Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order on April 20 giving Westchester County Executive George Latimer the power to “negotiate with any Town Supervisor of Mayor to accept a lesser percentage of taxes which are due on May 25.”
Latimer was also granted the right “to determine if whether or not penalties for late payment are waived,” based on whether or not the town or city applies the County Executive’s criteria for determining hardship.”
What Cuomo’s Executive Order means is that Latimer’s plan, to give homeowners in Westchester a two month pause, and time to review their own personal finances before paying their property taxes, will now happen.
Before this order, homeowners were required to pay their Town and County property taxes and assessments by April 30. Now if homeowners have a hardship from the COVID-19 pandemic, examples of which would be a loss of job or loss of income, then they can ask for an extension of time for their payment of their property taxes up to July 15.
Two weeks ago, Latimer said, “People in this County are feeling the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many have lost their jobs. I have said many times that the County is in a ‘freefall’ and residents are experience the same thing. This deferment of taxes for two months is a way to buy some time for the residents here to keep themselves afloat until this pandemic passes. I want them to be focused on staying healthy, keeping a roof over their head and food on the table – the rest can wait.”
Earlier this month, Latimer’s plan received opposition from local Town governments, who did not want to go through the ‘hassle’ of determining who should receive an extension and who had a hardship.
Members of the County Board of Legislators also pushed back on Latimer’s plan and passed a plan of their own last week, which reduced late fees and penalites. The BOL plan, which passed by a vote of 14-3, with County Legislators Terry Clements, Catherine Parker and Vedat Gashi voting no, reduced the penalites by 75% for taxes paid from May 1-May 31, and by 80% for taxes paid in June and July, with the new penalites reduced to .5% and 1%
The Business Council of Westchester, BCW, had supported Latimer’s plan, calling the changes made by the BOL A “Slap in the Face” to Struggling Westchester Businesses and Employees.
“We applaud County Executive George Latimer’s initiative to support local businesses and employees, and are both baffled and appalled by the Board’s decision to turn its back on struggling business taxpayers and their employees at this crucial time,” said BCW Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John Ravitz.
“We call on Board Chairman Ben Boykin to revisit this issue immediately and ask the legislators to reverse this tone-deaf and pointless decision as quickly as possible.”
Ravitz pointed out that the Latimer’s proposal would give an additional two and a half months for hard-pressed businesses across the Westchester that are being devastated by the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. The July 15 date is consistent with the extended deadline being given for filing state and federal income taxes.
“With so many businesses closed and laying off workers, deferment of tax payments is a way to buy time for these hardworking men and women who are the backbone of the county economy. For the Board to amend County Executive Latimer’s legislation dropping the late penalties on county taxes is incomprehensible considering that the penalties, while significant to businesses and employees, are relatively small amounts for the town governments that collect them.”
While the BOL plan did have some merit, with one legislator commenting to Rising newspapers that “the BOL drastically reduced penalties through July 15 but we also kept some penalty fee to incentivize people who can afford to pay their taxes to pay them on time,” other members of the County Board mistakenly called Latimer’s plan “impracticable.”
One of our readers commented, “I can’t afford to pay anything right now. I need time to figure out if I should refinance, delay my mortgage payments or move out of Westchester. Latimer’s plan helps me and I thank him for it, and to Town governments like my own in North Castle who were complaining about having to determine who is on a hardship, here’s an easy answer. Give everyone who requests a hardship and hardship. We are in the middle of a pandemic!”
The other mistake made by the County Board, in our view, is that they went against the wishes of their own County Executive, who has led the county through a difficult time with great calm, compassion and effectiveness.
“This exectuve order will give the best protection to our taxpayers,” said Latimer, after Cuomo signed the order.
