New York City faces a $12 billion budget gap in its massive $119 billion budget.

Hmm. We wonder why. Well maybe it’s because New York spends nearly twice as much per resident as the average city with one million or more residents.

So much for economies of scale.

Now, if you want a REALLY good laugh, here is Zohran’s assessment of the problem:

“A $12 billion fiscal deficit cannot be resolved through efficiencies and savings alone.”

Right. So you can’t cut 10% of the spending in the world’s most bloated municipal budget?

The chart below presents both the raw figures from the Census Bureau (in orange) and “fiscally standardized” totals from the liberal Lincoln Institute for Land Policy that adjust for services being provided by different levels of government in different places (in blue).

Even by the adjusted measure – the most favorable possible to New York – NYC would still be the top city spender per capita by a wide margin with a 10% cut.

A giant tax increase is coming to New York City. But on who exactly? New York already has about the highest tax rates on the rich of any place in the western world.

Now how do you like democratic socialism?