(The Center Square) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has issued an ultimatum to Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers: approve his plan to tax the rich to plug gaps in the city’s budget, or he’ll be forced to increase property taxes across the board.
Mamdani, who rolled out his preliminary $127 billion budget for the next fiscal year Tuesday, said the Big Apple faces a difficult choice between getting approval from the state Legislature and governor to increase taxes on businesses and the city’s wealthiest “or balance the budget on the backs of working people.”
He said the only other options available to the city government to reduce the estimated $5.4 billion budget shortfall is by drawing down money from the city’s reserve or ‘rainy day’ fund or by raising property taxes.
“We do not want to have to turn to such drastic measures to balance our budget,” Mamdani said in a statement. “But, faced with no other choice, we will be forced to.”
The mayor’s ultimatum to Albany comes one day after Hochul announced she would provide an additional $1.5 billion in state funding to New York City to help balance its budget.
Hochul has ruled out the idea of increasing taxes in an election year, but Mamdani said Tuesday unless he gets a nod from Albany he’ll need to increase property taxes to reduce the shortfall. While New York City needs approval from the state to increase most taxes, the mayor and city council have control over the property tax rate.
But City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Council Member Linda Lee, who chairs the council’s revenue committee, issued a joint statement Tuesday swatting down the idea of raising taxes.
They said Mamdani’s preliminary budget “marks the beginning of a critical conversation about how we safeguard New York City’s fiscal future while protecting New Yorkers” but higher taxes won’t be on the table in budget negotiations.
“At a time when New Yorkers are already grappling with an affordability crisis, dipping into rainy day reserves and proposing significant property tax increases should not be on the table whatsoever,” they said. “The Council believes there are additional areas of savings and revenue that deserve careful scrutiny before increasing the burden on small property owners and neighborhood small businesses, which could worsen the affordability crisis.”
Menin and Lee said the Council will release its own projections ahead of preliminary budget hearings “and will conduct a thorough review” of the Mandani administration’s financial projections.
“Our goal is to deliver a balanced budget that protects essential services, addresses the affordability crisis, and reflects shared fiscal responsibility,” the lawmakers said.
City Councilor Joann Ariola, a Republican, said raising property taxes “would only further strain so many who are just barely getting by as it is, and would force even more people to flee the city in search of a more affordable life.”
“This is unacceptable, and we need to find an alternative to close the budget gap that doesn’t cause unnecessary harm to our residents,” she posted on social media.
City Comptroller Mark Levine said an across-the-board increase in this tax would be “regressive” and that drawing down reserves “during a period of economic growth would leave us vulnerable to economic turbulence next year.”
