$5.5 million more errors admitted in error-free Nassau assessment roll

                                                                                

        

Legis. John Ferretti

                                                                       

Legis. Arnold Drucker

 

 

 About 4,500 Nassau veterans and 800 clergy were overcharged more than $5 million in general property taxes this month because the county did not apply valid exemptions in its recent assessment roll,  a top assessment official acknowledged today.

That comes after Nassau acknowledged last month that it had overcharged homeowners at least $2.7 million in school property taxes because of hundreds of errors in the assessment roll.

But this must all be make believe.

After all, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat running for re-election this year, denied any mistakes when Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin and Tax Receiver Jeanine Driscoll, both Republicans, accused the county assessor in October of making 12,000 errors in this assessment roll, the first to use values developed in  Curran's 2018 reassessment.

"There aren't errors. It's make believe," a Curran spokesperson said then.

But Deputy Assessor Robert Miles today acknowledged that valid exemptions were not applied by the county computer in some special districts for 4,000 veterans and 800 members of the clergy. 

Miles later corrected the number of veterans to between 4,500 to 4,700. 

"This is the full universe," he insisted.

Under questioning by Legis. John Ferretti (R-Levittown), Miles said the overcharge, for which the county is liable, is "in the range of $5 million."  He later acknowledged the overcharges could be as much as $5.5 million.

When asked where the money would come to repay the veterans, Miles said to ask the county executive's budget office.

Miles blamed the county computer for the errors that overcharged the veterans about $1,000 each on average.

Miles continued to blame the computer when Legis. William Gaylor (R-Lynbook) pressed him about the mistake.

"The buck has to stop somewhere, " Gaylor said. "We can’t tell our constituents it was a computer error..."

Miles responded, "This is a very  unique technological situation."

Gaylor continued, "But the buck has to stop somewhere. If not the department of assessment, the county executive is ultimately responsible for the errors that occur in her administration...She is the overall top administrator."

Miles said, "I don't think it was the county executive's fault."

"Who is stepping up to take responsibility for these errors?" Gaylor demanded, "You're not answering the question. Who is responsible for the error to 4,000 veterans?"

"It's an unfortunate computer error," Miles insisted.

Miles, who is a deputy county attorney, was adroit in sidestepping direct questions.

Ferretti grilled Miles about the removal of information from the county website about the phase-in of assessment increases and decreases for each individual homeowner. The data had been removed the day after school tax bills were posted Nov.1. Ferretti sponsored a bill passed unanimously by the county legislature last month to restore the information "immediately."

"Why was it removed to begin with?" Ferretti asked.

"I am not sure," Miles responded. "But I believe we are working on putting the number back up, making sure the number is clear."

Ferretti continued, "Who ordered the removal. Was it you?"

"No. I did not," Miles said.

"Was it the assessor?"

"I’m not sure."

"Who removed it?".

"I don't know," Miles said. "We are working with putting the number back up and comply with the law."

Legis. Arnold Drucker, a Democrat from Plainview, clearly had enough of Republican questioning of the Democratic administration.

He noted at about noon, that the 9 a.m. hearing had gone on for three hours at that point.

"I think three hours is excessive, " Drucker said, "Going forward," he said, "We as legislators should be limited to a certain amount of time."

Legislators, by the way, are paid $78,711 a year each, to attend legislative hearings and meetings, usually every two weeks, which translates into about two or three days a month.

Debra Mule, Democratic legislator from Freeport, agreed and said that the Republican majority and Democratic minority should take turns asking questions.

Drucker led Miles through a series of questions designed to demonstrate that Curran's reassessment was accurate overall.

He asked Miles to confirm a technical statistic that is supposed to indicate that Nassau's numbers were well within the 10 percent margin of error used as a standard to judge reassessments nationally; Drucker also asked about the actual number of successful tax grievances. Miles said 4 percent.

"That should indicate to taxpayers that by and large its an accurate roll," Drucker said.

Drucker also called the veteran's mistake "a computer error."

"Errors happen, isn't that correct Mr. Miles," Drucker said. 

The county's quality review program of the assessment roll "was a proactive attempt to try to address things that might happen in an monumental effort of reassessing 400,000 homes," Drucker said.

Actually, there are about 386,000 residential properties in Nassau County, more than 424,000 when commercial, utility and large apartment buildings are included, But that's close enough.