Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

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Tax Policy Platform Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Tax Team

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Individual Taxes Corporate Taxes

• Wealth Tax • Tax Cuts and Jobs Act • Property Tax • Corporate Rates • Soda Tax • Carbon Tax • Regressive Taxation

Bloomberg’s Policies

Individual Taxes

Bloomberg has publicly said that Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) wealth tax proposal “just doesn’t work.”

However, he does support increasing rates on wealthier taxpayers.

He has not provided any specific individual rate proposals.

Despite campaigning on a message of not raising taxes, when Bloomberg was mayor of New York City, he increased property taxes by 18.5% in order to balance the city’s budget in 2002.

Then in 2007, he suggested a 5% cut in property taxes and additional reduction in sales taxes, including a complete elimination of those on clothing and footwear.

In 2004, Bloomberg created a $400 property tax rebate for homeowners that partially offset the cost of the property tax increase in 2002. The rebate applied only to private homes, co-ops, and condos. The rebate did not apply to owners of utilities, large apartment buildings, office buildings, stores, and factories.

Bloomberg‘s plan to pass a ban on certain large sugary drinks was rejected by the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, in 2014. The court ruled that the New York City Board of Health has exceeded the scope of its regulatory authority.

Bloomberg later financially supported a similar effort in Cook County, Illinois, to impose a “penny-an-ounce” tax on sweetened beverages. The tax was enacted by the Cook County Board in 2016.

Bloomberg supports using the tax code to incentivize certain societal behavior, such as a tax on soda

Some people say, well, taxes are regressive. But in this case, yes they are. That's the good thing about them because the problem is in people that don't have a lot of money. And so, higher taxes should have a bigger impact on their behavior and how they deal with themselves. So, I listen to people saying 'oh we don't want to tax the poor.’ Well, we want the poor to live longer so that they can get an education and enjoy life. And that's why you do want to do exactly what a lot of people say you don't want to do. The question is do you want to pander to those people?”

─ Michael Bloomberg, Former Mayor of New York City

Corporate Taxes

In 2017, Bloomberg said, “It's pure fantasy to think that the tax bill will lead to significantly higher wages and growth, as Republicans have promised.” He outlined some “achievements” of the law:

Funding for education and infrastructure would be diminished

It would fail to increase real wages

Health insurance would become more expensive

Controlling Medicare and Social Security costs would become more difficult without cutting spending or increasing deficit spending

Bloomberg, as mayor, offered tax incentives to corporations that would benefit the broader community

Bloomberg is recognized as a leader on climate issues.

He has supported a plan for the Climate Leadership Council that would establish an initial tax of $40 per ton of carbon dioxide produced.

The funds would then be redistributed as a “climate dividend” that would provide the average family of four with $2,000 a year.

The tax is estimated to raise upwards of $225 billion annually .