Council considers killing the tax-collection machine Rudy Giuliani built
This story was originally published on Oct. 22 by THE CITY. Sign up here to get the latest stories from THE CITY delivered to you each morning.
New York’s pandemic pause on a program that sells unpaid city property debts to investors has community advocates calling to scrap the Giuliani-era approach altogether.
The annual tax lien sales by the Department of Finance, transferring outstanding property, water and other municipal taxes to a private trust, are harming strapped property owners and tenants while yielding only modest returns to city coffers, critics say.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have delayed a scheduled sale of this year’s pool of unpaid debts four times — providing taxpayers relief in an economic crisis.