Municipalities Scramble to Accommodate Prepayment of 2018 Taxes
Local municipalities have made arrangements for property owners to pre-pay 2018 property taxes through Friday after Congress recently passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which will limit state and local deductions next year.
Despite the change in law, property owners can presumably take advantage of the tax deduction for municipal and special district taxes and second half 2017-18 school taxes that are due Jan. 31. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order last Friday that suspended the application of certain provisions in the state real property tax law.
New Castle, North Castle and Mount Pleasant are allowing for prepayment of taxes based on a taxpayer’s 2017 bill since the municipalities are not able to issue tax bills in time. Town taxes are due Apr. 30.
In Mount Kisco, which operates on a June 1 to May 31 fiscal year, property owners may prepay their second half 2017-18 taxes, which are due on Jan. 2, before 2017 expires. First half 2018-19 property taxes cannot be paid because there is no tax warrant.
County Executive Rob Astorino’s office issued a statement on Tuesday explaining that it would be impossible for the county to issue tax warrants to all municipalities before the end of this year.
“Westchester County has looked into the feasibility of having residents pre-pay their county taxes,” said Astorino’s senior adviser Ned McCormack. “It is just not possible for the county to issue its 2018 tax warrants to localities within the next four days for a whole host of legal, operational and practical reasons. By law, the county can only issue one complete warrant for the 259,034 properties across all of Westchester’s localities and special districts. There is no way to do this responsibly by the end of the year given all of the laws that the county must follow under Westchester’s charter and the U.S. tax code, as well as a host of other variables and unknowns.”
In advisories to their residents, each of the local municipalities provided disclaimers stating that it is offering no opinion on whether the prepayment of 2018 taxes would ultimately be deductible for next year’s federal taxes. Residents should consult their tax professionals.
Local taxpayers who wish to prepay their 2018 taxes can do so in person during regular business hours Wednesday through Friday at their home municipality’s government offices or send their payment in by mail to the tax receiver’s office postmarked no later than Saturday, Dec. 30.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
