That was Ruth W. Messinger, the Manhattan borough president in 1990, voicing a concern then that was shared by many elected officials in the city. David N. Dinkins was the mayor, and top officials in his administration said property tax reform was a high priority.

But little, if anything, happened.

Now, there is a new effort to revamp the city’s property tax code.

Currently, people who own multimillion-dollar brownstones in Brooklyn and high-rise co-ops by Central Park often pay less in taxes than working-class homeowners in the South Bronx, relative to the value of their properties.

Under the new plan, that could change. The new system would raise the same amount of tax revenue for the city, but it would redistribute who paid what.