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Mamdani proposes to tax the rich in first budget
The NYC mayor has unveiled a US $127 billion plan to close a massive budget gap.
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Anushka Pathak - Tue, 17, Feb 2026
- 16:20 EST
- 23
Zohran Mamdani / X (Zohran Mamdani)
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Feb. 17 unveiled his preliminary Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget that seeks to close a massive budget gap.
“There are two paths to bridge the city’s inherited budget gap,” Mamdani said, outlining his $127 billion spending plan, which suggests either "raising taxes on the wealthiest and corporations” or including a 9.5 percent property tax rate increase for all New Yorkers.
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Outlining his preference for taxing the rich, Mamdani described it as the “most sustainable and fairest” solution towards correcting what he called an imbalance between what the city contributes to the state and what it receives.
He warned that without these measures, the city would face a “more harmful path of property taxes and raiding our reserves.”
That alternative property tax increase, he said, is projected to generate US $3.7 billion in FY27, combined with withdrawals from the ‘Rainy Day Reserve Fund and Retiree Health Benefit Trust.’ Such steps, he argued, would place the burden on “working and middle-class New Yorkers” and weaken the city’s long-term fiscal position.
Mamdani said the current shortfall stems from what he described as prior underbudgeting in rental assistance, shelter operations, and special education, contributing to a broader US $12 billion gap across FY26 and FY27.
The budget includes a US $7.3 billion upward revision in tax revenue projections, US $1.5 billion in additional state support from Governor Kathy Hochul, and US $97 million in Foundation Aid. Savings initiatives are expected to produce US $1.77 billion over two fiscal years under Executive Order 12, which appoints Chief Savings Officers to identify efficiencies.
Agency expense adjustments total US $14 billion over two years, with US $576 million directed toward targeted investments, including snow removal, warming centers, mobile health units, and mental health services. The preliminary Five-Year Capital Plan totals US $113 billion, including funding for affordable housing modernization and upgrades to Bellevue Hospital’s Adult Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program.
The proposal now heads into negotiations with the New York City Council and the state, with revisions anticipated before final adoption.
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