The Westchester Brief | 04.30.26: The $5,300 SALT Window Most Westchester Homeowners Are Missing

For eight years, the federal SALT cap of $10,000 cost Westchester homeowners real money every year. This year, that cap sits at $40,400—and for a typical Westchester household with $18,000 in property taxes and $14,000 in state income tax, the math is roughly $5,300 in annual federal tax reduction at a 24% marginal rate. The window is four years. The cap reverts to $10,000 in 2030 unless Congress acts. Most Westchester homeowners haven't done the math yet. We do it on Thursday's Brief.

Plus: ConEd rate case awaiting PSC ruling, school budget proposition forums ramping up ahead of the May 19 vote, Bobo's expanding to Tarrytown and Yorktown Heights, and Green Ossining's Earth Day Festival this Saturday.

**0:00** Cold open
**0:25** The SALT cap change and the math
**3:45** What changes if you itemize again
**5:00** The 2030 reversion and planning window
**5:45** Quick hits across Westchester
**7:00** Close + YouTube CTA

**Sources:** IRS; OurTaxPartner 2026 guide; SmartAsset SALT coverage; NY PSC; Westchester County Executive; NYSSBA

Subscribe on YouTube for the video version.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

For eight years, the Federal Tax Code quietly treated Westchester homeowners as a revenue source. This year, one of those rules just quadrupled the other way. And if you do not do the math this week, you're leaving roughly $5,000 on the table. This is the Westchester Brief on Jim. Let's get into it. The state and local tax deduction, the line on your federal return where you write off the state income tax and the property tax you already paid, was capped at $10,000 in 2017. That cap was the single most consequential federal tax decision for high-tax suburbs like Westchester. For nearly a decade, if you paid $20,000 in property taxes, the federal government told you that you could only deduct half of it. That has now changed. Starting in tax year 2025, the cap was raised to $40,000. For tax year 2026, the year you are earning income in right now, the cap sits at $40,400. It will rise by 1% a year through $2029. And then, under current law, it reverts all the way back to $10,000 beginning in $2030. Let me walk you through the math for a typical Westchester household. Consider a homeowner paying $18,000 in property taxes and $14,000 in New York State income tax, that is $32,000 in state and local tax exposure under the old $10,000 cap. The full $32,000 is deductible. At a 24% marginal federal rate, that swing is roughly $5,300 in annual federal tax reduction compared to the capped scenario every year, for four years. Why this matters? For the place you live. This changes more than a tax return. For many Westchester homeowners, the new cap now makes itomizing again worth doing. Add mortgage interest. Add charitable giving. The total itemized deduction for a large share of Westchester households now exceeds the standard deduction. For the last several years, the standard deduction was the default path for nearly everyone. That default is no longer right for many high-tax households in Westchester. And here is the context worth carrying. This window is temporary, the law expires at the end of 2029. Unless Congress acts, the cap reverts to $10,000 in 2030. That gives Westchester homeowners a four-year planning window. That window is long enough to bunch charitable contributions to time Roth conversions to think through capital gain strategy and to reassess estate planning. But it is not permanent. What to watch for? Any federal legislative effort to extend the cap beyond 2029 or to make the expanded cap permanent. State level discussions about whether New York's own deduction rules change in response. And the clarity your accountant will start bringing to your filing strategy this spring and next. If you have not run these numbers for your specific household, make an appointment this month. The filing strategy that was right for you in 2024 is probably not the filing strategy that is right for you for 2025 and the years that follow. This change is large enough to affect home purchase math, retirement contribution math, and charitable giving math all at once. Here is what else is happening across Westchester this week. The New York Public Service Commission is still deliberating on Con Edison's rate increase settlement. Public hearings were held in early April. A ruling is expected in the coming weeks. The settlement would raise electric rates about 4.3% this year, with further increases in 2027 and 2028. For the average residential customer, that is roughly $5.32 more per month. School district budget proposition forums begin in earnest next week across the county, leading up to the statewide vote on Tuesday, May 19th. Expect security line items to receive significantly more attention this cycle than in past years. Bobo's Cafe has expanded to its sixth location in Terrytown, with a Yorktown Heights opening also confirmed in the pipeline. Clemma in Larchmont is now open. La Mare Oyster Bar in Armand and the Saw Pit in Port Chester are both targeting spring openings. And Green Assigning's Earth Day Festival returns to Lewis B. Engel Waterfront Park on Saturday, April 25th, with eco-friendly vendors, live music, and Hudson River activities. Subscribe on YouTube for the video version of the brief at the I Live Here Westchester channel. I'm Jim and