About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

1 Josh Barro, NYC May See Higher Income, Sales and Property Taxes 1 (2008)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/ffbffxz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: OUNDATION
November 2008
No. 155

FISCAL
FACT

NYC May See Higher Income, Sales and
Property Taxes
By Josh Barro
While the financial crisis and economic slump have been pinching state and local government
budgets around the country, New York City has been particularly hard hit. With its heavy
dependence on the financial industry, the city is expecting a combined total budget shortfall of
approximately $4 billion for FY'09 and FY'10.
The city last faced a budget crisis in 2001, when the combination of a recession and the September
11 attacks caused a significant drop in tax revenue. Michael Bloomberg, then just starting his
mayoralty, responded with a combination of budget cuts and tax increases. (Many of those tax
increases were rescinded as economic conditions improved.)
Last week, Bloomberg proposed a raft of changes to close the new gap. Similar to the last go-
around, the package includes something for everybody to dislike, with $1.5 billion in broadly-
aimed budget cuts and nearly $1 billion in tax increases, with more tax increases likely down the
road. The mayor's announced tax proposals include:
• Property tax increases, including cancelling a $400-per-taxpayer rebate and accelerating
a 7 percent rate increase. Property taxes rose substantially to close the budget gap earlier
this decade, but New York City has made a practice of giving homeowner rebates during
more recent, flusher years. The mayor is empowered to cancel the rebate by fiat, but he
must get agreement from the city council to raise the property tax rate early. The city
thinks all these changes combined would generate $832 million in additional revenue for
FY'09.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most