We remember a day where, if elected officials pierced the property tax cap and enacted a tax increase that was thrice the rate of inflation, there would be hell to pay. But there’s been very little pushback from the media about these exceptionally large tax increases in many towns throughout Suffolk County.
Riverhead just slipped in a near 7% tax hike. Islip is increasing taxes by 8%. Southampton Town is boosting taxes just shy of double digits. And Smithtown’s levy is soaring by 11%.
On the other hand, all three towns in Nassau County have frozen or even lowered taxes. And the Nassau County budget froze taxes for the fourth consecutive year.
Meanwhile, the Suffolk County government pushed for a near 7% tax increase for those in the police district.
The county is claiming it is within the cap, but that is only because the county for the first time stopped counting sewer taxes on the county ledger and is now labeling it a “fee” rather than a tax.
This was due to the fact that the previous administration placed sewer management under a separate independent sewer district. (The taxes still must be paid, but by designating it a fee and having it billed from the new sewer district instead of the county, it is no longer considered part of the county budget.)
Still, page one of the legislature’s independent Budget Review Office states that “average county taxpayers” will be impacted by a budget “yielding an estimated average County homeowner tax bill of $1351, a 6.85% increase.”
Why is that Nassau County and its towns had low increases or none at all, yet Suffolk residents will be paying much more?
With the average property tax now ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 a year for our residents, every $1,000 increase is devastating.
It’s true that the county and town taxes are just a small portion of the overall bill (schools are two-thirds to three-fourths of the total), but they add up and they do set an example.
Many schools have been increasing their taxes far above the rate of inflation as well.
New York has proportionately lost more people to more affordable states than any other state in the nation over the last several years. Without a doubt, a big part of it is because of ever-increasing taxes. Regardless of how much you do to keep young people with “fun” downtowns, high taxes, high housing costs and overall high cost of living are driving residents out of Long Island.