Bayville mayor tells House subcommittee tax law is hurting community

Bayville Mayor Robert De Natale testified Tuesday in front of a House Ways and Means subcommittee that the Trump administration's tax law is hurting his North Shore community.

He told lawmakers that ever since President Donald Trump signed into law tax cuts that capped state and local tax deductions at $10,000, taxes in his village have increased, home values have decreased and the number of residents putting their homes up for sale has gone up by 30%. A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Reps. Peter King and Tom Suozzi has sought to repeal the cap, but it hasn't happened.

De Natale urged lawmakers to look beyond politics, saying he's a registered Republican who voted for Trump. But he says the SALT limit is still unfair to villages like his and others nationwide.

Despite the mayor's testimony, some lawmakers on Capitol Hill weren't exactly shedding tears for the people of Bayville. South Carolina Rep. Tom Rice asked how he should explain to people who earn a fraction of the income of some in Bayville to subsidize part of the cost of living on Long Island.

Suozzi countered that New Yorkers are getting a raw deal, since the state sends billions more to Washington, D.C. than it receives in return.

Bayville resident Nancy States is a registered nurse who says she lives from paycheck to paycheck. But she says she'll do what she can to stay in Bayville.

At one point, a Republican congressman from Nebraska questioned De Natale about how a village with a household median income just north of $77,000 could feature homes that average $20,000 worth of property taxes. He simply didn't believe the numbers. The mayor responded, "Doesn't leave you too much left over, does it?"