Great Neck peninsula overassessed, mayors say
Five village mayors on the Great Neck peninsula have complained that Nassau County Executive Laura Curran's reassessment significantly overvalued homes in their communities in 2019 and 2020.
The mayors asked county lawmakers in a letter-- read into the record Monday -- to support a proposed five-year phase-in of the new values to give residents time to challenge their assessments.
"Analysis of the villages of Kensington, Thomaston, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Kings Point sales as compared to Nassau County assessed values in the 20/21 (issued Jan. 2019) and 2021/2022 (issued Jan. 2020) tax rolls reveals a systemic overassessment," the letter begins.
"Sales data from 2017, 2018, and 2019 for these villages were compared to the NC assessed values for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022. The results of the analysis found that anywhere from 75 percent to 90 percent of the new values were HIGHER than the actual sales price. In some instances, the difference was over 25 percent."
The mayors said they had several meetings and phone calls with Assessor David Moog and staff from Jan. 2019 through Nov. 2019 but "it was clear to all of us that the county was not going to address the crux of our concerns...that the assessed values in our community by virtue of the opaque 'neighborhood factor' that was applied, resulted in a gross overassessment of many homes and therefore higher taxes as a result."
They added they had advised their residents to file grievances "since we were unable as community leaders to effect any change from the assessor's office."
The letter to Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) was signed by Kensington Mayor Susan Lopatkin, on behalf of Kings Point Mayor Michael Kalnick, Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy, Russell Gardens Mayor David Miller and Thomaston Mayor Steven Weinberg.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, no member of the public was allowed to attend in person, but could watch the meeting by livestreamed video.
The legislature voted 17-0 to approve the phase-in which reduces the tax increase for an estimated 53 percent of homeowners who were underassessed. But it also lowers the tax reduction for those who were underassessed.
Republican legislators John Ferretti of Levittown and Steve Rhoads of Bellmore abstained from the vote after expressing their concerns about the phase-in and complaining that adminstration has not been open about the reassessment process.
Ferretti said that requiring 46 percent of county homeowners to pay more tax than they should pay during the phase-in "is definitely not fair and possibly unconstitutional."
The mayors asked county lawmakers in a letter-- read into the record Monday -- to support a proposed five-year phase-in of the new values to give residents time to challenge their assessments.
"Analysis of the villages of Kensington, Thomaston, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Kings Point sales as compared to Nassau County assessed values in the 20/21 (issued Jan. 2019) and 2021/2022 (issued Jan. 2020) tax rolls reveals a systemic overassessment," the letter begins.
"Sales data from 2017, 2018, and 2019 for these villages were compared to the NC assessed values for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022. The results of the analysis found that anywhere from 75 percent to 90 percent of the new values were HIGHER than the actual sales price. In some instances, the difference was over 25 percent."
The mayors said they had several meetings and phone calls with Assessor David Moog and staff from Jan. 2019 through Nov. 2019 but "it was clear to all of us that the county was not going to address the crux of our concerns...that the assessed values in our community by virtue of the opaque 'neighborhood factor' that was applied, resulted in a gross overassessment of many homes and therefore higher taxes as a result."
They added they had advised their residents to file grievances "since we were unable as community leaders to effect any change from the assessor's office."
The letter to Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) was signed by Kensington Mayor Susan Lopatkin, on behalf of Kings Point Mayor Michael Kalnick, Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy, Russell Gardens Mayor David Miller and Thomaston Mayor Steven Weinberg.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, no member of the public was allowed to attend in person, but could watch the meeting by livestreamed video.
The legislature voted 17-0 to approve the phase-in which reduces the tax increase for an estimated 53 percent of homeowners who were underassessed. But it also lowers the tax reduction for those who were underassessed.
Republican legislators John Ferretti of Levittown and Steve Rhoads of Bellmore abstained from the vote after expressing their concerns about the phase-in and complaining that adminstration has not been open about the reassessment process.
Ferretti said that requiring 46 percent of county homeowners to pay more tax than they should pay during the phase-in "is definitely not fair and possibly unconstitutional."
Rhoads said, "As for transparency, the county executive and department of assessment have been secretive and evasive to the legislature, to the public ..and utilized
unsupported and unsupportable neighborhood factors."
He noted a court has preliminarily said there is no justification for the factors and pointed out that Nassau had forced homeowners to go to court to get answers to their Freedom of Information requests.
State
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bucaria is hearing a lawsuit filed by Sands Point resident Eric Berliner and four other homeowners challenging the legality of Nassau's reassessment.
When rejecting Nassau's motion to dismiss, Bucaria wrote the county had offered "no rational basis for the alleged disparate treatment from the utilized neighborhood factoring, nor can this Court conceive of one.”
Nassau has appealed his decision.
Rhoads was also referring to at least two lawsuits filed by county homeowners after Nassau refused their Freedom of Information requests seeking information about the assessment process.
But Legis. Debra Mule (D-Freeport) said the past assessment system, which froze increases but approved thousands of reductions, "was unfair. People who did not grieve their taxes had to pay more than their fair share."
When rejecting Nassau's motion to dismiss, Bucaria wrote the county had offered "no rational basis for the alleged disparate treatment from the utilized neighborhood factoring, nor can this Court conceive of one.”
Nassau has appealed his decision.
Rhoads was also referring to at least two lawsuits filed by county homeowners after Nassau refused their Freedom of Information requests seeking information about the assessment process.
But Legis. Debra Mule (D-Freeport) said the past assessment system, which froze increases but approved thousands of reductions, "was unfair. People who did not grieve their taxes had to pay more than their fair share."
She added, "This reassessment has been vetted by different organizations...by Newsday...By everyone's reckoning the reassessment met and exceeded the standards," she said. "It's a very fair roll."
Comments
Post a Comment