No Wealth Tax? Mamdani Floats a 'Last Resort'

NYC mayor proposes 9.5% property tax hike to close projected $5.4B budget deficit
Posted Feb 18, 2026 6:34 AM CST
Without Wealth Tax, Mamdani Floats a 9.5% Property Tax Hike
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to reporters about the city's finances during a news conference in New York on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York City's new mayor just put homeowners on notice, though he's made clear he hopes his warning never comes to fruition. Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday floated a nearly 10% hike in property tax rates as a "last resort" if Albany refuses his push to raise income taxes on residents earning $1 million or more, reports the New York Times. The 9.5% increase, which would be the first such increase since the Bloomberg era, could hit more than 3 million homes and condos, plus more than 100,000 commercial buildings, adding roughly $700 a year for a typical homeowner, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.

Mamdani says the move, paired with tapping nearly $1.2 billion from reserve funds, is the only city-controlled way to close a projected $5.4 billion, two-year budget gap in his $127 billion proposal. "If we do not go down the first path" of raising income taxes, "the city will be forced down a second, more harmful path," he said at a Tuesday briefing, per NBC New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul, whom Mamdani has endorsed, played down the odds of property taxes rising and suggested cuts and accounting fixes instead, per the Times.

Key city leaders, including Council Speaker Julie Menin and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, blasted the idea as a hit to affordability, while landlord groups called it a "war" on property owners. Mamdani's allies, meanwhile, are using the moment to renew a familiar chant aimed at Albany: Tax the rich. Forbes has more on both the "expected" and possible "unexpected" consequences of a property tax hike in the Big Apple, as well as further reaction.

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