NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams launched an interactive tool called “Build-A-Budget” that allows New Yorkers to experiment with balancing the city budget, demonstrating the need to increase revenue by taxing the wealthiest residents to preserve city services.
The Build-A-Budget simulation is an accessible, interactive way for people to visualize how the city’s money is spent, where it comes from, and what goes into ensuring it is balanced without slashing city services. Users can raise and lower city expenditures across agencies and initiatives, and enact or reject revenue-raising measures at the state level.
“When we talk about the budget, we often talk about the few people in the room and making the decisions. That obscurity gives power to the few, as rich donors try to build our budget behind closed doors – now people can engage with the numbers right from their phones,” Williams said in a statement. “With Build-A-Budget, New Yorkers can see the tradeoffs that are at stake – and the ways out of this budget deficit.”
The tool launches as the state budget deadline approaches and city budget negotiations are underway. Users begin with the projected Fiscal Year 2027 budget deficit and can try to eliminate the gap by enacting revenue-raising measures at the state level.
Williams highlighted four key revenue-raising proposals the tool includes. The Fair Share Act would authorize the City Council to implement a 2% surcharge on personal income above $1 million for New York City residents, potentially raising about $3 billion per year. The NYC Corporate Tax would modestly raise taxes on the most profitable corporations and could raise $1.75 billion annually.
Two additional measures target high earners and luxury property owners. Reducing the NYC Pass-Through Entity Tax Credit to 75% from 100% would raise about $700 million per year, according to the Mayoral administration. The PTET credit was created in reaction to federal State and Local Tax credit caps and allows high-income individuals to pass their income through a corporation to pay less in taxes.
A Pied-à-Terre Tax would apply to certain high-value properties without a full-time primary resident. The proposed structure would gradually increase rates from 0.5% for properties worth $5 million to 4% for properties worth $25 million or more, raising about $650 million each year.
After balancing their budget, New Yorkers can submit it to the Public Advocate’s office, where responses will be compiled and reviewed. The Public Advocate’s office designed Build-A-Budget to increase transparency and participation opportunities for the millions of New Yorkers impacted by budget decisions.
“I hope this is a tool for education, engagement, and advocacy – and while the budget isn’t a game, the simulation is kind of fun,” Williams said. “It shows that there are no easy ways to build a budget, but that if the governor would support the common-sense revenue raising we’ve laid out, it would get a lot more clear.”
