Progressive members on the New York City Council on Wednesday fanned the flames of a push to raise taxes for higher-income earners.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has prodded Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) to support a 2% tax hike on residents making over $1 million a year, to little avail. This week, the council’s progressive caucus went even further, urging the governor to back a proposal that would subject residents earning between $500,000 and $1 million per year to a new $16,803 annual tax fee.
The tax rate goes up for higher income brackets, with those earning more than $100 million facing a $6,786,803 annual fee. In the caucus’s proposal, the annual tax fee would be imposed on residents, in addition to new taxes on capital gains and Mamdani’s 2% income tax hike, according to Politico’s “New York Playbook.”
“Taken together, these measures would make sustainable and equitable funding a reality,” the caucus wrote in the letter, arguing the new taxes would generate revenue needed to fund Mamdani’s proposals for universal child care and other policies the new socialist mayor has proposed.
Mamdani has argued he needs the funds to close the city’s $5.3 billion budget deficit, which stood at roughly $7 billion before Hochul sent the city $1.5 billion to address the gap in February.
While Hochul, who is in a reelection year, has stood against tax hikes, there appears to be movement in the legislature to defy the governor. Next week, Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly are expected to propose higher income tax rates for wealthy New Yorkers that are in line with Mamdani’s push, per Politico.
New York City does not hold the authority to unilaterally raise income taxes, making local officials largely dependent on Hochul and the state legislature for changes. However, as mayor, Mamdani does hold the power to raise property taxes, something he has threatened to do if Hochul doesn’t relent on income taxes.
The mayor’s latest proposal entails a 9.5% property tax hike, impacting over 3 million residential units and 100,000 commercial buildings.
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Overall, 62% of city residents support Mamdani’s original income tax proposal, according to a poll by the Siena Research Institute released Wednesday. A slim majority of New York state residents back the idea, at 54% of registered voters. Mamdani has praised the poll, which was based on 805 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the NYC City Council for comment.
