County Executive Laura Curran’s plan to phase in Nassau County’s first tax reassessment in nearly a decade was approved by the county Legislature’s Rules Committee on Monday after almost a year of inaction.
Republicans reintroduced Curran’s “Taxpayer Protection Plan” as the Reassessment Phase-in Act of 2020 last Friday, without making any substantive changes to the legislation, which dictates a five-year phase-in.
According to a report released by county officials on March 3, tax bills are expected to increase for approximately 205,000 Nassau County homeowners (53%) and decrease for about 177,000 homeowners (47%) in October and January. School tax bills are released in October, and municipal tax bills come out in January.
County Assessor David Moog said that the reassessment seeks to “correct any inequities” in the assessment roll.
The state Legislature authorized the reassessment phase-in last year. Curran introduced the required local legislation on April 30, and again in January, after the original legislation expired. Republican legislators, who hold a majority in the County Legislature, continually declined to call up the bill. Curran said that Republicans stalled the bill for political reasons.
Legislator Steve Rhoads (R–Bellmore) said the phase-in is unfair to homeowners who have been overassessed for the past decade. The five-year process means that homeowners who have allegedly been overpaying for the past several years will have to wait five years until their tax bills reflect their property values.
Curran asserted that her plan “properly balances the need to restore fairness and equity to the roll with the obligation to protect residents and the local housing market from sudden and drastic increases in tax burden.” She added that “the plan would provide a steady path forward for all residents after nearly a decade of turmoil under the broken and unfair assessment system.”
County officials estimate that the median increase for homeowners will be $485 in the 2020–21 tax year.
The proportion of residential property owners who will likely see tax increases is projected to be highest in the 16th Legislative District, which includes Plainview, Jericho, Old Westbury and Roslyn Heights, and the 17th District, which includes parts of Bethpage, Farmingdale and Hicksville. Districts 1 (Roosevelt and Uniondale) and 2 (Hempstead, Westbury, New Cassel and Uniondale) are likely to have the highest proportion of tax decreases.
In order to go into effect, the bill needs to pass the 19-member Legislature at the body’s next meeting on March 23.
