Mayor Zohran Mamdani, rather than imposing new taxes on the wealthy, could potentially address almost half of New York City’s anticipated $5.4 billion budget shortfall by targeting unpaid taxes and fines. This approach could alleviate the city’s financial burden significantly.
As of February 28, the city had $1.1 billion in outstanding property taxes, according to data from the City Comptroller’s Office. Additionally, the Department of Finance reported that $1.3 billion in Environmental Control Board fines remain uncollected. These fines typically stem from violations related to construction, zoning, and safety codes.
Collectively, these uncollected taxes and fines amount to a staggering $2.4 billion. This sum represents 44% of the funds Mayor Mamdani asserts are necessary to bridge the substantial budget gap. Meanwhile, he has been contemplating a nearly 10% increase in property taxes, unless Governor Kathy Hochul and state legislators support his proposal to impose higher taxes on the wealthy.
Council Speaker Julie Menin, who has been at odds with Mamdani over strategies to mitigate the budget deficit, emphasized that his administration should leverage a recently enacted law. This law, passed by the City Council, aims to streamline and simplify the collection of property tax debts, offering a practical solution to the financial dilemma.
That’s 44% of the amount Mamdani claims he needs to fill the massive budget hole while he continues threatening to slam Gotham with a nearly 10% property tax hike—unless Gov. Kathy Hochul and Albany pols cave to his “tax the rich” scheme.
Council Speaker Julie Menin, who has been sparring politically with Mamdani over how to fill the budget deficit, said his administration should finally start taking advantage of a newly enacted law the Council approved that streamlines and simplifies how property tax debt is collected.
“Our Council overhauled the tax lien sale to create a fairer system that still delivers revenue and holds bad actors accountable,” she said.
“With over a billion outstanding, there’s no excuse for leaving that money on the table. The city should get the new program up and running to collect what’s owed.”
Mamdani’s spokesperson Dora Pekec fired back, “It is disingenuous for the Speaker to say that we should rush a tax lien sale.”
“Mayor Mamdani announced a pause of the sale for six months to do a top-to-bottom review of the tax lien sale,” she said. “The goal of the review is to improve collections and reduce displacement of working -class homeowners across the five boroughs.”
About $744 million of the ECB fines are “uncollectable,” according to the Department of Finance, which plans to cancel the scofflaw’s licenses and take other steps to collect the remaining $573 million due. This includes a comprehensive 30-day review the agency announced this week aimed at identifying ways to increase debt collection.
The jaw-dropping property-tax debt includes $707,476,309 racked up in fiscal 2025 alone, as nearly 13% of all properties in NYC are delinquent on tax payments.
The city recently sent out a shocking 141,357 notices to property owners behind on their taxes – or 12.7% of the city’s 1,114,669 individual property tax lots, the city’s Finance Department confirmed.
The biggest delinquents include the historic Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown, owned by the government of Pakistan.
The South Asian nation owes $13.6 million to New York City in back taxes – despite previously pocketing $146.6 million from taxpayers to use the site as a city-run migrant intake center and shelter for two years.
“Unpaid and uncollectable delinquent taxes are a major problem,” chimed in Steven Fulop, president and CEO of the business advocacy group Partnership for New York City.
“Rising tax burdens and costs are making it harder for property owners to keep up, while inconsistent enforcement allows debts to accumulate. The priority should be tightening enforcement and restoring discipline to the system. New technologies—including AI—can play an impactful role here.”
