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GOP pols urge Curran to review reassessed property taxes

Robert Pelaez
Nassau County Republican Legislators said a handful of mansion homeowners throughout the county were not subject to pay property taxes in 2020-21. (Photo courtesy of the legislative majority)

Nassau County Republican Legislators called on County Executive Laura Curran to conduct an “exhaustive review” of the reassessment process last week after claiming a handful of mansion owners throughout Nassau did not pay any property taxes in the 2020-21 tax year.

Republican officials cited several properties throughout Nassau County that were subject to paying thousands in property taxes in the 2019-20 tax year, but said records indicated that their owners did not pay or saw significant decreases in property taxes in the following year. The assessed valuations of the homes ranged from more than $3 million to a whopping $25 million.

A waterfront Kings Point property valued at more than $3.7 million, officials said, was subject to $21,000 in property taxes a year before the reassessment was introduced, but paid no property taxes in the 2020-21 tax roll. A Point Lookout property, they said, was subject to more than $31,000 in the 2019-20 tax year, but also went without paying a cent in property taxes the following year.

“Other properties of the very wealthy have seen tax savings in the tens of thousands of dollars. We have also identified identical homes sitting side by side with vastly different tax bills,” Presiding Officer Rich Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said. “We are demanding that the county executive perform a comprehensive review to identify all the inequities and to fix the problem. Nassau residents deserve better.”

Officials said the homeowners of a Kings Point mansion valued at $25 million paid $145,512 in property taxes prior to the reassessment before paying $24,830 the following year. A mansion in Hewlett Harbor, officials said, was subject to nearly $93,000 in property taxes in 2019-20, but saw almost an 80 percent reduction the following year as a result of the reassessment.

“The Nassau County executive’s reassessment is patently unfair and is a back-door tax increase for the hardworking homeowners,” Legislator Bill Gaylor (R-Lynbrook) said. “Now, middle-class property owners are picking up the tab for super wealthy homeowners who are paying no property taxes on their mansions because of Laura Curran’s reassessment.”

Curran spokeswoman Justine DiGiglio touted the county executive’s work on reassessing homes throughout Nassau and said some of the properties that were identified by the legislators exploited the results of a broken valuation system from the prior administration under former County Executive Ed Mangano.

“Once again Republican legislators are arguing to protect their broken assessment system and misleading the public,” DiGiglio said in a statement to Blank Slate Media. “County Executive Curran successfully completed the challenge of the first countywide property reassessment in nearly a decade to fix a corrupt system that had homeowners paying inaccurate amounts – while the GOP did nothing.”

DiGiglio also claimed county records indicate that a Centre Island home the majority said paid no property taxes in 2020-21 pays upwards of $65,000 a year.

Curran called for the reassessment of approximately 400,000 homes in 2018 after the county’s assessment roll had been frozen since 2008.

DiGiglio said the intent of the Taxpayer Protection Program “was never meant to eliminate property taxes” and the administration would correct the law if required. DiGiglio said the program was unanimously approved by the Legislature, but Republican officials claimed Legislators John Ferretti (R-Levittown) and Steve Rhoads (R-Bellmore) abstained from the vote.

“The Majority has identified examples of gross inequities in which mansions are vastly undertaxed, some of which pay zero in property taxes,” Nicolello said. “Nassau residents deserve better.”

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