Putnam Property Owners Await Tax Relief Program

By Holly Crocco

The County Legislature in October voted to put aside more than $6 million to create a property tax relief program for homeowners in Putnam County, but several months later, the funds are still sitting in purgatory.

Former Legislator Paul Jonke, who retired from the governing body in December, returned before the board during its May 12 Rules Committee meeting to get a status update.

He explained that in October, the county voted to return $200 to the 30,000 owner-occupied residencies on file. While the idea was to issue “refund checks” to these individuals, the state pushed back, saying counties cannot simply issue checks to taxpayers.

“We’ve put the money aside and I think it should go back (to the taxpayers) and I think it’s something to move on quickly,” said Jonke.

Senior Deputy County Attorney Heather Abissi said the state has a “gift clause” that places restrictions on writing checks to constituents, which is providing a hurdle for the county. Instead, she suggested the county piggyback on an already existing tax relief program, similar to STAR – a school tax relief program.

“If there is an existing New York State-approved program that you want to expand upon, that is the safest way to go about it,” she said.

Jonke disagreed.

“I don’t see this as a gift,” he said. “I know that the word ‘rebate’ was frowned upon, but this is a tax relief program.”

Further, Jonke said that if the county needs to push the State Legislature to approve such an action, so be it. “We should reach out to our state representatives immediately,” he said.

Legislator Nancy Mongtomery, D-Philipstown, suggested the county take action to provide relief sooner rather than later, since it’s already been six months since the money was set aside and it still hasn’t been returned to taxpayers.

“There is no legal mechanism right now for us to do this and I feel, personally, that our constituents need relief now,” she said.

Montgomery suggested using the $6 million to offset costs, similar to the way the county recently discussed a utility tax holiday, or offering support for child care costs. “There are a lot of programs that are available to us right now that can offer tax relief in the way of programs,” she said. “It’s still tax relief, it’s just not cutting a couple-hundred-dollar check.”

Legislator Jake D’Angelo, R-Carmel, said he’d like to take the program a step further and also provide relief to renters.

“I think that rents are as high as they are because of inflation and the assessments going up so high,” he said. “So I think that if you’re going to relieve that tax, generally speaking, it shouldn’t just be for owner-occupied residences.”

Legislator Erin Crowley, R-Mahopac, had a similar opinion.

“I would like to see some sort of relief for renters,” she said. “I want to make sure that we’re looking at all the resident of Putnam, whether they call it home as a renter, whether they call it home as a senior, as a landlord who may occupy who may not occupy it… There’s a lot of discussion, a lot of investigation that needs to happen.”

Jonke disagreed.

“I would recommend that if you want to have a program for renters, you create a program for renters,” he said, noting that the purpose of the initiative is to give back to those who have been paying property taxes for years. “Most of our owner-occupied houses have been owned for many years. With all due respect to renters, in 30 days, they could be living in another county or another state.”

Lawmakers say they will continue efforts to find a way to get the money back to taxpayers.