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

( Mineola, NY) In October, you can always count on two things: The leaves will begin to change color and the Department of Assessment is going to be blamed for increases in school district property taxes

This year is no different.

According to Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson, this year's "pass the blame" rhetoric once again ignores the fact that he, as assessor, does not set operating budgets, mail out tax bills or collect taxes. The assessor's responsibility, by law, 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.

While the property values have increased dramatically in Nassau County over the past few years, so have school district and municipal spending.

Assessor Levinson indicated that this year’s 2005-06 school property tax bills will reflect the fact that 51.8% (154,719) will see school property tax reductions thanks in part to the amount of assessed value that has been added on to the county’s assessment roll for all classes of property. Forty-eight percent of homeowners (143,369) throughout the county will experience higher school property tax increases over the spending plans submitted to and approved by voters.

“The most significant aspect of annual assessment is the fact 18.2% or 54,459 of all homeowners who saw large assessment increases will actually see their school property tax obligation fall or remain the same in comparison to last year,” Assessor Levinson stated.

Contrary to the Hempstead Receiver of Taxes’ recent mailing, assessments that reflect the ever-rising real estate market values do not cause property taxes to increase. 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, 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 NYS Office of Real Property Services for taxation purposes.

The Receiver deliberately overlooks (for obvious political purposes) the fact that market values reflected on the 2004-05 and 2005-06 assessment rolls were established by the former Republican assessor.

Two weeks after assuming office in January 2004, Assessor Levinson asked Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos and the State Assembly to enact legislation that would moderate school property tax increases through a multi-year phase-in. On June 4, 2004, Assessor Levinson sent a letter to Senator Skelos again advising him that almost every school district in Nassau County would experience significant property tax hikes in October of 2005 and stressed the need for legislation that would moderate these increases. Unfortunately, while Assessor Levinson’s legislative initiative passed almost unanimously in the Assembly, it was left to die in a Senate committee.

“If the Senate had joined their colleagues in the State Assembly in a bi-partisan manner and acted quickly when I first suggested it, homeowners who are now burdened with double-digit property tax increases on their October 2005 school tax bills would have seen their overall property tax burden phased in over a period of years,” concluded Assessor Levinson. “Until we, as elected officials at all levels of government, can work together and offer creative and real solutions to the property tax burden that is overwhelming families that struggle each day to make ends meet, taxpayers will be forced to listen to another year of the ‘blame game’.”