The challenges to Nassau’s countywide reassessment of property continues.
A state Supreme Court judge recently rejected a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Nassau County’s new assessment system and ruled that it could move forward as a class-action suit.
The plaintiffs allege that the reassessment violated federal due process and equal protection clauses, and did not use accurate factors and market values.
As a result, the plaintiffs claim the reassessment yielded inaccurate results that could potentially lead to higher taxes for hundreds of thousands of county homeowners.
This takes place at the same time that Nassau Republican legislators have continued to gum up and politically exploit Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s efforts to reassess all property in the county.
This has included a call to fire the county assessor, passage of legislation vetoed by Curran to hold a referendum asking for the assessor position to be made an elective position, a demand to see the formula used by the assessor to establish property values and a proposed “Assessment Bill of Rights” in which the assessor would be required to live in Nassau County.
Okay, guess where County Assessor David Moog lives. Surprise: Queens.
Now guess what county department requires its head to live in Nassau. If you answered none, you are correct.
You might think that the county’s assessment system was in great shape until Curran came along. But if you did you would be wrong.
Under Curran’s predecessor, Republican Edward Mangano, the county conducted no reassessments and didn’t hire a certified assessor for eight years.
Both Republican and Democratic officials acknowledged the inaccuracy of county assessments and encouraged property owners to challenge them in court.
During this time, $2.2 billion was shifted from generally more affluent, older people who challenged their property taxes to those who didn’t – who just so happened to be younger, less affluent and more likely to be a member of a minority, according to a Newsday study.
And the county was left with a $70 million bill each year payable to the people who successfully challenged their proper taxes.
Most of that bill was due to the so-called “county guarantee,” which requires Nassau to cover the cost of successful challenges to taxes that pay for school districts and special districts as well as the county.
Interestingly enough, no lawsuits were filed against the county’s dysfunctional assessment system under Mangano.
A Newsday analysis of Nassau County’s property reassessment recently found that the assessments under the new system are “well within every major professional standard of accuracy and fairness.”
The analysis was supported by the New York State Office of Real Property Tax Services, which concluded that the reassessment eliminated the inaccurate and widely unfair disparities among home values.
This raises the question of why the lawsuit against the county? Why not do what more than half of county property owners did during the Mangano Administration – challenge their assessments?
The reassessment does not take away property owners’ rights to challenge the value given to their home. It just makes it harder to win. Because the assessments are more accurate.
So why try to upend the entire new assessment system and delay the updating of the property values another year or two?
Did we mention that the beneficiaries of the old system were generally more affluent, older people and the victims of the system were younger, less affluent and more likely to be a member of a minority?
We hate to cast aspersions but a recent Newsday series revealed that black home buyers have been treated differently than whites. They are steered to black neighborhoods and they are more closely scrutinized by brokers – helping make Nassau County was one of the most segregated suburban counties in the country.
Both Curran and Republican county legislators are expected to extend the unfairness of the old system with a five-year phase-in of the reassessed property values.
Which would mean that those overpaying the past eight years would continue to overpay for the next five years – just by smaller amounts. And those underpaying their property taxes would continue to underpay their property taxes.
Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello has said that to make people who are underpaying their taxes pay their fair share immediately would impose such a financial hardship that some homeowners would have to sell their homes.
Nicolello has yet to explain why the previous system and the five-year phase-in is not a financial hardship for those who have been overpaying their taxes.
Some property owners who have been overpaying their taxes filed a lawsuit calling for the county refund them the money they overpaid.
If that lawsuit were to prevail, Nassau County would face a $2.2 billion bill and probably end up as New York City’s sixth borough if not a ward of the state.
In truth, no matter how good the assessment system there are always going to be errors – unless the county is prepared to hire enough people to inspect every property every year. And even then assessments would be challenged. In some cases, with good reason.
Homes get improvements or they don’t. Neighborhoods get better or they get worse. School districts, which play a major factor in real estate values, get better or they get worse. Demographics change. Federal tax policy changes.
And even when all county properties are assessed for what they are worth, the system would still be unfair because property taxes are unfair, measuring the value of a person’s property — not their ability to pay.
There is a form of taxation that is based on someone’s ability to pay. It is called the income tax. And it is used at least in part by the federal government, the State of New York and — locally — New York City.
As we have said asked in the past, why not Nassau?
