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Trump bill to lower taxes most for Long Islanders with high incomes and large mortgages
Taxes should go down for the average Long Islander under the new federal megabill, tax analysts told Newsday, with the biggest benefits going to people with high incomes and large mortgages. The sweeping “big beautiful bill” President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4 extends and builds on a number of changes put in place during his first term under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It keeps lower tax rates, boosts the child tax break for families and increases the standard deduction, making it easier for taxpayers to file their taxes without having to itemize. The measure includes deductions and credits aimed at everything from assisting seniors through a new tax break to promoting American-assembled cars by allowing filers to deduct car loan interest. It cuts taxes on tips and overtime, potentially helping Long Island taxpayers from landscapers to waitstaff, police officers to construction workers.
Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that the vast majority of Long Islanders take the standard deduction and will likely continue to do so, said Joseph Perry, a national tax leader in the Melville office of CBIZ, a national adviser of tax, accounting and other services.
Because of the increased deduction many won’t need to take the additional deductions in the megabill, and fewer may choose to itemize, tax analysts said. This applies in particular to low- to middle-income taxpayers.
For those who do itemize, the megabill increases the cap on state and local taxes to $40,000 for those with an income of $500,000 or less and raises it by 1% annually — a win for high-tax blue states like New York and especially on Long Island.
The SALT deduction is one of the five main categories of itemized deductions, along with mortgage interest, medical or dental expenses, charitable contributions and casualty, disaster and theft loss.
***
About 40 former soldiers, as well as a few hundred civilian supporters, participated in the Hamptons' Soldier Ride on Saturday. Organizers said the annual event, which started two decades ago, has proved to be not only a fundraising tool for Wounded Warrior Project, but also a means of rehabilitation for service members assimilating back to civilian life.
"The hardest part of surviving conflict and military service is living," said Walter Piatt, chief executive of Wounded Warrior Project.
Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that The Wounded Warrior ride began with a 17-mile ride in Manhattan Thursday, followed by a 22-mile trip in Babylon on Friday.
Shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday, bicyclists departed the Amagansett Fire Department parking lot. About 3½ hours later, the riders returned under warm, sunny skies to celebrate the completion of the three-day event.
The annual Hamptons ride brings the organization back to its roots.
Peter Honerkamp, a co-founder of Wounded Warrior Project and owner of the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, recalled how a benefit concert in 2003 for Rocky Point's John Fernandez, who was injured in Iraq, inspired East Hampton native Chris Carney to bicycle across the country in 2004.
That grew into a three-person trip the following year, when a pair of former Army sergeants injured in Iraq — one a single-leg amputee, the other a double-leg amputee — joined Carney. Soldier Rides are now held across the nation.
WWP CEO Piatt...a retired Lt. General...cheered the Soldier Riders as they departed. He then hopped on his own bicycle to join them.
Before the ride, he reflected on the organization’s promise to bring every warrior home, including their “mind, body and soul.” He said the founders of the Soldier Ride provided the avenue to fulfill that promise.
“This is much more than a ride," he said. "It is our road home."
***
Alive on 25 drew throngs of people to downtown Riverhead Friday night to enjoy live music, food, craft beverages, kids’ games and activities, a car show and even professional wrestling performances. The evening was capped off with a fireworks display launched from a small barge in the Peconic River. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the event is under new management this year. In April, the Riverhead Town Board hired Main Street Agency to produce Alive on 25. Main Street Agency is an events and public relations company founded and owned by Diane Tucci, who is currently employed as the Town Board coordinator in Riverhead. Tucci previously ran the event for the Riverhead Business Improvement Management Association as its executive director, a position she left in 2019. Alive on 25, now dubbed “Riverhead Block Party,” is set to return Aug. 1.
***
One East Hampton Town councilman objected to going outside the scope of a contract with East Hampton Village as a split Town Board approved a joint $55 million purchase on Georgica Cove last Thursday. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that the easement will protect 5.5 acres of land spread over two parcels located on Cove Hollow Farm Road. East Hampton Town, East Hampton Village and the Peconic Land Trust collaborated on the buy, with the latter offering a $35 million contribution raised from private donations. In all, the final purchase price was $55 million. The town’s share will be $10 million, while the village’s share will be $10 million.
In a 3-1 vote, with one excused absence, on Thursday, July 17, the East Hampton Town Board passed a resolution to approve the purchase. The conservation easement will protect the land from future development. The Peconic Land Trust will now own the land. The Town Board is looking to construct parking and a trail on the property.
East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, Councilwoman Cate Rogers and Councilman Ian Calder-Piedmonte voted in favor of the purchase, while Councilman David Lys voted against it. Councilman Tom Flight had an excused absence.
Now approved, the town’s contribution will come from its Community Preservation Fund. At the end of 2024, the Town of East Hampton had about $60 million in the fund, per an independent audit.
To move forward, though, the East Hampton Town Board had to go outside the scope of an intermunicipal agreement with the Village of East Hampton , which stretches back to 1999 and ensures the town government makes 10 percent of CPF revenue available for properties within village borders. In 2016, the two municipalities renewed the agreement.
This parcel was not included in East Hampton Town’s Community Preservation Project Plan, so the Town Board had to go outside the scope of the intermunicipal agreement to proceed.
***
As the summer season settles in, this month marks the first time thousands of Airbnb hosts in Suffolk County no longer have to collect taxes on short-term rental stays thanks to a new deal that shifts that task onto the company. Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the Voluntary Collection Agreement between Suffolk County and Airbnb is meant to streamline the process and ensure the county receives the money it's owed from a 5.5% occupancy tax paid by renters, officials said. The occupancy tax funds several initiatives that promote tourism throughout Suffolk.
Not all hosts have collected the occupancy tax previously, officials said, forcing the county to track down individuals.
"This is a significant milestone and major achievement," Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy said in an interview with Newsday.
A spokesperson for Airbnb told Newsday the process should be easier for hosts since they are no longer required to track tax collections. Suffolk is the 38th county in New York to enter into a similar agreement with Airbnb, according to the company.
The change comes as Suffolk collected a record of nearly $23 million from the occupancy tax in 2024, according to the county’s Finance and Taxation Division. The occupancy tax applies to hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts and short-term rental sites like Airbnb. The tax is levied in addition to the 8.75% sales tax, with revenue collected for the county and state.
Revenue jumped 53% in 2023 compared to the prior year after the county nearly doubled the tax from 3% to 5.5%.
Kennedy said it was too early to estimate how much additional revenue the change will bring. "This collaboration should definitely be a beneficial one and bring in more revenue under the hotel-motel process," he said.
Airbnb will send payments to the county on a quarterly basis, per a spokesperson for the San Francisco-based company.
***
When the Southold Town Board held a public hearing June 24 on a proposal to limit lawn irrigation, the board had decided prior to the meeting to remove key provisions recommended by the town’s Water Advisory Committee, including requiring property owners to adhere to odd/even day watering schedules and to not irrigate between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the public hearing will continue tomorrow at the Southold Town Board’s 4:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting, and those two items will again be part of the proposal, at the urging of the town’s Water Advisory Committee.
At the beginning of scheduled Southold Town Board meetings, the attending public is encouraged to briefly address the Town Board relating to agenda resolutions prior to their enactment; the public will also be given time at the conclusion of the regularly scheduled business agenda to address the Board on any given topic.
The text of tomorrow’s proposed local law is on page 7 of the July 22 Town Board meeting agenda. Click here for more information.
***
The Peconic Estuary Partnership will hold two community meetings this week to hear perspectives from the public about the future of the estuary. The first will be held this evening at 6 p.m. at Ashawagh Hall in Springs, and the second will be held tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the Peconic Baykeeper’s Office at 167 Red Creek Road in Hampton Bays.
A body of water between eastern Long Island’s twin forks, the Peconic Estuary is a shallow, well-mixed estuary between the North and South ends of Suffolk County, New York. Approximately 128,000 acres of the watershed drain into the 155,000-acre estuary connected to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Peconic Estuary Partnership (PEP) is a National Estuary Program that acts as a backbone organization, bringing together partners from different sectors around common goals. Peconic Estuary Partnership staff and PEP’s partners support monitoring, research, collaboration and education to address priority issues within the Peconic Estuary Watershed. PEP acts as a bridge at the boundary between science and policy, and ensures that an informed citizenry, along with all other stakeholders, have a voice in the decision-making process.
The Peconic Estuary System is an integral part of the Long Island economy and ecology. In order to sustain this valuable resource, PEP states we must achieve a balance between the needs of the estuary’s resources and the sometimes conflicting demands of the region’s populace. Key to establishing this balance is an educated citizenry that is willing to support, promote, and actively participate in measures to protect Long Island’s east end estuary system.
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By WLIW-FMTaxes should go down for the average Long Islander under the new federal megabill, tax analysts told Newsday, with the biggest benefits going to people with high incomes and large mortgages. The sweeping “big beautiful bill” President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4 extends and builds on a number of changes put in place during his first term under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It keeps lower tax rates, boosts the child tax break for families and increases the standard deduction, making it easier for taxpayers to file their taxes without having to itemize. The measure includes deductions and credits aimed at everything from assisting seniors through a new tax break to promoting American-assembled cars by allowing filers to deduct car loan interest. It cuts taxes on tips and overtime, potentially helping Long Island taxpayers from landscapers to waitstaff, police officers to construction workers.
Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that the vast majority of Long Islanders take the standard deduction and will likely continue to do so, said Joseph Perry, a national tax leader in the Melville office of CBIZ, a national adviser of tax, accounting and other services.
Because of the increased deduction many won’t need to take the additional deductions in the megabill, and fewer may choose to itemize, tax analysts said. This applies in particular to low- to middle-income taxpayers.
For those who do itemize, the megabill increases the cap on state and local taxes to $40,000 for those with an income of $500,000 or less and raises it by 1% annually — a win for high-tax blue states like New York and especially on Long Island.
The SALT deduction is one of the five main categories of itemized deductions, along with mortgage interest, medical or dental expenses, charitable contributions and casualty, disaster and theft loss.
***
About 40 former soldiers, as well as a few hundred civilian supporters, participated in the Hamptons' Soldier Ride on Saturday. Organizers said the annual event, which started two decades ago, has proved to be not only a fundraising tool for Wounded Warrior Project, but also a means of rehabilitation for service members assimilating back to civilian life.
"The hardest part of surviving conflict and military service is living," said Walter Piatt, chief executive of Wounded Warrior Project.
Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that The Wounded Warrior ride began with a 17-mile ride in Manhattan Thursday, followed by a 22-mile trip in Babylon on Friday.
Shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday, bicyclists departed the Amagansett Fire Department parking lot. About 3½ hours later, the riders returned under warm, sunny skies to celebrate the completion of the three-day event.
The annual Hamptons ride brings the organization back to its roots.
Peter Honerkamp, a co-founder of Wounded Warrior Project and owner of the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, recalled how a benefit concert in 2003 for Rocky Point's John Fernandez, who was injured in Iraq, inspired East Hampton native Chris Carney to bicycle across the country in 2004.
That grew into a three-person trip the following year, when a pair of former Army sergeants injured in Iraq — one a single-leg amputee, the other a double-leg amputee — joined Carney. Soldier Rides are now held across the nation.
WWP CEO Piatt...a retired Lt. General...cheered the Soldier Riders as they departed. He then hopped on his own bicycle to join them.
Before the ride, he reflected on the organization’s promise to bring every warrior home, including their “mind, body and soul.” He said the founders of the Soldier Ride provided the avenue to fulfill that promise.
“This is much more than a ride," he said. "It is our road home."
***
Alive on 25 drew throngs of people to downtown Riverhead Friday night to enjoy live music, food, craft beverages, kids’ games and activities, a car show and even professional wrestling performances. The evening was capped off with a fireworks display launched from a small barge in the Peconic River. Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that the event is under new management this year. In April, the Riverhead Town Board hired Main Street Agency to produce Alive on 25. Main Street Agency is an events and public relations company founded and owned by Diane Tucci, who is currently employed as the Town Board coordinator in Riverhead. Tucci previously ran the event for the Riverhead Business Improvement Management Association as its executive director, a position she left in 2019. Alive on 25, now dubbed “Riverhead Block Party,” is set to return Aug. 1.
***
One East Hampton Town councilman objected to going outside the scope of a contract with East Hampton Village as a split Town Board approved a joint $55 million purchase on Georgica Cove last Thursday. Jack Motz reports on 27east.com that the easement will protect 5.5 acres of land spread over two parcels located on Cove Hollow Farm Road. East Hampton Town, East Hampton Village and the Peconic Land Trust collaborated on the buy, with the latter offering a $35 million contribution raised from private donations. In all, the final purchase price was $55 million. The town’s share will be $10 million, while the village’s share will be $10 million.
In a 3-1 vote, with one excused absence, on Thursday, July 17, the East Hampton Town Board passed a resolution to approve the purchase. The conservation easement will protect the land from future development. The Peconic Land Trust will now own the land. The Town Board is looking to construct parking and a trail on the property.
East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, Councilwoman Cate Rogers and Councilman Ian Calder-Piedmonte voted in favor of the purchase, while Councilman David Lys voted against it. Councilman Tom Flight had an excused absence.
Now approved, the town’s contribution will come from its Community Preservation Fund. At the end of 2024, the Town of East Hampton had about $60 million in the fund, per an independent audit.
To move forward, though, the East Hampton Town Board had to go outside the scope of an intermunicipal agreement with the Village of East Hampton , which stretches back to 1999 and ensures the town government makes 10 percent of CPF revenue available for properties within village borders. In 2016, the two municipalities renewed the agreement.
This parcel was not included in East Hampton Town’s Community Preservation Project Plan, so the Town Board had to go outside the scope of the intermunicipal agreement to proceed.
***
As the summer season settles in, this month marks the first time thousands of Airbnb hosts in Suffolk County no longer have to collect taxes on short-term rental stays thanks to a new deal that shifts that task onto the company. Joe Werkmeister reports in NEWSDAY that the Voluntary Collection Agreement between Suffolk County and Airbnb is meant to streamline the process and ensure the county receives the money it's owed from a 5.5% occupancy tax paid by renters, officials said. The occupancy tax funds several initiatives that promote tourism throughout Suffolk.
Not all hosts have collected the occupancy tax previously, officials said, forcing the county to track down individuals.
"This is a significant milestone and major achievement," Suffolk Comptroller John Kennedy said in an interview with Newsday.
A spokesperson for Airbnb told Newsday the process should be easier for hosts since they are no longer required to track tax collections. Suffolk is the 38th county in New York to enter into a similar agreement with Airbnb, according to the company.
The change comes as Suffolk collected a record of nearly $23 million from the occupancy tax in 2024, according to the county’s Finance and Taxation Division. The occupancy tax applies to hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts and short-term rental sites like Airbnb. The tax is levied in addition to the 8.75% sales tax, with revenue collected for the county and state.
Revenue jumped 53% in 2023 compared to the prior year after the county nearly doubled the tax from 3% to 5.5%.
Kennedy said it was too early to estimate how much additional revenue the change will bring. "This collaboration should definitely be a beneficial one and bring in more revenue under the hotel-motel process," he said.
Airbnb will send payments to the county on a quarterly basis, per a spokesperson for the San Francisco-based company.
***
When the Southold Town Board held a public hearing June 24 on a proposal to limit lawn irrigation, the board had decided prior to the meeting to remove key provisions recommended by the town’s Water Advisory Committee, including requiring property owners to adhere to odd/even day watering schedules and to not irrigate between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Beth Young reports in EAST END BEACON that the public hearing will continue tomorrow at the Southold Town Board’s 4:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting, and those two items will again be part of the proposal, at the urging of the town’s Water Advisory Committee.
At the beginning of scheduled Southold Town Board meetings, the attending public is encouraged to briefly address the Town Board relating to agenda resolutions prior to their enactment; the public will also be given time at the conclusion of the regularly scheduled business agenda to address the Board on any given topic.
The text of tomorrow’s proposed local law is on page 7 of the July 22 Town Board meeting agenda. Click here for more information.
***
The Peconic Estuary Partnership will hold two community meetings this week to hear perspectives from the public about the future of the estuary. The first will be held this evening at 6 p.m. at Ashawagh Hall in Springs, and the second will be held tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the Peconic Baykeeper’s Office at 167 Red Creek Road in Hampton Bays.
A body of water between eastern Long Island’s twin forks, the Peconic Estuary is a shallow, well-mixed estuary between the North and South ends of Suffolk County, New York. Approximately 128,000 acres of the watershed drain into the 155,000-acre estuary connected to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Peconic Estuary Partnership (PEP) is a National Estuary Program that acts as a backbone organization, bringing together partners from different sectors around common goals. Peconic Estuary Partnership staff and PEP’s partners support monitoring, research, collaboration and education to address priority issues within the Peconic Estuary Watershed. PEP acts as a bridge at the boundary between science and policy, and ensures that an informed citizenry, along with all other stakeholders, have a voice in the decision-making process.
The Peconic Estuary System is an integral part of the Long Island economy and ecology. In order to sustain this valuable resource, PEP states we must achieve a balance between the needs of the estuary’s resources and the sometimes conflicting demands of the region’s populace. Key to establishing this balance is an educated citizenry that is willing to support, promote, and actively participate in measures to protect Long Island’s east end estuary system.