A new report showing that the combined state and local tax burden in New York City is nearly 50% higher than it is in other major cities will strengthen the consensus for cutting taxes here, if early reaction from politicians, business leaders, and budget analysts is any indication.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat who ran for mayor in 2005 and will likely try again in 2009, called yesterday’s report from the Independent Budget Office a “rallying cry for relief,” saying the middle class in the city is getting squeezed.

“It’s time we gave the middle class a real tax cut,” Mr. Weiner said. “It’s time we restored progressivity and fairness.”

The report found that compared to the other eight largest American cities — Los Angles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Antonio, and Dallas — taxes in New York City were an average of 47% higher. State and local taxes gobble up $9.02 of every $100 of taxable income compared to the $6.16 average elsewhere.

The IBO report also buried the often-cited myth that New York City’s high taxes are offset by lower state taxes.

“New York City stands well apart from other large U.S. cities,” the report concludes.

The heavy tax levy is being fueled largely by Medicaid and public assistance costs that the city shares with the state, responsibilities that in other jurisdictions are borne by state governments. Governor Spitzer’s office pointed out that his first budget keeps in place a cap on the city’s share of Medicaid expenses and a state takeover of the Medicaid program for families.

New York City has its own local personal income taxes, a levy unique to New York City and Philadelphia among the large cities in the survey. Philadelphia counterbalances that with lower taxes in other areas, which New York does not.

“It should really be interpreted by the mayor as a clarion call for help, particularly in terms of the city’s crippling income tax burden,” a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Nicole Gelinas, said.

The IBO analysis looks at 2003 and 2004 — before Medicaid expenses were capped for New York City and before the personal income tax surcharge expired.

But analysts say that the burden here is still worrisome, particularly because it comes as the city is scrambling to better position itself in the global market as international competitors try to lure major financial service firms away.

The president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, Kathryn Wylde, who represents business leaders, said the report shows that “tax incentives for individual companies will no longer suffice” if the city and state are going to stay competitive with its domestic competitors.

“For mid-level, sort of middle class jobs, which are very much at risk, there is a huge tax incentive for companies to move jobs out of state,” she said.

Ms. Wylde said it is a tax cut for employers that’s needed.

A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, John Gallagher, cited property, sales, and business tax cuts that the mayor is planning for his upcoming budget.

“While we don’t agree with every finding of this report, the Mayor’s preliminary budget included more than $1 billion in tax cuts and additional provisions to reduce the tax burden for all New Yorkers and keep our city competitive in the future,” Mr. Gallagher said via e-mail.

He did not specify which parts of the report that the city disagreed with.

The speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn, another likely 2009 mayoral candidate, said the “hardworking families and small businesses, burdened with over-taxation and rising costs of living expenses, deserve tax relief.”

She cited the components of the mayor’s current tax cut package and a proposal she has to give renters a tax credit. “These steps will protect middle class families on the verge of being pushed out of our City and will allow small businesses to thrive,” she said in a statement.

The others hoping to replace Mr. Bloomberg also said high taxes should be addressed. The president of the Bronx, Adolfo Carrion Jr., the city will have to determine “the unhealthy tipping point” when taxes and expenses hurt prospects of growing the middle class. He said, “Tax cuts should always be on the table.” He did not, however, offer any specific proposals to combat the tax burden cited in the report.
“I think all of us who are interested in leading this city are going to chime in about how to make life easier for people here and how to make us more competitive,” Mr. Carrion said in a telephone interview.

The city comptroller, William Thompson Jr., another of the mayoral contenders, said the city needs to look for ways to “reduce the burden without sacrificing important services.”

“To do so involves not only finding appropriate taxes to reduce, but to look at ways to deliver service more effectively and efficiently,” he said.

And the president of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz, who is also in the 2009 mix, said in a statement that the tax burden is too high, Medicaid spending needs to be reduced, and that the city needs to get more money from Washington and Albany.

Those opposed to tax cuts cite the services that New York City provides. Cutting services is always a political obstacle course.

The chairman of the City Council’s finance committee, David Weprin, said the tax cuts in the works now would help ease some of the burden.