New York Mayor Bill De Blasio Pays A Lower Tax Rate Than Mitt Romney

Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio became one of the most prominent proponents of progressive tax policy when he made raising taxes on city residents who make over $500,000 per year a cornerstone of his platform during his underdog campaign last year.

That's why it raised eyebrows and drew some initial national coverage after the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that de Blasio paid an "effective tax rate was 8.3%."

That would put de Blasio's tax rate substantially lower than the approximately 14% tax rate multimillionaire former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was attacked by Democrats for paying in 2011. Though de Blasio is far less wealthy than Romney, it certainly wouldn't seem to fit with de Blasio's burgeoning brand as a crusader against income inequality.

However, Marti Adams, a spokesperson for de Blasio explained to Business Insider that his total tax rate was higher than 8.3%.

"When you include ALL of the taxes that the Mayor paid in 2013 (federal, state and city) his effective tax rate is 15.5%," Adams explained.

While that might seem to be higher than Romney's federal tax rate, when you include Romney's local taxes, his total rate was about 25 percent.

De Blasio and his wife, Chirlane, reported $165,047 in total income last year including $52,000 in rental income. They donated about 3% of that, $5,597, to charity.

Adams did not respond to a question about whether de Blasio feels he should have had to pay more.