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Mamdani Threatens 9.5% Property Tax Increase if Wealth Tax Is Not Passed (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55502152

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[–] [S] 349 points 5 months ago (3 children)

This is how you do it when you're serious about achieving what you promise for your constituents. Use your tools as needed, demand cooperation, when you don't get it, use your tools as leverage. Even if you fail, people see you did what you could and then they're ready to punish whoever stood in your way at the ballot box. This is why the oligarch class is so afraid of Mamdani who's just a mayor.

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  • [–] 107 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I'm a NYC resident, and I pay property taxes. If this is the stick that will (hopefully) get us the carrot of a wealth tax, I'm all for it. If property taxes end up going up, and we can use it to make the city better with the services Mamdani wants to get going, well then let's go. I will figure out how to pay the additional taxes somehow. With that said, let this be a bargaining chip. Working with the rest of NYC's political class is like a bunch of toddlers. The best thing you can do is give them two options, one you want (which they won't like) and one you don't want (which they really won't like). And make them pick. So they feel like they have agency, it's their decision, don'tchaknow?

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  • [–] 39 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    It’s a little bit misleading to refer to as any mayor of New York City as “just a mayor“.

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  • [–] 75 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    It's just a tiny little financial capitol of the world with a measley population of only 8.4 million people.

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  • [–] 32 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    If NYC was a state it would be between the 11th and 12th most populous state.

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  • [–] 54 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    And California is the world's 4th largest economy, behind only the entire rest of the United States, China, and Germany. New York State would be 8th.

    The Democratic states and cities are economic and sociopolitical leaders for a reason. Don't listen to the bullshit calling them socialist hellholes. The evidence suggests that taking care of your people (and maybe even having illegal immigrants too gasp or better yet legal immigrants) is actually an economically sound, and maybe even economically preferable strategy overall.

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  • [+] 22 points 5 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 child)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago

    I agree that it would be better to make them legal however. I believe in free movement and commerce.

    100% Nobody wants to be in this situation.

    The system simply doesn't allow for people to enter 'in the right way', as far as the vast majority of non-rich people around the world are concerned the US Border is closed unless you win a literal lottery.

    We clearly need these people and benefit from their presence both economically and culturally. Instead of creating an immigration system that reflects that reality, we have one that makes them live in the shadows and deal with exploitation because they cannot access normal public services, including the police, for fear of being arrested (possibly violently) and thrown in detention for an unspecified amount of time.

    It has to be different, and not in the ways that these white nationalists cosplaying as law enforcement are envisioning.

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  • [–] 29 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    I love when people say the us should get rid of CA. Yeah let’s just throw away the worlds 4th largest economy because you’re anti woke 🙄

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  • [–] 19 points 5 months ago

    You can also casually remind people that more Republicans live in California than Texas, which usually makes their head explode. It's an enormous state, with a huge economy, with tons and tons of people.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago (3 children)

    Uh doesn’t this just inflict pain on the middle class if it ends up passing?

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  • [–] 36 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Does the middle class own property in New York at all? I thought most just rent apartments.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    NYC is 5 boroughs a lot of it is single family or 2 family housing.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    And you think land lords won't pass increased property taxes on to their tenants?

    I don't live in NYC so I won't give an opinion on this but landlords won't just eat increased taxes.

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  • [–] 27 points 5 months ago

    No, in a market like NYC rents are already the maximum that the market can bear, and a lower percentage of property prices than elsewhere. Landlords in fact will eat at least part of the increased taxes because the only other option is to not rent the property. That's exactly why they're so upset about it.

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  • [+] -10 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Property taxes are paid by the renters. Landlords don't have any money other than rent. This is a tax on tenants with extra steps

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  • [–] 8 points 5 months ago

    Landlords don’t have any money other than rent. This is a tax on tenants with extra steps

    The landlords that this is targeted against are not the slightly rich guy who owns an apartment building, it's people like Citadel LLC who has nearly $70 Billion dollars of assets under management, a large portion of which are rental properties.

    Those landlords have the money to pay the taxes. They own much more expensive properties, many of which are held empty and are limited in how much they can raise their prices indirectly, due to them already charging as much as the market will bear and also directly by Mamdani freezing rents.

    In addition, many wealthy people in NYC own expensive housing (including Trump) that they use and do not rent.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Most people dont make over 1,000,000 a year. A millionaires tax, like the one passed in Washington state, only taxes 9.9% of every dollar OVER ONE MILLION. The first million has the same tax rate as everyone else.

    They still keep 90.1% of every dollar over one million. It is not as if it is forfeit. They will still be making a shit ton of money.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Talking about the property tax, not the wealth tax. And even though it’s lower than other parts of the country, a third of NYC denizens own their homes, so a property tax increase seems like it’d have a lot of collateral effects on the not-so-wealthy.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    I feel you there. Washington state has no income tax, so there are so many levers we can pull to raise revenue. Property tax is one of the big ones. Every time I get a ballot to vote on, there is some new levy they want to add. I generally vote yes, because I want schools to be funded and parks taken care of, but it does get to a point where our tax system is regressive.

    Wealth taxes make sense. Those who can afford to pay a small amount more should step up. Mamdani's plan of raising taxes on wealthy New Yorkers by -2%- is even less than what was passed in Washington state.

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