Mamdani And Menin On The Same Stage, And Page

Mayor Mamdani and Speaker Menin appeared on the same stage and on the same page, today.

After disagreeing on ways to narrow the city budget earlier this month, the two joined forces to announce that the city's final budget would be pushed back from Friday to May 12, and to propose a new tax on wealthy New Yorkers, a reduction of the PTET.

Pass through entity tax (PTET) credits allow members of eligible partnerships or corporations to get a tax credit if the partnership paid it previously on their state returns. By lowering the PTET credit from 100% to 75%, the city could generate an additional $1 billion dollars, said the mayor.

"New York City must get the resources it needs to succeed, and we are aligned on that point," said Julie Menin, New York City council speaker.

The announcement comes after the mayor and speaker disagreed on how to close the gap of around $5 billion dollars the city faced as its budget deadline approached. The mayor proposed raising property taxes and dipping into rainy day emergency funds, while the speaker refused those ideas in exchange for smaller savings spread through different departments of the city.

While the state budget is being ironed-out in Albany, the city leaders agreed to extend their budget deadline in order to weigh the state's choices.

Lowering the PTET would be enacted at the state level, but could close the city's budget gap by another $1 billion, according to the mayor. Together with the pied-à-terre tax, a property tax on second homes approved by Governor Kathy Hochul, the gap could narrow to around $3.5 billion.

New York City generates more than 55% of the state's revenue, but only receives 42% back.

"That gap is not sustainable," said Mamdani, at the press conference.