On Taxes in New York, It’s Mamdani v. Hochul

Who rules at Albany: Governor Kathy Hochul or Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his allies on the far left of the Democratic Party? The escalating struggle over the Marxist mayor’s proposed tax hike on high-earning New Yorkers could prove instructive on this head. Mrs. Hochul, with an eye on getting re-elected, is opposed to boosting levies on already-overtaxed New Yorkers. Leftist legislators are pushing ahead with Mr. Mamdani’s scheme anyway. “We are certainly trying to meet the moment, and revenue raisers would certainly be part of our package,” says the state senate’s majority leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, pointing to the upper chamber’s plan to endorse the Mamdani tax hikes in a budget resolution. She adds that “we have always believed in this progressive tax structure” and that “obviously we are interested in helping New York City.”This puts the solons on a collision course with Mrs. Hochul, who has vowed to hold the line on taxes — at least until she gets re-elected. At that point, if the past is any guide, all bets are off. After all, she professed to oppose the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s congestion tolls, a cash grab against motorists, until the balloting was over in the 2024 elections. Then she saw the light and let the tolls go into effect. Mr. Mamdani and his fellow travelers in the state legislature could be expecting Mrs. Hochul to fold again when it comes to Hizzoner’s bid to raise taxes on businesses and high-earners. The consequences for the Empire State could prove dire, though. New York millionaires already pay some $34 billion a year in income tax, the Citizens Budget Commission says. Millionaires pay 40 percent of income tax revenue, despite being 1 percent of the population.Do Mr. Mamdani and the leftist legislators really expect wealthy New Yorkers to acquiesce to a new wave of confiscatory levies on their income? The state’s share of America’s millionaires already “plummeted 31 percent” between 2010 and 2022, the budget commission reports, as a result of already-excessive taxes here. Count on that trend to intensify if the Mamdani income tax proposal gets enacted at Albany.Raising taxes on New York businesses would be another self-inflicted wound. New York City, with state and local levies, already imposes the highest corporate tax rate in America on local businesses: 17.44 percent. Raising the state’s top rate to match New Jersey, as Mr. Mamdani & Co. propose, “would increase the combined rate in New York City to 22.48 percent,” the budget commission warns, nearly double New Jersey’s business tax burden.What’s to keep businesses from migrating west across the Hudson to dodge the tax man? The budget commission cautions that the state’s “taxes and regulations make it a challenging business environment.” It’s “the 10th worst state to start a small business,” the commission reports, the “3rd slowest in average growth in small businesses,” the “9th most expensive for small business operating costs,” and “the 2nd most regulated state.”If Mr. Mamdani wanted to make progress on his goal of improving affordability for New Yorkers, he would be looking at cutting taxes and regulations, not raising them. At least Mrs. Hochul is paying lip service to the idea of keeping taxes at current levels. “I am not frustrated,” the governor avers, amid Mr. Mamdani’s high-pressure tax tactics, and “I know how to negotiate.” Yet Mr. Mamdani and his far left friends seem to think they can call the shots at Albany.

On Taxes in New York, It’s Mamdani v. Hochul

More from the New York Sun

Let Some Oil Tankers Sail Through the Strait of Hormuz — World Oil Prices Will Retreat Big Time

‘What Is Chabad Exactly?’

‘Hoppers’ is the Best Pixar Film of the Decade

More from the New York Sun

Let Some Oil Tankers Sail Through the Strait of Hormuz — World Oil Prices Will Retreat Big Time

‘What Is Chabad Exactly?’

‘Hoppers’ is the Best Pixar Film of the Decade

Florida Senate Advances Bill To Let State Leaders Designate Groups as Terrorists After Federal Judge Blocks Effort by DeSantis

One Week In, Will Trump and Netanyahu Have Time To Finish Reshaping the Mideast and the World?

State Department Says Charter Flights Are Evacuating Hundreds of Americans Stranded in Middle East

Mayor Mamdani’s Wife Liked Posts Cheering on Hamas’s October 7 Massacre: Report

Florida Bar Denies Investigating Lindsey Halligan as Trump Lawyer Under Siege After Rocky Prosecutions of James, Comey