New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned that his preliminary budget would be a tax on working- and middle-class New Yorkers on Tuesday.

“Property taxes would be raised by 9.5%. This would effectively be a tax on working- and middle-class New Yorkers who have a median income of $122,000,” the mayor said.

Mamdani unveiled his preliminary budget proposal for 2027, outlining a plan to close a projected $5.4 billion deficit. Under state law, New York City must pass a balanced budget. To bridge the gap, Mamdani proposed a 9.5% increase in property taxes and “raiding” the city’s Rainy Day Fund and the Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund. “The city would also take $980 million from its Rainy Day Fund and take $229 million from the Retiree Health Benefits Trust,” he said.

Mamdani’s proposal would increase the city’s overall spending from former Mayor Eric Adams’ $115 billion budget to $127 billion. Mamdani described the property tax hike and reserve raid as a last resort, preferring to instead raise taxes on high-income earners and corporations, which would require approval from New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who has promised New Yorkers she will not raise taxes in 2026. Without Hochul agreeing to raise taxes, Mamdani is left with raising property taxes as his administration’s primary lever.

“To rely on a property tax increase and a significant draw-down of reserves to close our gap would have dire consequences,” stated Mamdani’s Comptroller Mark Levine. “Our property tax system is profoundly unfair and inconsistent, and an across-the-board increase in this tax would be regressive. Drawing down reserves during a period of economic growth would leave us vulnerable to economic turbulence next year.”

Mamdani would not be the first mayor to draw from the reserves, as the city tapped the funds during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, however, the city would be tapping the funds “despite a strong economy and record revenues from Wall Street.”

Mamdani attributed the budget shortfalls to former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration underfunding $7.54 billion in six key areas, including cash assistance, rental assistance, shelter, due process cases, judgement & claims, and the city subsidy structural deficit.

Since the 1970s, New York has been legally required to balance its budget when the state legislature passed the Financial Emergency Act for the City of New York in September of 1975, mandating a balanced budget. The legislation was passed to prevent New York City from defaulting on its debt and going bankrupt after a decade of the city covering daily operations with short-term loans.

Turning to reserves to meet Mamdani’s mandate could raise red flags with credit rating agencies. Using reserves to plug recurring deficits may signal structural imbalance, increasing the risk of a municipal bond downgrade. A downgrade would force the city to pay higher interest rates to borrow, ultimately driving up debt service costs and putting even more pressure on the budget the law requires to be balanced.

Costs may continue to rise for New York City. Watchdog group Citizens Budget Commission reports more than $7 billion of taxpayer money has been spent to house and care for undocumented immigrants in New York City.

ABC New York (WABC) reports the yearly budget for asylum seekers is larger than the budget for the city health department, the sanitation department, and the fire department.

At least ten backcountry skiers were missing late Tuesday after an avalanche swept through northern California near the town of Truckee at Castle Peak, as powerful winter storms slammed the Sierra Nevada and created what officials described as extremely dangerous conditions for search and rescue crews.

The avalanche was reported at approximately 11:30 a.m. local time and affected a group of 16 people, four mountain guides and 12 clients, according to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office. Officials said at least six skiers survived the slide and were still at the site as of late Tuesday afternoon, awaiting rescue because weather conditions made immediate evacuation unsafe.

Search and rescue ski teams from Boreal Mountain Ski Resort and Alder Creek Adventure Center were deployed to assist, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities emphasized that rescue efforts were being carried out cautiously due to ongoing avalanche danger, heavy snowfall, and near-zero visibility.

Castle Peak, a popular backcountry skiing destination along Interstate 80 near Lake Tahoe, received intense snowfall as a conveyor belt of winter storms moved through northern California. Boreal Mountain Ski Resort reported roughly 30 inches of snow in the previous 24 hours, while forecasts say additional heavy snowfall is expected through Thursday.

Avalanche danger across the region was rated high on Tuesday. In a bulletin issued before the reported avalanche, the Sierra Avalanche Center warned against travel in or near avalanche terrain, citing the likelihood of a widespread natural avalanche cycle.

“Large avalanches may run through treed areas,” the center said, urging anyone attempting travel in non-avalanche terrain to ensure no steep slopes were connected above or adjacent to their route.

The avalanche occurred as the Sierra Nevada experienced what scientists described as some of the worst winter conditions in years. According to researchers at the Central Sierra Snow Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, snowfall totals had already exceeded 28 inches in parts of the central Sierra by Tuesday morning, with another two to three feet expected by Wednesday night.

High winds compounded the danger, with gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour along ridge tops and up to 45 miles per hour in mountain valleys, forecasters said. Combined with heavy snowfall, the conditions created near-whiteout conditions across much of the region.

Transportation was also heavily impacted. Portions of major highways were closed, and ski resorts across the Sierra shuttered operations, citing unsafe travel conditions. The California Highway Patrol warned motorists that visibility along mountain roads had dropped to near zero in some areas. “This isn’t inconvenient weather. This is unsafe travel,” they said in a statement on X, warning that large avalanches were expected across backcountry terrain into at least Wednesday morning.

Winter storm warnings remained in effect from southwest Oregon through much of Northern and Central California, with forecasters cautioning that travel could be dangerous to near impossible through late Thursday.

Officials said search operations would continue as conditions allow and urged the public to avoid backcountry travel until the storm system passes and avalanche risk subsides.