Westchester County residents facing a hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic would have until July 15 to pay their county taxes and assessments without penalty or interest under legislation announced today by County Executive George Latimer.
In order to qualify for a penalty- and interest-free extension of the April 30 deadline, taxpayers would have to demonstrate to local officials that they are covered by hardship criteria that have yet to be developed.
Under the legislation, a group of town officials would help develop the criteria to qualify for the hardship determination. Municipalities would maintain a list of taxpayers within their jurisdiction qualifying for the hardship determination. Hardship determinations could be based upon objective criteria related to the COVID-19 pandemic such as: loss of employment; illness; closure of a business; or other loss of income or revenue.
The legislation would amend county tax law to authorize municipalities to waive penalties for the late payment of county taxes, county district taxes and assessments. It would not cover local taxes, such as town, city and school taxes.
The July 15 date coincides with the extended deadlines to file New York state and federal income taxes. Under the proposed legislation individual municipalities may choose not to participate in granting extensions for paying without penalties or interest. There are six cities, 19 towns and 20 villages.
Latimer emphasized that what’s being proposed is not to move the tax due date, but rather to authorize waiving of penalties and interest for certain taxpayers making late payments.
“Any mortgage or banking organizations that pay for taxes on behalf of the properties that they’ve mortgaged, they must pay on time, effectively April 1, with a due date of April 30 at the end of the month,” Latimer said. “Normally, if you do not pay by April 30, you pay a penalty of 2% on the principal of the payment due in May and that number goes up to 5% in either June or July.”
Latimer said that the county Board of Legislators is discussing the proposal and will hold a public hearing on the measure “in the next couple of weeks” while the April 30 deadline approaches.
In the same news conference at which he announced the tax proposal, Latimer reported that COVID-19 has now claimed the lives of 67 Westchester residents.
Of the 11,567 cases currently identified in Westchester, 7,231 have not yet been tracked to a particular municipality. The remainder are allocated as follows:
Ardsley 26; Bedford 44; Briarcliff Manor 22; Bronxville 25; Buchanan 5; Cortlandt 155; Croton-on-Hudson 22; Dobbs Ferry 59; Eastchester 94; Elmsford 21; Greenburgh 206; Harrison 85; Hastings-on-Hudson 29; Irvington 23; Larchmont 19; Lewisboro 22;
Mamaroneck Town 46; Mamaroneck Village 54; Mount Kisco 74; Mount Pleasant 99; Mount Vernon 428; New Castle 51; New Rochelle 527; North Castle 34; North Salem 5; Ossining Town 30; Ossining Village 220; Peekskill 109; Pelham 30; Pelham Manor 27;
Pleasantville 35; Port Chester 190; Pound Ridge 4; Rye Brook 50; Rye City 44; Scarsdale 102; Sleepy Hollow 68; Somers 43; Tarrytown 53; Tuckahoe 32; White Plains 266; Yonkers 939; Yorktown 136.
A total of 568 Westchester residents have been in the hospital at some point during the outbreak with 344 currently hospitalized including 301 in Westchester hospitals.
