Suffolk Cyberattack: Mortgage Tax Receipts Slowed To Towns: Report

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Mortgage taxes — paid at the sale of properties and processed by Suffolk's clerk office — were impacted by the cyberattack, dropping by over $34.8 million from September to mid-December compared with $71.7 million over the same time frame in 2021, according to records obtained by Newsday.

Mortgage tax payouts to 10 Suffolk towns dropped by $16.7 million from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, the county comptroller’s office, which is responsible for paying towns, told Newsday. Payouts last year were also $12.49 million, as compared with $29.2 million in 2021, the news outlet reported.

Taxes collected to fund community preservation also dropped to $26 million from September through mid-December, as compared with $54.3 million in 2021, according to the records Newsday obtained.

County Clerk Vince Puleo, who took office Jan. 1, said the processing of mortgage taxes "is going to get better and better as time goes on," adding that "everybody is going to be made whole."

Puleo told the outlet that he hoped by the end of January to bring back online filing of taxes.

Patch has reached out to the county clerk's office for comment.

For more in Newsday, click here.

Suffolk government's web-based applications were breached in what officials later described as a ransomware attack. Officials announced late last month that the driver’s license numbers of nearly 500,000 people, who were issued violations in the county's police district, meaning the area patrolled by Suffolk police outside villages, were possibly exposed.

The personal information of current and former employees was exposed.

County officials have since made available credit monitoring and restoration services for those affected.

RELATED STORIES:

• 5 Things To Know About Preliminary Suffolk Cyberattack Probe
• Suffolk Cyberattack Hackers Demanded $2.5M: Bellone
• 'Zombie House' Demos Stalled In Brookhaven Over Cyberattack: Officials
• Suffolk Traffic Court Back Online After Cyberattack: Report
• Suffolk Offers Free Credit Monitoring To People Exposed In Cyberattack