7 Deadly Sins of Mayor De Zastero: Gluttony

By Ruth Papazian

 

7 Deadly Sins of Mayor De Zastero: Gluttony

New York City residents live in the state with the highest personal income tax in the nation; in one of the few cities in the US that assesses a personal income tax; and in the city with the highest sales tax in the state.

Even so, Mayor Bill de Blasio (a/k/a De Zastero) has a ravenous, insatiable appetite for revenue and wants to gobble up even more disposable income from New Yorkers at all income levels by raising taxes and tolls, and assessing new fees:

 

  • Hiking the cigarette tax to $13 a pack, making New York City the most expensive place in the country to buy a pack of smokes. This is a regressive tax because it primarily affects the poor and lower middle class, who are more likely to smoke than wealthier people. New Yorkers in the lowest income tier can spend as much as a quarter of their income on cigarettes, and are forced to buy them from bootleggers who sell untaxed loosies on the street smuggled from states with low or no cigarette taxes. The black market in cigarettes is linked to crime and terrorism financing.

 

 

  • A “mansion tax” of 2.5 percent on any real estate transactions above $2 million. In an interview with Gotham Gazette, Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Nicole Gelinas noted that it would be a tax on top of already high mortgage and property taxes—and the state’s existing mansion tax of 1 percent for properties costing more than $1 million.

 

  • A “millionaire’s tax” on 32,000 New York City residents who earn $500,000 or more, and families with personal income higher than $1 million that would raise their taxes from 3.9 percent to 4.4 percent—on top of a state tax on these high-earning individuals.

 

De Zastero has repeatedly butted heads with the governor over income tax increases—each time proposing to use the revenue for a different purpose—which has accelerated the worsening of their relationship.

New York City needs a mayor who is fiscally responsible. Instead of looking for opportunities to pick their pockets, the next mayor should look for ways to reduce taxes on overburdened New Yorkers.

 

gluttony

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