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

(Mineola, NY) According to Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson, there has been a flurry of "government-sponsored" town meetings and taxpayer-funded mailings that have exploited homeowner confusion surrounding annual assessment updates for political purposes.

The facts are undeniable.

In March of 2000, Democratic Legislators joined the Republican County Executive, a majority of Republican Legislators and the Republican County Assessor to announce their support of the settlement of a class-action suit filed against the County in New York State Supreme Court. The settlement called for the reassessment of all residential property at its full fair market selling price without the benefit of a gradual phase-in of values and mandated that annual reassessments be conducted under the supervision of the Court until the 2007-08 Assessment Roll.

When Nassau County moved from its archaic construction-cost assessment system to one that measures the fair market value of a home, the lack of a phase-in resulted in tremendous shifts in school property tax increases in middle class communities. In fact, to “get around” the six percent assessment increase cap provisions specified in Article 18 of the New York State Real Property Tax Law, the previous administration – with the approval of New York State Supreme Court – set a level of assessment at fractional levels (one, one-half, and one-quarter percent of full market value) for the ensuing rolls covered under the Court Order.

Upon assuming office in January of 2004, Assessor Levinson lobbied State legislators to adopt his plan calling for a multi-year phase-in and rollback of assessment increases. Despite its overwhelming support in the Assembly, Assessor Levinson's initiative to help homeowners in Nassau County was left to die in a Senate Committee.

"Since Nassau County will no longer be subject to the New York State Supreme Court settlement after the 2006-07 Assessment Roll is finalized, I introduced a resolution at the June 7, 2005 meeting of the Board of Assessors calling for the restoration of a six percent cap on assessment increases for residential properties for the 2007-08 tax year," stated Assessor Levinson. "This resolution was unanimously passed and complies with the law that was circumvented by the Court."

Contrary to election-year rhetoric, assessments that reflect the ever-rising real estate market values do not cause property taxes to increase.

Assessor Levinson emphasized that the amount of property taxes imposed on homeowners is a direct result of the amount of tax revenue that is needed by municipalities, special taxing districts and school districts to meet its operating expenses. Annual assessment estimates of the fair market value of residential properties, as well as the values that are assigned to the other three classes of properties (co-ops and condominiums over three stories, utility and commercial properties), determine how much value there is in the district to tax. However, even if reassessment did not take place, the market value increases and class shifts still would be independently measured and determined by the New York State Office of Real Property Services (ORPS) for taxation purposes.

The assessor and the Department of Assessment do not set operating budgets, mail out tax bills or collect taxes.

"My responsibility as Chairman of the Board of Assessors is to determine the fair market value of a home based on what a willing purchaser would pay for that home at a specific point in time," stated Assessor Levinson. "Nassau County is experiencing a prolific real estate market in recent years and the values that have been assigned to homes are a direct reflection of the annual increases in the market value of each home. Unfortunately, many critics have used the confusion surrounding annual reassessment updates, escalating market values, and the memory of the tremendous tax shift that resulted when the County was ordered to replace its 1938 construction-cost based assessment system with a system that measures the fair market value of a home to divert taxpayer frustration and scrutiny from their increasing budgets and spiraling tax levies."

With values skyrocketing each year, Assessor Levinson pledged to continue his efforts to improve the accuracy and fairness of the County's assessment rolls. Last year, the New York State Supreme Court, United States Attorney's Office, Attorney General's Office, ORPS, and the plaintiffs in the class-action suit recognized this effort and agreed that the assessment system, which is now based on market value, is becoming more accurate each year.