NYC taxpayers face higher taxes as city cuts services
New York City taxpayers are facing possible tax increases even as the city slashes its services over the “migrant crisis."
New York state lawmakers — the highest-paid in the nation — are calling for a tax hike to cope with mass waves of illegal immigrants to New York City. The migrants are arriving at a rate of 10,000 per month, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
“We should increase taxes because it’s economically just policy to offset all costs for our state to function,” said state Sen. Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn), a self-described socialist. “I’d say that even if our city and state hadn’t seen an increase in migrants seeking asylum, this moment makes it all the more important for the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes.”
Adams, who previously boasted that New York City is a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants, warned this month that illegal immigrants are going to “destroy New York City.” The mayor told agencies to brace for 15% budget cuts — beginning with a 5% slash this November — and further warned that low-income taxpayers will bear the cost of the crisis.
“That money is going to come from somewhere. . .If we don’t receive help from the federal government and additional help from the state government, then this is going to come from somewhere,” Adams said on MSNBC’s PoliticsNation, referring to the billions of dollars being used to house the illegal aliens. “And it’s going to hurt low-income New Yorkers.”
Queens Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas, another socialist lawmaker, offered last month to house all immigrant shelters in her district but has yet to follow up on that offer, reports the New York Post. Instead, her Chief of Staff Brian Romero amplified the call for a tax increase.
“A reminder: This is a choice. We are cutting services for New Yorkers when we could #TaxTheRich. Don’t blame migrants for lack of leadership,” said Romero.
Gunning for the wealthy has not proven to be a winning strategy, however. New York has lost around 400,000 people since the pandemic began, an exodus which is being blamed in part on the high tax burden. These “tax refugees” also include a staggering number of high-income earners. In 2020 alone the number of individuals earning more than $750,000 a year fell by 10%. This significantly impacted the state’s tax revenue, as the 41,000 filers in the top 1% pay more than 40% of the state’s income tax, according to Fox News.
According to the IRS about 300,000 of New York City's wealthiest residents who left the city in 2020 collectively earned $21 billion in total income in 2021. IRS figures also showed the state lost $19.5 billion between 2019 and 2020 due to its out-migration.
A slew of taxes were raised in 2021 which helped fund steep salary increases for state legislators. In December New York lawmakers awarded themselves a 29% annual pay raise from $110,000 to $142,000. The bump made New York state lawmakers the highest paid in the country, surpassing their California counterparts at $119,000.
“It’s a full-time job,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. “Sooner or later in order to be able to afford to do the job, we have to raise pay.”
