Letter: Suffolk’s new fees are taxes in disguise
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone looks on during a news conference in Smithtown, Friday, May 13, 2016. Credit: Barry Sloan
Our Suffolk County legislators have found a new way to raise taxes without calling it a tax.
It is proposed that documents regarding real estate — whether it’s a mortgage, mortgage satisfaction document, refinancing or modification agreement — will now have to pay an extra $300 “mortgage verification fee” [“Legislators OK $2.9B 2017 budget,” News, Nov. 10].
This means that just to record any document regarding a home will now cost in excess of $550. Ouch! Suffolk will have the second-highest recording fees in the nation; Nassau County is the highest.
In Florida, most documents cost less than $100 to record anywhere in the state. No wonder retirees look to move out.
Tom Licari, Islip
Editor’s note: The writer is an attorney who was a Democratic candidate for Islip supervisor in 2015.
