A New York federal judge just shut down a lawsuit and complaint against new tax rules which are doubling the financial hurt for Long Islanders. What do we do now?
A lawsuit filed by NY, NJ, CT and MD in response to the new limits on SALT tax deductions was dismissed by a NY federal judge at the end of September. It was a last ditch hope to repeal the new law which has put high cost states like New York at a disadvantage for attracting and keeping property owners and businesses.
According to CNBC and the Tax Policy Center New Yorkers had previously claimed annual property tax deductions in this category of almost $22,000 each year. They are now limited to just $10,000.
This comes right as property values are up and effective property taxes are the highest they have been. As well as amidst rising property tax rates and sweeping new tax assessments in Nassau County which have rocketed some homeowners’ annual property tax bills by $15,000 per year or more.
In these scenarios Long Islanders can effectively be paying $25,000 more per year for the same home.
Obviously, most Long Islanders didn’t get a $25,000 pay raise this year, nor expect to next year. So, what can we do now?
Some of the options that could be floated as alternatives could include:
- Eliminating state income tax to make it fairer and in line with the rest of the country
- Limiting school district taxes to those with students in the system
- Privatizing the school system
- Liquidating more state and county owned property to make property more affordable and spread tax revenues among a wider number of taxpayers
- End sweetheart deals to developers and create more equality in tax rates
- Eliminating property taxes to attract more residents and businesses
- Change officials’ pay to being performance based and tied to fixing the system and running more efficiently
What are the chances of these things happening? Slim to zero.
The good news is that you can still grieve your property taxes with the help of Property Tax Adjusters, Ltd. This will ensure you are not grossly over-paying each year, and may help you keep thousands of dollars annually. Right now, this is the best tool and one of the only rights you have to ensure you are not blindly being taken advantage of again and again.