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NYC budget hikes taxes, slashes spending

NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The New York City Council has approved an emergency budget plan that will raise property taxes more than 18 percent and cut $780 million from agency spending, just 11 days after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed it.

The property tax increase, approved 41-6, is believed to be the largest in the city's history, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

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The hike is effective Jan. 1.

The package, approved Monday, eliminates a $1.1 billion shortfall this fiscal year and generates about $500 million, which will help reduce an estimated $6.4 billion deficit next year.

The city must balance its books or face a takeover by the state Financial Control Board, the News said.

The city is facing its worst financial crisis since at least the 1970s, the result of the Wall Street downturn and the destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, which killed about 2,800 people and eliminated tens of thousands of jobs.

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