New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) is laying out two stark options to close the city’s fiscal year 2027 budget gap: raise taxes on high earners and corporations or increase property taxes.
During his preliminary budget presentation, Mamdani framed the first option as “the most sustainable and the fairest path,” calling for “ending the drain on our city and raising taxes on the richest New Yorkers and the most profitable corporations.”
‘There is no third option of failing to balance the budget’
But he warned that this path depends on cooperation from Albany and Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“If we do not go down the first path,” Mamdani said, “the city will be forced down a second, more harmful path. … We would have to raise property taxes.”
The mayor acknowledged that New York City’s property tax system is “broken,” but emphasized that it is currently the only tax that the city has the authority to raise on its own.
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Photo by Stephani Spindel/VIEWpress via Getty Images
“What I am showcasing to New Yorkers is that there is one tax the city can raise,” he said. “It is a broken property tax system. We do not want to do so. … We want to work with Albany to ensure that we resolve this fiscal crisis by addressing the structural roots of it.”
Mamdani described a property tax increase as a “last resort,” stressing that the city is legally required to balance its budget — a mandate that dates back to the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, when New York City was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.
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Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
“There is no third option of failing to balance the budget,” he said.
“This is something that we do not want to do,” Mamdani said, “and this is something that we are going to utilize every single option to ensure does not come to pass.”
If Albany does not approve higher taxes on wealthy residents and corporations, Mamdani said the city could be forced to raise property taxes by a staggering 9.5%.
Hochul is opposed to raising property taxes.
“I’m not supportive of a property tax increase,” she said at a press conference in Manhattan this week. “I don’t know that that’s necessary, but let’s find out what is really necessary to close that gap.”
The message is clear: If the state doesn’t act, homeowners and commercial property owners could pay the price.
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Politics, Mamdani, Nyc, New york, New york city, Tax plan
