Nassau extends property tax assessment grievance period to April 3 (UPDATED)

                                                                             

The administration of Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman has quietly extended this year's deadline for challenging Nassau's property tax assessments from March 1 to April 3.

There were no announcements but the link "How to Appeal Your Assessment" on the website for Nassau's Assessment Review Commission -- the agency that handles assessment challenges -- says grievances can be filed from Jan. 1, 2023  through April 3, 2023.

At the same time, the main page this afternoon still had the March 1 deadline.

After an inquiry, Blakeman confirmed the extension:

“As Nassau taxpayers continue to struggle with the previous administration’s failed phase-in which does not expire until next year, I have directed the county’s Assessment Review Commission to extend the property assessment grievance deadline from March first, to April third," Blakeman said in a statement.

"My administration has reviewed the comptroller’s comprehensive audit that uncovered many inaccuracies in valuations, and I felt it was important to give residents additional time to grieve. For more information about how to grieve your home’s assessed value, I encourage residents to visit our website at NassauCountyNY.gov.”

Nassau Democrats had already sent out a news release taking credit for the extension.

Nassau Democratic legislators last week called for the grievance period to be extended because of what they said were the many errors in the tax roll.

Another reason to grieve is because property values have bounced up and down lately because of changing interest rates.

Although Blakeman froze the roll, the level of assessment -- a near incomprehensible value used to calculate assessments -- apparently has also been lowered this year. A drop in the LOA generally results in a drop in assessed value, but only for homeowners who challenge their assessments.

This assessment roll issued in January is supposed to reflect the value of your house on Jan. 1, 2023.

Jeff Gold, a Bellmore attorney who runs a Facebook page that advises Nassau homeowners on how to grieve their assessments for free, posted six days ago: "Ordinarily I'm not in favor of an extended grievance period -- but this year is different because there were significant interest rate hikes and corresponding price drops at the end of 2022. The sales reflecting that market drop are not yet on the AROW system (ARC website). Accordingly I am emailing County Executive Blakeman and asking that he extend the deadline until after the AROW site is updated."

After being told that the deadline was extended, Gold briefly responded in an email, "Woo Hoo."