New York City (NYC) Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned that property taxes in the city could increase, as he also announced a $127 billion preliminary budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Mamdani spoke about how as mayor of the city, he has a “legal obligation to balance the budget,” adding that he would “meet that obligation.”
Mamdani stated that when his administration entered office, they “inherited a historic budget gap,” and that along with his administration’s “aggressive savings plans,” “daily incorporation of updated revenue and bonus estimates,” and aid from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), they lowered the deficit “from an initial $12 billion to $5.4 billion.”
Mamdani continued to offer “two paths to bridge this gap,” one which would raise taxes “on the richest New Yorkers, and the most profitable corporations,” while the other would “raise property taxes.”
“There are two paths to bridge this gap,” Mamdani continued. “The first is the most sustainable, and the fairest path. This is the path of ending the drain on our city, and raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers, and the most profitable corporations. The onus for resolving this crisis should not be placed on the backs of working and middle-class New Yorkers.”
“If we do not fix this structural imbalance, and do not heed the calls of New Yorkers to raise taxes on the wealthy, this crisis will not disappear. It will simply return, year after year, forcing harder and harsher choices each time,” Mamdani added. “If we do not go down the first path, the city will be forced down a second, more harmful path. Faced with no other choice, the city would have to exercise the only revenue lever fully within our own control. We would have to raise property taxes. We would also be forced to raid our reserves.”
Mamdani described the “options of the second path” as being “the options of last resort.”
During the press conference, Mamdani went on to explain that under path one, his administration wanted to “work with Albany to raise personal income taxes by two percent on the 33,000 New Yorkers earning more than $1 million a year, and to raise corporate taxes on the most profitable corporations.”
Under the second path, there would be a 9.5 percent property tax increase. Mamdani explained that “this would effectively be a tax on working and middle-class New Yorkers who have a median income of $122,000.”
Mamdani also shared that “over 3 million residential units and over 100,000 commercial buildings” would be impacted as a result of path two.
In January, Mamdani cast blame on former NYC Mayor Eric Adams (D) for the city’s $12 billion budget deficit.
“There is a massive fiscal deficit in our city’s budget to the tune of at least $12 billion,” Mamdani said at the time. “We did not arrive at this place by accident. This crisis has a name, and a chief architect.”
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