Assistant Commissioner, Property Exemptions Administration

Overview

The NYC Department of Finance (DOF) is charged with managing the City's tax revenue laws in a fair, efficient, and transparent manner to foster public trust and compliance, while delivering outstanding service to its customers. The department's Property Valuation and Tax Mapping division values over a million properties across New York City, ensuring equitable assessments to support property tax collection.

The Property Exemptions Administration (PEA) processes and administers various property tax benefits available to a wide range of recipients including commercial, industrial, residential properties, government, nonprofits, renters, homeowners, clergy, seniors, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. PEA is dedicated to making these benefits accessible to all eligible parties.

Role Summary

The Assistant Commissioner will be a visionary public sector leader with deep expertise in real property assessment administration and strong executive management capabilities. This role requires a professional who embodies integrity and fairness in managing exemption programs, leading teams through ongoing development, and driving organizational advancement. The position entails providing strategic leadership and overseeing the lawful, accurate, and equitable delivery of property tax exemption services.

Key Responsibilities

• Advise senior DOF leadership, elected officials, municipal partners, and stakeholders on exemption policies, legislative developments, and modernization efforts.
• Lead and manage all operations, policies, and performance of the PEA unit, ensuring adherence to laws, regulations, and city standards.
• Oversee the citywide real property exemption programs covering application assessment, eligibility determination, and administration.
• Set strategic priorities, operational targets, and performance benchmarks to promote efficient, transparent, and customer-oriented service.
• Supervise and develop professional and administrative personnel handling exemption processing and customer engagement.
• Provide expert advice on complex exemption cases involving statutory interpretation, eligibility, documentation, and appeals processes.
• Ensure consistency in application of policies and procedures across all exemption activities.
• Collaborate with leadership, legal counsel, and governmental partners to support strategic initiatives and resolve complex exemption issues.
• Analyze legislative updates, operational data, audit outcomes, and industry trends to identify risks and suggest program improvements.
• Implement process improvements, technology projects, and workflow enhancements to boost efficiency and accuracy.
• Prepare comprehensive executive reports, presentations, and recommendations for senior officials.
• Represent the department at public meetings, hearings, and professional forums concerning property taxation and exemptions.
• Foster a workplace culture centered on accountability, professionalism, integrity, and public service excellence.

Leadership Duties

• Promote collaboration across Property, Legal Affairs, IT, Customer Service, and external agencies.
• Develop succession plans through mentoring and staff growth initiatives.
• Encourage a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and outstanding public service.
• Ensure ongoing training and effective knowledge transfer to retain institutional expertise.
• Support innovation while maintaining compliance with regulatory and accountability standards.
• Optimize resource management to align with operational and Division priorities.
• Maintain high-quality data to support informed decision-making.

Additional Information

• Employment requires verification of identity and U.S. work eligibility as per federal law.
• The role may offer up to two remote workdays per week under the City's Remote Work Pilot Program with applicable collective bargaining agreements.
• Access to Federal Tax Information (FTI) is necessary and comes with a mandatory background check.
• The salary for this position is $215,793 annually.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree from an accredited institution in fields such as economics, finance, business or public administration, human resource management, management science, operations research, organizational behavior, political science, urban studies, or a closely related discipline plus two years of full-time professional experience including at least eighteen months in an executive, administrative, managerial or supervisory role overseeing professional staff.
• Alternatively, a bachelor’s degree in the above fields with four years of relevant professional experience, including eighteen months in a supervisory or managerial capacity.

Preferred Skills

• Knowledge of property assessment systems and exemption administration platforms.
• Experience collaborating with elected officials, auditors, attorneys, and government stakeholders.
• Ability to balance regulatory compliance with delivering superior customer service.

About Residency and Equal Opportunity

• New York City residency is typically required within 90 days of appointment. Some employees meeting certain criteria may reside in specified nearby counties.
• The City of New York is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity and a workplace free from discrimination on any protected basis.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

This role may qualify for federal loan forgiveness and state repayment assistance programs.