What the surcharge notice actually says

What arrived, and why

The surcharge reaches tax class 2 condominium and cooperative units the Department of Finance values at $1 million or more, and one- to three-family homes over $5 million, when the city does not have a qualifying primary resident on record. The notice carries a unique security code used to respond through the official portal at nyc.gov/npsurcharge.

The dollar figures on the notice follow the published Phase One rate ladder, applied to the entire market value once the threshold is crossed. One anonymous notice illustrates it: a market value of $5,268,000 against an annual surcharge of $42,144.00, which is 0.8% of that value to the cent.

What the notice does not mean

A notice is not a finding that you owe. It means the city's records show no qualifying primary resident for the unit. If any one of the five relationships on the notice is true for your property, the property is exempt once the Department of Finance has the documentation. The full list, with the paths for LLC-owned and tenant-occupied units, is on who is exempt.

The dates that govern

The date printed on your own notice is the one that governs, so check it against the table. The procedure itself, the security code, the documents, and the appeal path if the answer comes back wrong, is walked through on how to respond.

Check the city's number first

Start with the number the city is using: see what the Department of Finance says your property is worth, free and without signing in. If the record already shows a primary resident relationship, the response is about documenting it; if the value itself looks wrong, that is a different path with its own deadline.