As New York City officials fight to control the coronavirus by this summer, it is becoming clear that the economic fallout will last far longer: The city’s property tax revenues are projected to decline by $2.5 billion next year, the largest such drop in at least three decades.

The anticipated shortfall, which Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday, is largely driven by a sharp decline in the value of office buildings and hotel properties, which have all but emptied out since the pandemic began.

City Hall officials said that the market value of the tax class that includes hotel, retail and office properties has fallen by 15.8 percent, putting the city’s budget in a precarious position for the foreseeable future: Roughly half of the city’s tax revenue comes from real estate.

For now, the city will …continued .
[Source: New York Times]