Tax bill would wallop Long Island homeowners

Should the House of Representatives tax-reform bill make it through the Senate, high-tax suburban regions like Long Island would be on the receiving end of bad news from the taxman.

The legislation would limit or eliminate deductions for property taxes, mortgage interest, and state and local taxes, disproportionately penalizing Long Island.

All 192 Democrats and 13 Republicans opposed the measure. Long Island’s two Republican representatives — Peter King of Seaford, and Lee Zeldin of Shirley — voted no. The vote was 227 to 205.

Before the vote, King, who has supported President Trump on a number of fronts, said he would not support tax reform legislation that eliminated deductions for property taxes and state and local taxes, noting that the deductions have been in place since 1913.

“While I strongly believe our tax code needs to be reformed and simplified, everything must be done to ensure property tax and state income tax deductions are preserved,” King said.

“No one should be taxed again on money you have already been taxed on at the state level.”

South Shore Rep. Kathleen Rice “voted no on the House Republican bill because it would raise taxes on many middle-class families in our district to pay for a huge tax cut for the wealthy and big corporations,” said Coleman Lamb, her communication director. “Half of our constituents deduct state and local taxes — this bill eliminates that deduction for individuals and families, but lets corporations keep it. It adds trillions to the deficit, which will lead to cuts to health care, education, Social Security and other programs that hardworking Americans depend on.”

Far Rockaway Rep. Gregory Meeks said that he voted against the measure because it in addition to raising taxes on the middle class, it would also eliminate the student loan interest deduction and lifetime learning credit and the medical expense deduction, “ransack” Medicaid and Medicare and “balloon the [nation’s] debt to the tune of trillions of dollars.”

The Long Island Association of Realtors is pushing for the elimination of the property tax deduction. Many real estate brokers have added their names to online petitions, according to industry officials.

Marsha Ander, a branch manager for the Coach Realtors office in Hewlett, said that the House bill could be “detrimental to the Long Island housing market, especially in the Five Towns and surrounding areas.”

“It’s obvious that it will impact our market since it’s commonplace to see starter homes with taxes thousands over the proposed cap,” she said.

“A tax system that favors renting over owning isn’t good for the economy and the future of home ownership. At this time, the thought of structural changes to our tax code has not impacted sales, rather lack of inventory in the Five Towns has slowed down out market considerably.” 

Reporting by Herald Community Newspapers