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Curran’s Taxpayer Protection Plan included in Cuomo’s budget

Jessica Parks
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s Taxpayer Protection Plan has made its way into Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2019-20 state budget proposal.

The plan would allow for a five-year phase-in of tax increases or decreases that Nassau County property owners will see from the recent countywide reassessment of homes’ market values.

The tax impact notices that were mailed to residents in November included two hypothetical values for the 2020-21 tax roll; one was their expected value without a transitional cap and the other incorporated a transitional cap.

If the phase-in is approved in the state budget, taxpayers will pay the value under the transitional cap, which means their taxes will increase or decrease incrementally each year for a five-year period until each taxpayer is paying the full tax value or has received the full savings.

A news release from Curran’s office gives an example of a home that went from $300,000 to $500,000 in market value when reassessed. Using a 0.10 percent level of assessment, the home’s assessment value went from $300 to $500. Therefore, the $200 increase would be subject to the transitional cap.

The taxpayer’s assessed value would increase by 20 percent of the difference each year for five years until he or she is paying taxes for the full assessed value. In the example, the homeowner would see the assessed value increase by 20 percent of $200, or $40, each year for five years.

Curran’s reassessment came after the tax roll had been frozen for nearly 10 years. Comparative homes had stark differences in values and it was found that some taxpayers were paying more than their fair share of taxes and others were paying less.

“For nearly a decade, during the frozen assessment roll, half of taxpayers were subsidizing the other half,” Curran said. “I promised to do a reassessment to bring back fairness and accuracy.”

For full approval of the Taxpayer Protection Plan, Cuomo’s budget will need to be approved and a local law must be adopted to implement the plan in Nassau County.

“I will continue to work with members of the state Senate and Assembly to respond to any questions they may have and ensure bipartisan support from our legislators to protect taxpayers,” Curran said.

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