New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday renewed his call for targeted tax increases on the city’s most affluent residents and for a steeper corporate tax rate as part of efforts to close the municipal budget gap.
Testifying at the New York State Senate’s 2026 budget hearing, Mamdani, a Democrat, asked for a 2% increase in the personal income tax applied to New Yorkers earning more than $1 million annually. He also reiterated his campaign-era proposal to raise New York's corporate tax rate from 7.25% to 11.5%.
The mayor told lawmakers that the city's budget shortfall has been reduced from $12 billion to $7 billion, attributing the improvement to what he described as "assuming an aggressive posture on savings without compromising city services, incorporating updated revenue and bonus estimates, and using in-year reserves." Despite that progress, Mamdani warned the city remains in a fragile position, saying it is "placed on a ledge."
Mamdani argued the tax changes are a matter of fairness and fiscal necessity. "I believe the wealthiest individuals and most profitable corporations should contribute a little more so that everyone can live lives of dignity," he said. He added that the 2% personal income tax increase he has proposed would close nearly half of the remaining budget deficit.
The mayor is scheduled to release the city's preliminary budget on Tuesday, a document expected to lay out in detail the administration’s revenue and spending plans for the coming fiscal period.
Any change to state tax rates would require the approval of Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul. A spokesperson for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mamdani’s proposals.
Hochul, who presented her own budget last month, has publicly opposed tax increases. In remarks cited at that time she said, "We’re able to make transformative investments in our future. Without raising taxes. Without saddling the next generation with mounds of debt," underscoring a policy gap between the mayor’s requested measures and the governor’s stated position.
As the mayor advances these proposals, the process will involve negotiation at the state level and scrutiny of the budget assumptions Mamdani outlined. The administration’s assertion that savings and updated revenue assumptions have already cut the shortfall will be tested as the preliminary budget is released and discussed publicly.