Mamdani Claims NYC Property Taxes Will Need To Be Raised by 9.5% and Wants to Drain $1 Billion from Rainy Day Fund

TRANSCRIPT:

MAMDANI: “At the heart of this path is a property tax increase. This would effectively be a tax on working and middle class New Yorkers who have a median income of $122,000. The second path also requires us to raid our reserves. It would mean withdrawing $980 million from our city’s rainy day fund in fiscal year 2026 and $229 million from the Retiree Health Benefit Trust in fiscal year 2027. These are steps that have been taken before, but only in moments of extraordinary external crisis. Mayor Bloomberg’s response to the 2008 financial collapse and Mayor De Blasio’s response to the enormous revenue shortfall caused by the pandemic. We do not want to have to turn to such drastic measures to balance our budget.”