Will New York’s fast evolving COVID rules cause more harsh tax hikes? Or could they provide some tax relief? How might your property taxes be impacted by all of this? What can you do to minimize your bills?
New York’s Tough New COVID Regulations
NY’s broad array of harsh new vaccination rules are now here. If businesses want to stay in business, they have to vaccinate employees. We now cannot eat out, go to the gym to stay healthy, or enjoy any entertainment activities without the vaccine pass.
Expectations are that this will become even tougher as the number of fully vaccinated in the US appears to have hit a ceiling of around 50% of the population.
It’s not unlikely that vaccine passes will be required for public transport, domestic travel between states, and much more soon.
Vaccination & Housing
Access to housing based on vaccination status has already become an issue. Even in very anti COVID rules, Florida, at least one large landlord is evicting tenants who are not vaccinated. If they can do that in Florida, you can bet it could easily become the new normal in NY too.
Renting may no longer be an option for the unvaccinated. Even owning a home, especially any investment property may be restricted by vaccine status in the future too. We’ve already seen it in student housing too.
At a minimum we could see that new taxes could be put in place to tax out the unvaccinated and try to tax them into submission.
A surcharge on real estate and annual property taxes may be an obvious way to do that. There could be plenty of reasons used to back that up, from a public health crisis to additional costs for government agencies.
What If People Just Choose To Leave?
Not everyone may want to pay more in property taxes. They may not be willing to pay that premium or get vaccinated. It’s already not much fun living in NY if you aren’t. That feeling will grow with colder weather.
As much as 40% of Manhattan already left during early COVID restrictions. Others tried moving in over the past year as landlords offered deep discounts. Now that they are raising the rent by 70% or more, and may require vaccines, even more could leave.
Another big spike in taxes, or a vaccine ultimatum to be able to live here, could fuel that exodus. That would in turn likely tank property prices and values. Which should bring down your tax assessment and annual property tax bill. Though of course you’ll have to file an appeal to get it.
Summary
Vaccination and new COVID rules could lead to even higher taxes. It’s smart to reduce your tax basis now, and enjoy more savings right away. Then, stay alert to fluctuating property values to be sure you aren’t overpaying as the market comes down.