Bloomberg wants the entire tax - which he supported when the city budget was adopted in June - repealed.

"It is difficult for the city to determine primary residence and rental income, and it is difficult to verify whether an owner rents to a mother, father, son or daughter," the mayor wrote in his veto letter to City Clerk Victor Robles.

The tax would add a 25 percent surcharge to the property-tax bill of owners who derive income from one-, two- and three-family homes. Exemptions include landlords who rent to their parents or kids.

Forrest Taylor, chief of staff to Council Speaker Gifford Miller, suggested the mayor concentrate on signing up homeowners for the state STAR tax exemption, which would automatically make them exempt from the absentee-landlord tax.

He said 100,000 eligible city homeowners still haven't taken advantage of the state rebate.

"If the Department of Finance had done a better job of outreach on the STAR program, they would not have had a problem administering the absentee-landlord surcharge," Taylor said.