From Channel 10 News (ABC):
“ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — On the eve of Tax Day, Democratic state legislators introduced a bill that would shift property taxes to a land value tax. Sponsors say transforming the current system would blunt the effects of the housing crisis statewide.
Land value taxes levy the value of unimproved land itself, rather than buildings or improvements on it. Taxing the value of the land itself is supposed to discourage property owners from speculation—holding onto vacant or underutilized land while waiting for prices to rise, a major factor driving up unaffordability—while encouraging them to develop the property for housing.
State Senator Rachel May proposed S1131A/A3339A alongside Assemblymembers Tony Simone and Alex Bores. They said that the current system lets landowners pay less than they should for the real value of a property. Plus, it puts an arbitrary or potentially damaging limit on a finite, in-demand public resource.”
Read the rest here: https://www.news10.com/news/ny-news/land-value-tax-pilot-program-proposed-to-make-new-york-housing-affordable/
You can also write your NY State senator or assembly member directly. This was my message from the state portal (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S1131/amendment/A) to my senator:
Dear Senator:
Please support bill S1131A – An act to direct the department of taxation and finance to establish a pilot program for implementation of local land value taxation. As the petition to support the bill states:
“Land value tax shifts are one key strategy to achieve these aims. Shifting the tax burden from buildings to land incentivizes development of underutilized parcels, encourages development and investment, and has consistently proven to be an effective strategy in municipalities where it has been implemented successfully.”
LVT has been proven to encourage building – including of critically needed affordable housing – and discourage hoarding and speculating on land, My group, Common Ground NY, a chapter of Common Ground USA, est. 1987, can cite 100s of studies to prove it works, and has worked throughout history everywhere it’s been applied. “This includes NYC in 1920 -1931, exempting new housing construction (but not the land values) from the property tax from 1920 until the end of 1931 when then Governor Al Smith implemented the tax. The finding is that NYC population grew much faster, percentage wise, than that of comparison cities, from 1920 to 1940, and for a while thereafter.” – Mason Gaffney, U. of Southern California paper: https://economics.ucr.edu/papers/papers01/01-01.pdf
Right now, NYC still has idle or near idle land, barely taxed, right nest to heavily taxed buildings, encouraging the former and discouraging the latter – exactly the opposite of what’s needed for a growing, affordable city.
I hope you will co-sponsor this important and potentially major economic shift for the betterment of all New Yorkers. Let me know if you would like more information on the benefits of Land Value Taxation, aka The Single Tax (to replace all others. Unlike other taxes, the LVT does not discourage production, it encourages it!).
Petition – https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfIl9ngQFNHygyGwU-cMrqoXvoWqOEqRn1N2Ma9iDjLo5wpSQ/viewform