Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is proposing to cut property taxes by roughly 5 percent and eliminate the city sales tax on clothing and footwear as New York enjoys the bounty from its booming economy and real estate market, city officials said yesterday.

Mr. Bloomberg plans to outline his proposals today in his annual address to the City Council. The property tax cuts, which would be in addition to an existing $400 annual rebate for homeowners, would apply for at least the next fiscal year, aides said, while the sales tax cuts would be permanent.

New York Times

I was shocked to hear this considering Bloomberg has been a crazy tax hiker during his mayoral tenure.  This will surely come as good news to the residents of New York City who are people dying for tax relief.  New York State in general is highly taxed, but the people in the Big Apple get double dipped by the local government to cover all of its costs. 

It’s important to note the reasons Bloomberg is doing this:

Mr. Bloomberg concluded that given the city’s overall fiscal health, revenues that had come in so much higher than expected should be shared with taxpayers and plowed back into the economy.

AND

Under the mayor’s sales tax proposal, an existing exemption from the 4 percent city sales tax for clothing and footwear under $110 would be extended to purchases above that amount………………..

………………Such a change would make clothing sellers in the five boroughs more competitive with those in New Jersey, where all clothing is exempt from the sales tax.

And, of course, it is widely rumored that Bloomberg will run for President as an Independent candidate.