December 27, 2017
Statement by Ned McCormack, Senior Advisor to the Westchester County Executive:
“In Westchester, the collection of property taxes is the responsibility of local municipalities. A number of municipalities are saying people can pre-pay their 2018 property taxes based on their 2017 bills and reconcile any discrepancies next year. Although this may be an option for some people, ultimately, the question of deductibility will be decided by the IRS.
Westchester County has looked into the feasibility of having residents pre-pay their county taxes. It is just not possible for the county to issue its 2018 tax warrants to localities within the next four days for a whole host of legal, operational and practical reasons. By law, the county can only issue one complete warrant for the 259,034 properties across all of Westchester’s localities and special districts. There is no way to do this responsibly by the end of the year given all of the laws that the county must follow under Westchester’s charter and the U.S. tax code, as well as a host of other variables and unknowns.”