Bipartisan Backing For Bill To Restore Tax Deduction

Congressmen Thomas Suozzi, left, and Peter King announce at a press conference Monday the introduction of their King-Suozzi bill to repeal the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions. Photo/Office of Rep. Thomas Suozzi

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Long Island Congressmen Thomas Suozzi (D- Glen Cove) and Peter King (R- Seaford) have introduced legislation to restore the full State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction capped by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

The King-Suozzi bill, introduced Friday as the 116th Congress began work, would repeal the $10,000 cap on SALT deductions and retroactively restore a full deduction.

Both King and Suozzi said the $10,000 cap has a disproportionately negative impact on middle-class families in areas with high taxes like Long Island, and both voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

“Eliminating deductions for local and state taxes will have a devastating effect on Long Island,” King said at a press conference Monday.

King said Long Islanders “already give far more to Washington then we get back,” getting 79 cents back from every tax dollar paid to the federal government.

“That’s a $48 billion shortfall and hurts our middle class,” King said.

Suozzi called the 2017 tax bill a “punch in the gut” for Long Islanders. In Suozzi’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes all of the Town of Huntington, 250,000 families, or 43 percent of households, claim the SALT deduction at an average rate of $18,300, Suozzi said.

Suozzi said he began brainstorming ways to reinstate the full SALT deduction almost as soon as the 2017 tax bill passed because “my district is in the top ten in America state and local tax deduction claims.”

“We pay very high taxes, and we’ve always relied on the deduction,” Suozzi said.

Suozzi said he has had “informal conversations” with other representatives and feels there’s “a lot of interest in this issue.”

In order to reach a vote on the floor of the Democratic-controlled House, Suozzi said the King-Suozzi bill must first pass through the House Ways and Means Committee. The Republican-controlled Senate must also approve the bill, where Suozzi said he anticipates a much tougher battle to get enough votes.

Suozzi said “most New York Democrats and Republicans will support us in this,” but urged Long Islander to continue to “make this [SALT deductions] an issue” with their federal representatives.

Newcomer Announces Bid For Town Board

Political newcomer Michael Bento announced his candidacy for a town board seat in the Nov. 2019 election.

By Connor Beach

cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Northport resident Michael Bento got his first political campaign off to an early start last week when he announced his candidacy for Huntington Town Board.

Bento, 30, a Democrat, said he is looking to bring a “fresh, young voice” to the town board.

The pair of town board seats up for election in 2019 are currently held by Democrat Councilwoman Joan Cergol and Councilman Eugene Cook, an Independence Party member who last election also ran on the Republican ticket.

Bento said growing up he spent his summers at his grandparents’ home in Asharoken Village, and more recently the damaged Asharoken seawall was the “issue that really launched me into wanting to serve.”

“I found the seawall is symbolic of the overall crumbling infrastructure townwide,” Bento said in an interview Tuesday.

Bento earned his master’s degree in history from Queens College, and has previously worked as a constant for investment baking operations. He worked on six Democratic campaigns during the 2018 election cycle, and was elected last year to the Suffolk County Democratic Committee.

In addition to infrastructure upgrades, Bento said ethics reforms were needed at town hall.

“We need a fundamental change in how the town board does business,” Bento said. “We need to eliminate patronage jobs. Jobs should only be created out of necessity and merit.”

He also advocated the town restructure its process for awarding contracts to private companies.

“I think we need a more open and transparent bidding process for those contacts, and we need to find out which of them are not a necessity to the town,” Bento said.

As a Northport resident, Bento said he is aware of the potential impacts of LIPA’s tax challenge of the Northport Power Plant. He argued the town should “mandate LIPA goes back to the original agreement of being a productive member of the community,” including restoration of nearby beaches.

“We need to be a lot harsher and firmer with our terms of settlement,” Bento said. “There needs to be a net zero loss to the Northport-East Northport School District in any settlement.”

If elected, Bento pledged to become a “full-time councilman.”

“I won’t have any outside jobs or income because I don’t want any conflict of interest, and I want to be there 100 percent of the time for the citizens of Huntington.”

Cergol will run for a new four-year term in November, and a spokesman said she plans to formally announce her campaign for town council later in the year.

Cergol has served on the town board since December 2017, when she was appointed to the seat left vacant by Susan Berland’s resignation. Cergol won election last year to serve out the remaining year of Berland’s term.

Cook, who was first elected in 2011, said he hasn’t yet decided if he will run for a third term on the town board, and encouraged residents to let him know their opinions.

He said, “I’d like the people to let me know what they think; I’d like to hear from them.”

Key Lupinacci Staffer Leaving Post

Deputy Supervisor Patricia DelCol’s last day on the job will be Jan. 29.

By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com

Longtime Deputy Supervisor Patricia DelCol is set to resign her position with the town at the end of the month.

DelCol was first appointed deputy town supervisor in 2010 by then-supervisor Frank Petrone. After seven years serving under Petrone, DelCol said she intended to leave the position when current supervisor Chad Lupinacci was elected in 2017. She agreed to stay on to help Lupinacci “get things up and running.”

“I made a commitment to him that I would do that, and I would do that for a year,” DelCol said in an interview Friday. “I think we have successfully transitioned a lot of the new department heads into their positions.”

The veteran town employee said she would be moving to a position in the private sector with Melville-based architecture and engineering firm H2M.

Lupinacci said DelCol has played an “instrumental role in this past year of transition.”

“We're going to miss Pat, and we are thankful for her dedication to the town,” Lupinacci said. “We wish her the best in her retirement from 24 years in government service.”

Lupinacci has not named any candidates to replace DelCol as deputy supervisor.

DelCol began her career with the town in 1986 as director of environmental control. After a spell in the private sector with Covanta Energy, she was again hired by the town in 2005 as the director of engineering services.

In her tenure as deputy supervisor, DelCol said the town’s “sound financial footing” and capital projects rank among her proudest accomplishments. She said the job of the deputy supervisor is “day-to-day management” of town projects and departments.

“Someone once told me the job of this position is to ‘keep the trains running on time,’ and that is very true,” DelCol said.

She said her time at town hall has been rewarding.

“We really focused on the residents and what their asks were,” DelCol said. “At the end of the day, you leave feeling like you really accomplished something.”

Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, who has served on the town board since 1998, called DelCol a “significant player at town hall” who “is very integral” to the town’s day-to-day operations.

“She understands all the town’s facets – finance, waste management, building department – she has a really acute understanding of all those areas,” Cuthbertson said.

DelCol said her last day at town hall will be Jan. 29.