Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, county legislators and local business owners say that the Republican tax bills making their way through Congress would hurt Long Island.
The current Republican tax bills in the House and Senate would eliminate the state and local tax, known as SALT, deductions, effectively raising taxes for Long Islanders. According to the Long Island Association, the current plan would raise taxes on the Island by nearly $4 billion.
Bellone says that the SALT deductions have been a bedrock of the tax code for over a century.
“So removing that deduction will amount to effectively double taxation. We will not only be paying our state and local property taxes, we are then going to be taxed on it again by the federal government.”
Bellone says that Long Island already sends $23 billion more to Congress than it gets back in return, but the tax bills currently making their way through Congress would make this ratio even more unbalanced due to the removal of the SALT deductions.
Bellone says that it’s not a partisan issue, but a Long Island issue.
“Doesn’t matter what party you’re in, we all love Long Island, we all care about Long Island. This bill is devastating for Long Island, this bill is catastrophic for Long Island.”
Long Island Congressional Republicans Lee Zeldin and Peter King voted against the House tax bill because of the removal of the deductions.
Bellone announced a petition to convince President Trump to oppose any tax plan that limits SALT deductions.
