When it comes to tax revenue, New York City has 20.4 billion reasons to thank the real estate industry.

According to trade association Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the city's real estate industry generated about $20.4 billion in taxes in 2016, representing 43 percent of the Big Apple's tax revenue.In a press release, REBNY said that the annual tax revenue rose 24.4 percent since 2013.

“The increasing tax revenue generated by income-producing properties means our industry is playing an even greater role in making New York a thriving place to live, work, and raise a family. Real estate is an enormously powerful economic engine, fueling more good jobs, and funding more vital city services than ever before,” John H. Banks, III, the president of REBNY, said in a statement released by the association Tuesday.

REBNY said the real estate industry has 600,600 workers (an almost 10 percent increase from 2013) who make an average salary of $75,700. The industry was linked to $139.4 billion in total economic output in 2015, approximately a 20.1 percent increase from 2013.

Alfred C. Cerullo, III, president and CEO of the Grand Central Partnership, Inc. and former commissioner of New York City’s Department of Finance, said in a statement that the industry provides $20.4 billion “to fund the daily municipal services that impact the lives of every New Yorker. That’s why it’s imperative that we continue to support the efforts by the industry to modernize and upgrade their assets so that we continue to make our city an attractive environment to live, visit, and conduct business,”

New York Building Congress president and CEO Carlo A. Scissura mentioned that the city is the midst of an unprecedented building boom due to private sector developers and real estate owners throughout the boroughs. “Their investments are creating hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs,” he said in the same statement, “and helping to generate the tax revenues necessary to fund the critical City services that every New Yorker deserves and expects.” 

Meanwhile, REBNY will be holding its 121^st Annual Banquet on January 19 at the New York Hilton in Midtown Manhattan. Seven real estate professionals will be honored, including Carl Weisbrod, chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and director of the New York City Department of City Planning. He will receive the inaugural John E. Zucotti Public Service Award, which “recognizes a New Yorker who has displayed exceptional accomplishments and service in the public's interest.”  

David Chiu is an associate editor at The Cooperator.