Despite some confusion over the new rules, local town and county officials are still expecting a very busy day on Friday with homeowners who want to pay their property taxes early.
The situation involving the deductibility of property and other taxes is already creating a lot of questions, and with an advisory issued by the IRS on Wednesday, it only added to the confusion.
Basically, the federal agency said that tax filers can only avoid the new cap on the property tax deduction by paying property taxes that have been assessed in 2017.
In Monroe County, at least, it seems like that requirement would be met, since the county and town tax bills were prepared early.
But as always, it is advised you consult with your tax professional. Speaking of which, Burt Speer, a tax partner at Mengel Metzger Barr says his firm has had a lot of phone calls from clients this week.
“We’re reaching out to a lot of our clients, and others are calling us before we get to them, going, ‘what should I do?‘ And so we’re running lots of calculations to determine whether it’s beneficial or not; obviously if it’s not beneficial, why pre-pay it?”
A number of towns expect a very busy day on Friday with people who want to prepay their property taxes. Brighton Supervisor Bill Moehle is expecting a lot of people to stop by the town hall.
“I think we...normally get a little over 100 people that come in and pay early. My best guess, based on the phone calls (the town has been receiving), is we will have substantially more than that."
Among the towns expecting an influx of people on Friday, is Greece, where Supervisor Bill Reilich says they will have extra staff on hand to answer questions.
Another town expecting a crowd on Friday is Greece, said Town Supervisor Bill Reilich.
“We’re gearing up for several hundred people, if it amounts to that, we’re going to be ready for it, if it doesn’t we’ll still be ready to help people, so we’ll have people that know how to answer the questions to get the job done and get people in and out as fast as possible," Reilich said.
A number of towns and the county have extended hours Friday and some even on Saturday to help those who want to prepay taxes.
Monroe County's Treasurer's Office will be open Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo previously announced that county/town tax bills will be posted on the county's website, www.monroecounty.gov, no later than 9:00 a.m. on Friday, December 29.
