Hempstead Town asks for tax payment delay after delinquencies rise

Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin, Tax Receiver Jeanine Driscoll and Councilman Bruce Blakeman

 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo just gave a break to traffic law violators by allowing them to pay their fines over time while keeping their driving licenses.

So how about a break for people who have not violated the law? Such as Hempstead Town homeowners facing a Feb. 10 deadline during the ongoing pandemic to pay the first half of their general county and town property tax bill?

Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin, town Tax Receiver Jeanine Driscoll and Councilman Bruce Blakeman, all Republicans, on Monday called on Democrat Cuomo to push back the deadline for payment without penalties of the first half general property tax bill until March 10 -- an extension similar to the delay Cuomo ordered for Nassau school district property tax bills last fall.

"People need relief. People need help. People are struggling," Clavin said at a news conference. "We are asking the governor to step in and help us...We need you again. Step in and stand up for the taxpayers. Give them some relief through this tsunami of a pandemic of job loss and a reassessment that is just devastating households and families across Nassau County.,"

Many homeowners have lost jobs and some cannot afford to feed their families after government officials last March  shutdown "non-essential" businesses, including restaurants, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Only limited openings have been allowed since then.

The school tax bills that went out in November and this month's general tax bills are the first to use new values generated by Democratic County Executive Laura Curran's 2018 reassessment. 

Newsday reported that the county's own analysis found that 65 percent of the school tax bills increased this year over last year. While Nassau contended that nobody's bill jumped by more than $2,000, Driscoll and others have provided examples of tax hikes thousands of dollars above that $2,000 threshold.

Clavin said he expects the  general tax bills to increase in the same manner.

Cuomo last fall ordered that school district property tax bills be delayed a month; Instead of going out Oct. 1, he directed the bills be issued Nov. 1 while the first half payment without penalty was delayed until Dec. 10.

While most of Hempstead's 256,000 homeowners are payiing their taxes, Driscoll said there has been a 40 percent increase in late payment and delinquencies since the pandemic began.

Driscoll's office reported that while data about December's school tax payments is still incomplete, there were 14,054 delinquent residential parcels in 2020 compared to 9,978 in 2019. 

That's an increase of 4,076 in delinquent payments.

Clavin, who served as tax receiver for 18 years until he was sworn in as supervisor in Jan. 2020, termed the delinquencies "a staggering number." 

"We've never seen that kind of jump over a 20-year period," Clavin said. "This is how this pandemic is affecting taxpayers."

As of mid-afternoon today, officials said they had not received a response from Cuomo.

It was also unclear if Nassau had delivered the required tax warrant to Driscoll's office, which allows the tax receiver to send out the general tax bills. Driscoll said Monday that the county had yet to deliver the warrant, which was approved by the county legislature on Dec. 14.

UPDATED: Driscoll's office reports it got the tax warrant late Monday after she complained about the delay.