessment growth can influence how taxes are distributed, but elected officials determine the size of the levy. Clearer disclosure would ensure that accountability rests where the Constitution places it: with policymakers.

Assessment growth is often treated as though it automatically produces higher taxes. In reality, policymakers decide whether revenue rises faster than assessments, slower than assessments, or not at all. Other jurisdictions address this through “truth-in-taxation” practices or levy caps that require explicit acknowledgment when revenue increases exceed certain thresholds.

New York City is not subject to the state’s 2% levy cap, but the underlying principle still applies: voters should be able to see clearly when government chooses to raise more through the property tax.

None of this diminishes the need to address longstanding inequities in New York City’s property tax system. In fact, transparency about levy decisions is essential to building public trust in broader reform efforts.

Transparency does not dictate outcomes. It simply ensures that when government raises billions more in taxes, it does so in full view of the public it serves.

Stark was New York City’s Finance Commissioner from 2002–2009 and is policy director for Tax Equity Now New York and a professor at NYU’s Wagner School.