ALBANY – Lefty pro “tax the rich” lawmakers in Albany were feeling pretty poor Wednesday after the New York City Council released an alternative to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s budget — and it doesn’t rely on a tax increase.
The liberal pols — who already blew their own April 1 budget deadline — have been committed to filling the $5 billion gap in Mamdani’s spending plan with some sort of tax increase, most likely corporate taxes, The Post reported earlier this week.
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But Mamdani and his cronies were dealt a blow Wednesday by Big Apple City Council Speaker Julie Menin, whose camp laid out a proposal that would close the gap by rejiggering spending and revenue estimates along with $2 billion in savings, thus negating the need for Albany to approve tax hikes.
“That’s a good thing,” state Assemblyman Charles Fall (D-Staten Island) told The Post of the council’s plan, claiming that tax increases aren’t needed to balance the city budget.
“I don’t think there’s a need to raise taxes.
“People are complaining about wasteful spending under the prior administration. Well, what is being done about it?” Fall said.
Lawmakers left Albany for the week far from a deal on the state budget.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has signaled in recent weeks that she would not chip in more state resources to the city than she’s committed already – $1.5 billion in addition to billions of dollars of new spending, such as on childcare.
“Now it’s up to the City Council,” Hochul said earlier this month.
To help reap more dough, Hochul has proposed an extension of the 7.25% statewide corporate tax on businesses making more than $5 million for three years, but both the state Assembly and Senate have called for increasing it.
On the campaign trail, Mamdani called for hiking the corporate tax to 11.25%, but in Albany this year, he is pushing for smaller hikes of the city’s rate.