Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s brash tax hike ultimatum tied to his first budget has City Council members fuming — with many railing that he should clean his own house before making New Yorkers pay.
Negotiations over Hizzoner’s proposed record $127 billion budget are sure to get off to a rocky start following his threat of a citywide 9.5% property tax increase.
Many members of the Democrat-led council were left shaking their heads, and think Mamdani should be slashing city spending before even considering spiking taxes on their constituents.
“Rather than taking money out of people’s pockets, we should take a hard look at our spending and identify areas where we can reduce costs,” said Councilman Oswald Felix (D-Bronx).
“Excessive spending and then requiring more contributions from hard-working residents is not good policy,” he told The Post. “This is not how you help New Yorkers.”
Another Democratic council member said Mamdani’s proposal was “baloney.”
“Raising property taxes will literally make our city less affordable for the small homeowners who desperately need relief from our city government. I know there has to be a better path forward. This is baloney,” the source said, arguing there was plenty of room to cut in the bloated city budget.
Mamdani laid down his brazen demands Tuesday as he unveiled his preliminary budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year that raises spending by $11 billion.
He argued there were only two ways to pay for his budget and a $5.4 billion deficit the city is facing. Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers must pass a 2.2% income tax increase on people making $1 million or more, or the mayor would be “forced” to hit city property owners and raid city reserves of about $3.5 billion over two years.
“At a time when New Yorkers are already grappling with an affordability crisis, dipping into rainy day reserves and proposing significant property tax increases should not be on the table whatsoever,” City Council Speaker Julie Menin wrote in a statement.
One council source described the mayor’s proposal as “extreme.” Sources said the options were the brainchild of First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan, a former lieutenant of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“A lot of us were thrown for a loop at the fact that he wants to put this out there as an option on the table … And maybe this is where the inexperience factor comes in. Because I just I don’t see how this would be a good idea,” the source said.
City Council finance chair Linda Lee (D-Queens) said savings could also be found in agency surpluses.
“City agencies frequently end the fiscal year with surpluses, we should take a comprehensive approach to identifying savings — without depleting reserves or reducing essential services,” she told The Post.
“We must holistically evaluate all potential efficiencies and revenue opportunities to avoid shifting costs onto taxpayers,” she said. “We should not turn to the unprecedented step of drawing down reserves or increasing property taxes, as those steps would place a disproportionate burden on some of our most vulnerable residents.”
Others said Mamdani should wait until the city knows the full scope of its latest tax revenues — which already helped bring down his previously projected $12 billion budget gap — before he starts threatening homeowners.
“We think that the revenues are going to be higher than expected as well,” one council source said.
Some were even skeptical of Mamdani’s deficit claims — which he managed to cut by more than half in just two weeks.
“That kind of volatility raises serious questions about how these numbers are being presented and whether taxpayers are being asked to shoulder burdens prematurely,” Councilmember Frank Morano (R-State Island) said in a Wednesday statement.
“Taxpayers should not be treated as an endless ATM,” he said. “Homeowners should not be forced to pay more because City Hall refuses to control its spending.”
Felix noted that the city doesn’t always spend its cash in ways that make sense.
“For example, why does it cost more than a million dollars to build a single public bathroom?” he said.
The city has spent exactly that before — last summer, five public toilet booths were installed in parks across the city last summer at about $1 million a pop, even though the individual units only cost about $185,000.
“Would anyone spend their own money like this?” Felix said.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) cited a possible target for cuts as the Department of Education — which is seeing its budget increase by $3 billion to about $40 billion under Mamdani’s plan, even though school enrollment has declined by about 12% since the COVID pandemic.
“If we really want to get serious about savings, we have a number of agencies that are absolutely bloated and need to be reined in. A proper agency audit needs to happen, starting with the DOE,” Ariola said.
“Much like his overinflated budget deficit, the mayor is taking a doomsday approach to try and scare people into complying with his demands,” she said.
— Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy