NYC Council speaker, comptroller knock Mamdani’s budget proposal

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and Comptroller Mark Levine come out against Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed budget for 2027.

Mamdani inherited a $5.4 billion budget gap from his predecessor Eric Adams. In his first proposed budget, Mamdani calls for raising property taxes by 9.5% and “raiding our reserves.”

A statement from Mamdani says his preferred choice for closing the gap is “raising taxes on the wealthiest and corporations,” but those taxes would need the approval of the state government, which is unlikely to support the tax hike. The city can raise property taxes without state approval.

“We do not want to have to turn to such drastic measures to balance our budget. But, faced with no other choice, we will be forced to,” Mamdani says in a statement.

Levine says that raising property taxes and tapping into reserves “would have dire consequences.”

“Our property tax system is profoundly unfair and inconsistent, and an across-the-board increase in this tax would be regressive. Drawing down reserves during a period of economic growth would leave us vulnerable to economic turbulence next year,” Levine says in a statement.

“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,” Menin says.

Menin and Levine, both Jewish centrist Democrats with deep ties to Jewish communities, hold two of the most powerful positions in city government, enabling them to serve as a counterweight to City Hall.

The dispute over the budget marks the first major clash between the two and Mamdani since he took office at the start of the year.

The proposed budget is preliminary and the City Council needs to approve a final budget by June.