Members of the New York City congressional delegation voiced concerns to Mayor Mamdani at a City Hall meeting Thursday about his proposal to hike property tax rates by 9.5%, the officials said.
Mamdani has framed the property tax hike plan as a last resort he’s forced to consider in order to fill a multibillion-dollar budget gap unless Gov. Hochul agrees to raise taxes on the wealthiest — an idea she’s stood firmly against.
“We all indicated that this would be a hardship in a town where the cost of living is skyrocketing, and so I think he’s very aware of that, and you know, we’ll see what next steps look like,” Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn) said after leaving the meeting, adding that she thought Mamdani was “being real” with New Yorkers about the projected $5.4 billion budget shortfall.
Assignment – PELOSI
Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News
Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)
Reps. Nydia Velázquez, Dan Goldman, Jerry Nadler, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng and Clarke were in attendance. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ritchie Torres, Adriano Espaillat and Nicole Malliotakis were invited but did not come, according to City Hall.
“The Mayor met with members of the New York congressional delegation earlier this afternoon at City Hall,” Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the mayor, said in a statement after the meeting. “They had a productive discussion on the city budget, how to effectively partner to secure federal funding for working New Yorkers, and the issues most important to their shared constituents in the members’ districts.”
Meeks (D-Queens) said he understood the mayor was attempting to find leverage to get Hochul to earmark more money for the city, adding, “But I think that he has to understand that the bottom line is, we cannot have a tax increase on the middle class here in New York City.”
Rep. Gregory Meeks (Photo by: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The administration is currently projecting a $5.4 billion budget gap. The mayor has said the property hike would generate $3.7 billion in revenue in the next fiscal year, and would impact more than 3 million residential units and over 100,000 commercial buildings.
Economists contend the city’s property tax system favors single-family homes, luxury condos and predominantly white neighborhoods overall — and puts more weight on multi-family buildings and homeowners in mostly Black neighborhoods.
On the campaign trail, Mamdani emphasized a need to reform the system. This week he said his administration intends to introduce legislation to make the taxation more equitable.
Asked about the property tax issue, Velázquez, who came into the meeting nearly an hour late and left after just over 20 minutes, replied: “I don’t know. I used to be a member of the City Council, not anymore. Let them deal with that issue.”
Mamdani hosted a second meeting later Thursday with state senators to talk about the budget. Those in attendance included Sens. James Sanders Jr., Leroy Comrie and Jabari Brisport. The second meeting did not appear on the mayor’s public schedule.
