(The Center Square) – New York City Mayor Eric Adams wants to reduce or eliminate income taxes for the city’s lowest income earners with a new proposal that comes as he fights federal charges and gears up for reelection next year.
The Democrat’s “Axe The Tax For The Working Class” plan calls for eliminating New York City’s personal income tax for filers with dependents living at or below 150% of the federal poverty line and also gradually phasing out the tax for filers within $5,000 of that threshold.
Adams said the $63 million plan would eliminate the tax for more than 429,000 New Yorkers, and reduce it for more than 150,000 other households. According to the 2020 census, the city is home to 8.8 million.
“People are struggling from everything from child care to buying groceries to buying school supplies,” Adams said. “So many areas, the struggle continues. We can’t bring down the cost of bread, but we can give you some bread so that you can pay for the bills and necessities that you have.”
The maximum annual family income at 150% of the federal poverty level is $31,503 for one adult and one child; $36,824 for one adult and two children; $36,789 for two adults and one child; and $46,350 for two adults and two children, according to the Adams administration.
Adams said he will push for the proposal, which requires approval from the Legislature, to be included in the fiscal year 2026 state budget. If passed, it would go into effect ahead of the 2025 tax filing season, he said.
He said state Sen. Leroy Comrie and New York Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, both Democrats, will sponsor his proposal in the legislative session that gets underway in January.
“We look forward to working with Albany over the next few months to pass this landmark proposal and give working-class families the relief they finally deserve,” Adams said.
First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer said the mayor’s proposal, if approved, will put more money into the pocketbooks of some of the hardest-working New Yorkers amid rising rents and the lingering pinch of inflation.
“Rents and everyday costs have risen, but what we have been so focused on since the start of this administration is making sure that we’re not just wringing our hands about these challenges, but we’re really using every tool that we have in order to combat this challenge,” she said in remarks.
The proposal comes as Adams fights federal bribery and campaign violation charges that could land him in prison, and gears up to run for reelection next year amid an increasing number of Democratic challengers vying to unseat him.
