Mayor threatens across-the-board 9.5% property tax increase

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office via AP

CITYWIDE – MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI on Tuesday released the city’s preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2027, and delivered an ultimatum to Governor Kathy Hochul: accede to income tax increases on higher earners and large corporations, or the city will be forced to implement an across-the-board property tax increase of 9.5% citywide, reports Gothamist. The governor has not been supportive of the mayor’s proposed tax hikes.

City Hall in a press statement said that tax hikes were necessary to balance the city’s budget, in particular to pay for services it said had gone underfunded during the Adams administration, including rental assistance, shelter operations and special education. The city also said it would need to raid its rainy-day reserve fund and the city retiree health benefits trust to fill budget gaps.

New city Comptroller Mark Levine appeared to balk at the proposal, calling the property tax hike a “pretty extreme option.” State Comptroller Thomas diNapoli offered praise for the mayor’s aggressive targeting of the budget gap, but raised concerns over the city’s raiding of reserve funds. Governor Hochul did not directly respond to the proposal, but said at a press conference that she didn’t believe the city would need to raise property taxes.

“We do not want to have to turn to such drastic measures to balance our budget. But, faced with no other choice, we will be forced to,” Mamdani said.

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