Media Contact: Randolph Yunker - (516) 571-2490

(Mineola, NY) Imagine buying a Windows Operating Program from Microsoft for your home computer and refusing to opt into the companies warranty plan.  Whom would you call if you had a problem running your software application?  How much would you be forced to pay to have the problem fixed?

Earlier this week, the Legislature’s Rules Committee voted 5-3 against the approval of a $169 thousand dollar software maintenance warranty on the County’s state-of-the-art property valuation computer system software purchased from Tyler Technologies (formerly the Cole-Layer-Trumble Company) to comply with a New York State Supreme Court settlement to reassess all residential properties over a three-year period. 

“I understand the frustration of many in the County Legislature who opposed the court-ordered reassessment and acknowledge the concerns of those who believed that a number of improvements had to be made to the values that were placed on homes throughout the county,” stated Assessor Levinson.  “Fifteen months ago, I was elected and entrusted by the people to make sure that the county’s reassessment contractor would improve the quality and accuracy of the assessment roll each year and that I hire the personnel that I need to free the Department of Assessment from using outside contractors to perform departmental functions – which is being accomplished.  However, Legislators and taxpayers should understand that the contract that was voted down is strictly a software maintenance warrantee and is not a contract to perform annual assessment updates.  Rest assured that the mistakes of the past will not be repeated.”

According to Assessor Levinson, the software maintenance warranty allows the Department of Assessment and the County’s Information and Technology Division to work with Tyler Technologies programmers to make the technical adjustments and software updates needed to maintain the multi-million dollar valuations operating system.  Should the contractor’s valuations software system develop problems or need to be upgraded in the future, the lack of a maintenance warranty will have a devastating effect on the Department of Assessment’s ability to fulfill its statutory obligations that will impact the tax rolls of every municipality, special district, or school district that uses the County’s assessment roll.

To fulfill his pledge to end the Department of Assessment’s reliance on a contractor to perform reassessments, Assessor Levinson successfully renegotiated Tyler Technologies’ four-year $18.2 million dollar technical support contract to a two-year $4,999,900 contract for 2005 and 2006, saving the County $13 million dollars!  The software maintenance agreement was removed from the renegotiated agreement in recognition that Tyler Technologies would be phased-out as a reassessment contractor and that the County’s Information and Technology Division would eventually assume responsibility for resolving computer software problems.

“We are making great strides to enhance the accuracy and fairness of the County’s assessment system,” concluded Assessor Levinson.  “Taxpayers have already invested over $48 million dollars to get the job done.  I respectfully urge those members of the Rules Committee who voted against the software maintenance warranty to reconsider their position when the contract is resubmitted to the committee on May 11.”