Read her lips: no new property taxes!
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn fired a preemptive shot at the Bloomberg administration yesterday, declaring that any proposal to raise property taxes would be “dead on arrival.”
Sources said the possibility of a property-tax increase is being discussed by mayoral aides anxious to head off otherwise massive cuts to agencies as the city grapples with a projected $2 billion budget hole for the next fiscal year.
A source said aides are trying to convince Bloomberg that a property-tax hike is preferable to service-cut bloodbaths.
“We’re talking really devastating budgets,” said a second source. “What if agencies have to go down 10 percent or 12 percent?”
Stu Loeser, the mayor’s spokesman, denied a property-tax hike is on the table.
“It’s not something we’re considering,” he said.
Bloomberg has already squeezed $1.5 billion in savings and grabbed $1 billion from a health-benefits trust fund to cut the deficit.