Mamdani details plans to tax NYC homeowners to fund social agenda if Hochul doesn't fork over more cash

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced his preliminary budget, saying that in order to raise enough tax revenue to fill the gap in New York City's budget, New York Governor Kathy Hochul will have to allow him to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and corporations, or that the tax burden will be passed onto property taxes, which would increase costs for everyday New Yorkers. The funding would primarily go to social services, as Mamdani presented on Tuesday. 

“There are two paths to bridge this gap. The first is the most sustainable and the fairest path," Mamdani said. "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 the 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. And 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," he added.

Mamdani said that Hochul and Albany should raise income taxes on those earning over $1 million a year and the "most profitable corporations." 

Mamdani, when asked about the prospect of raising property taxes, said that it should be a "last resort" and that the tax increases would have to be imposed on those who are the wealthiest in the city. The proposal, as a "last resort," would be a raise of property taxes by 9.5 percent.

Without pursuing either of those two options, Mamdani said that the revenue gap would stay at around $4.7 billion.

As the mayor presented the budget, the primary expense of the budget is related to social services in New York.