FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 20th, 2024 

Contact: Press Office

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE HIGHLIGHTS KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2024

In 2024, DOF Launched New Programs and Initiatives to Better Serve New Yorkers and Provide More Quality Services

New York, N.Y. – Department of Finance (DOF) Commissioner Preston Niblack today spotlighted several of the agency's key achievements in 2024, showcasing its efforts to enhance services and better meet the needs of New Yorkers. 

“As we enter 2025, the Department of Finance remains deeply committed to improving the lives of New Yorkers by delivering exceptional customer service and ensuring equitable access to vital resources and services,” said Department of Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack. “Whether supporting homeowners, tax professionals, small business owners, or low-income households in need of rent assistance, our mission is to help create a more affordable and navigable city for everyone. In the year ahead, we will continue prioritizing advancements in technology, streamlining our processes, and enhancing transparency to make every interaction with DOF efficient, accessible, and user-friendly.”  

“From day one, our administration has focused on creating a safer, more affordable New York City. In 2024, we continued to deliver on that vision and ‘Get Stuff Done’ for working-class New Yorkers,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “Thanks to our extraordinary public servants, America’s safest big city got even safer this year, with overall crime down and thousands of illegal guns, mopeds, and ghost cars taken off city streets. We passed historic legislation to turn New York into a ‘City of Yes,’ shattered affordable housing records once again, and put billions of dollars back into New Yorkers’ pockets. We broke records for the most jobs and small businesses in city history and moved millions of trash bags off our sidewalks and into containers. But we know that there is even more we can do to continue to uplift working-class families. As we look to the future, our administration remains committed to keeping New Yorkers safe and making our city more affordable for the millions of New Yorkers who call our city home.”

In 2024, DOF has: 

•  Delivered tax exemption and abatement programs benefitting 443,000 New Yorkers, resulting in approximately $1 billion in tax relief for both homeowners and tenants. The Department of Finance provides valuable benefits to seniors, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and , helping to create a more affordable city by reducing their property tax bills or protecting them from rent increases through the Rent Freeze Program. 
•  Held Illegal Smoke Shops Accountable: Through the ‘Operation Padlock to Protect’ initiative, the NYC Sheriff’s Office Joint Compliance Task Force have sealed over 1,290 illegal smoke shops and seized over $86 million in illegal products. This is a major example of the significant results the city is achieving in improving New Yorkers’ quality of life and builds on the gains made in keeping communities safe. 
• Made historic reforms to Property Tax Enforcement and Debt Resolution to help more New Yorkers resolve their debt and avoid facing enforcement action, thereby protecting their ability to remain in their homes. In partnership with the Mayor’s Office, Law Department, HPD and DEP, DOF successfully worked with the City Council to renew authority to sell liens on property tax and related debts, adding stronger protections for vulnerable homeowners. These include a new “Easy Exit” option to give homeowners more time to address their debt, a new “circuit breaker” tax deferral option, higher income cap for certain payment plans, new voluntary foreclosure option to allow homeowners who cannot resolve their debt to stay in their homes, and a record setting $2 million for annual outreach to reach at-risk homeowners and impacted tenants.
•  Made it easier for customers to apply for benefits and check the status of their benefits online through DOF’s new Application Status Lookup tool, while simultaneously simplifying paper application forms. 
• Modernized DOF’s business tax and collections system to make it easier for people to pay what they owe and get help when they need it. Customers can now enroll in payment plans for ECB and parking violations debt online, as well as sign up for automatic payment deductions. DOF has also introduced voice-bot technology to streamline calls to our Collections Division and provide better, faster customer service.  
• Redesigned the DOF website, which is one of the most visited municipal websites in the country, to make it easier and more convenient for the public to get the information they need and conduct their business on desktop and mobile devices. 
• Held Tax Representatives and Practitioners Program (TaxRAPP), DOF’s annual event to enhance communication with the tax professional community and provide important updates from the agency.  

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