Bloomberg Said To Warm To Deeper Property Tax Cut

By JILL GARDINER, Staff Reporter of the Sun | June 1, 2007

Mayor Bloomberg could be warming up to the idea of making his 5% property tax cut proposal even bigger.

While Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday that it's "premature" to say whether a deeper property tax cut is in the cards, a month ago he shot down the idea entirely.

When asked yesterday about whether the city was considering upping the cut to 8.5%, as the New York Post reported earlier this week, Mr. Bloomberg's answer amounted to: We'll see.

"We haven't gotten to the point yet of talking to the City Council and trying to figure out what our needs are and what our revenues are going to be so it's premature," he said.

In April he dismissed council members' demands for steeper cuts, saying the higher-than-expect tax surplus was needed to plug future deficits.

"We are not going to squander our good fortune of politically popular giveaways that will jeopardize our future," he said at the time.

Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday there were still out year gaps to contend with, but some took his remarks as sign that he is coming around.

Council Member Michael McMahon, a Staten Island Democrat, said the mayor seemed to suggest that he is "more receptive to having a discussion about maybe deepening the cut."