The minority leader of the City Council, James Oddo, is calling for formal hearings to begin this spring to examine the implications of cutting personal income tax rates in New York.

Mr. Oddo, one of two Republicans on the council, said he is not promoting a specific tax cut plan, but rather wants to invite a panel of experts to speak at a Finance Committee hearing so he and his colleagues could consider ways to reduce personal income taxes and examine the financial results of such cuts.

“There is no downside to having a discussion,” he said yesterday. “We can have real facts to deal with and make an educated decision from there.”

His floated his proposal a week after the Independent Budget Office issued a report showing taxes in New York City are nearly 50% higher than the eight other largest American cities. Mr. Oddo said he is focusing on personal income tax reductions because if people had more dollars to spend it would spur economic activity.

“What we lose in revenue initially, you gain in job increases and allowing the economy to reach its potential,” he said yesterday. He will discuss his proposal at today’s council meeting.

The chairman of the Finance Committee, David Weprin, said there is no reason the idea of cutting personal income tax rates should not be examined and discussed, but he said it is not a priority at the moment. The council is focused on reducing property taxes, cutting taxes on small businesses, and eliminating the clothing tax, he said.

“It is not on the radar screen for this particular budget,” he said. “It is certainly something we can look at at a later date.”

A spokeswoman for Speaker Christine Quinn, Maria Alvarado, said via e-mail that the council has championed tax relief for property owners, renters, and small-business owners over the past year in an effort to make New York more affordable.

“We will give a full and thoughtful review of Council Member Oddo’s proposal,” she wrote.

A political science professor at Columbia University, Sharyn O’Halloran, said the idea of cutting personal income tax rates has not received much attention because it is difficult to reduce the city’s revenue base without identifying an alternative income source.

“Unless you are willing to cut public services, reducing income revenue streams is going to be problematic,” she said. “I would think that would make it not the priority right now.”

The research director of the Citizens Budget Commission, Charles Brecher, said he thinks a discussion about personal income tax cuts would be appropriate in light of the city’s surplus, which totals $3.9 billion this fiscal year. He said the city should be trying to figure out which feature of the tax system is most responsible for hindering New York’s competitiveness.

“I think we all recognize the tax burden here is pretty high,” he said. “It would help to reduce taxes.”