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Friday, December 29, 2017
Vol. 66, No. 52
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North Shore braces for GOP tax bill impact
BALLIN’
BY R E B ECC A K L A R
L.I. lawmakers, experts worry about law, offer ways to mitigate harm BY LU K E TOR R A N C E A sweeping tax bill passed by Congress last week will severely reduce the tax deductions available to Long Island residents, which has many locals spending the ďŹ nal days of 2017 trying to pre-pay their taxes. The bill was slammed by Long Island politicians across the political spectrum. “This legislation is a disgrace and a ‘punch-in-the-gut’ to middleclass families throughout Long Island and Queens,â€? Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said in a statement. While no Democrat in Congress supported the bill, only a handful of Republicans joined them in voting against it. The 191 Democrats were joined by 12 Republicans in opposing the bill in the House of Representatives including Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) and Peter King (R-Seaford). Eleven of the 12 Republicans,
the only members of their party in either the House or Senate vote against the bill, represented either New York, New Jersey or California. They opposed the bill for a similar reason: the deduction of state and local tax deductions, which will hit those three states particularly hard. Deductions for state individual income, sales and property taxes will be capped at $10,000. Zeldin called it a “geographic redistribution of wealth� during an interview with CNBC. King said in a statement that the $10,000 cap was not enough and claimed that the bill would reduce home values by as much as 10 to 15 percent. “The bottom line is that while most of the rest of the country will be getting a tax cut, it will be paid for by Long Island residents who will be getting a tax increase,� King said. Continued on Page 44
Gillen seeks ‘new era’
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEWANHAKA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
Floral Park Memorial High School senior Marykate Guerriero participated in the school’s Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser.
Laura Gillen said she faces an uphill battle when she takes over as Town of Hempstead supervisor on Jan. 1 It’s a ďŹ ght the Democrat said she is willing to make for the residents she was elected to serve. “There’s lot of people who are going to be working against me to see me fail,â€? Gillen said. “But I have a mandate from the people to try and deliver good government to them, so that’s how I’m going to proceed.â€? Gillen, who up until recently worked at the law ďŹ rm of Westerman Ball Ederer Miller Zucker & Sharfstein, said she’d been asked to run for public oďŹƒce before. She deliberately waited for one where she thought she could make a difference, she said. Everyone had always just accepted that “the Town of Hempstead is a patronage mill,â€? Gillen said. Everybody’s friends and families are on the payroll, she said, and “it’s just about recycling the same old people.â€? Under outgoing town Supervisor Anthony Santino, she said, the town wasn’t serving the people it was supposed to. Rather than reaching out to the public, Gillen said, Santino’s administration let out as little information as possible. Continued on Page 45
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