Suffolk County, NY - December 27, 2017 - Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced that the county will provide clerical employees to town Tax Receiver offices to assist in handling the surge of constituents trying to pre-pay their 2018 property taxes prior to the end of this calendar year. The new federal tax law that will take effect limits the deduction on state, local and property taxes to $10,000. However, residents who partially or fully pre-pay their 2018 property taxes by December 31 of this year would still be able to claim their deductions.
"These are extraordinary circumstances the we are all dealing with as Long Islanders and we have to do everything that we can to assist our residents," said Suffolk County Executive Bellone. "We are all in this together, and I will make available on an as needed basis our county staff to support the efforts of our local towns as they respond to the influx of residents."
In the spirit of the Shared Services collaboration, County Executive Bellone this morning directed his staff to contact every town Tax Receiver in Suffolk County to inform them that the county will make available, on an as needed basis, county clerical and customer service staff at no cost to the town to support their ongoing efforts in responding to a surge of residents trying to pre-pay their 2018 property taxes. The county offer of assistance to the towns is intended to make every effort possible to assist mutual constituents, as well as deal with the sudden demand and time-constrained workload.
In recent days, Tax Receivers across Long Island have experienced a significantly higher volume of constituent questions and requests from taxpayers who seek to pre-pay their next year's property taxes ahead of the upcoming changed in the federal tax code. This has also resulted in higher traffic to offices and, in certain circumstances, led to various town offices to extend office hours.