The state Court of Appeals has denied Nassau County’s motion to appeal a decision ordering it to send $1.3 million to the Town of North Hempstead.
“We are pleased the litigation is over and the county has been required to return the $1.3 million they wrongfully took from town taxpayers,” Carole Trottere, a town spokeswoman, said.
In May a state appellate court upheld a judge’s ruling that the county needed to return the $1.3 million of the Town of North Hempstead’s sales tax revenue it withheld to cover Fashion Institute of Technology reimbursement costs for the 2004-05 school year.
In February, town officials authorized litigation against the county in the event that it withheld a portion of the town’s sales tax revenue.
However, following a letter the county sent to the town comptroller’s office on March 7 saying that it withheld $1,273,496.76, town officials said they would seek a court order blocking the county from the claim.
“The County intends to fully comply with the decision of the lower court,” county Attorney Carnell Foskey said.
The state requires that counties pay a portion of tuition for community college students attending schools in other counties.
The county began asking for tuition reimbursements in 2010 from the towns of North Hempstead and Hempstead and the cities of Long Beach and Glen Cove.
In June, Bosworth called the county’s move to try and collect money from 2004 “preposterous.”
FIT is a SUNY community college in Manhattan.
