Assessor Levinson To Appear On “Meet The Leaders”

A recent analysis conducted by Assessor Harvey Levinson of the Clergy Property Tax Exemption offered in Nassau County, revealed that 267 members of the clergy are not paying any school property taxes on homes valued at $600,000 dollars or less, while 83 members of the clergy who own homes valued over $600,000 dollars are paying school property taxes that vary from .11 cents to over $29,000.

As the state’s clergy exemption law was written, real property owned by members of the clergy is exempt from school property taxes to the extent of $1,500 dollars in assessed value. The problem, according to Assessor Levinson, was created when the previous administration was mandated by the New York State Supreme Court to lower the level of assessment (the percentage of the full market value of a home that is used to calculate property taxes) to one quarter of one percent to comply with the provisions of the court settlement requiring the county to capture the full market value of all residential properties without violating Real Property Tax Law that caps assessment increases at 6% each year or 20% over five years.

Assessor Levinson explained that any qualifying home with an assessed value of $600,000 would be taxed at one quarter of one percent or $1,500. Once the $1,500 exemption was applied, the clergy members’ property tax obligation was reduced to zero.

“Clearly the intent of the legislation was not to grant a total exemption,” stated Assessor Levinson. “If you look elsewhere throughout the state, the various levels of assessment imposed by other assessing jurisdictions results in some amount of property taxes being paid by members of the clergy. That is why I am calling on state lawmakers to amend state law to allow a total clergy exemption of 20% of the assessed value – similar to the 10% Volunteer Firefighters Exemption. I also believe that the exemption should be income-based so that clergy members with high annual income levels (possibly above $100,000 dollars) receive less.”

In examining a number of towns and cities throughout the state, Assessor Levinson discovered clergy exemption amounts that varied from 31.25% of assessed value in the Town of Huntington; 2.09% in the Town of Islip; 0.25% in the City of Jamestown; and, 0.27% in the City of Syracuse. The level of assessment for these assessing jurisdictions where, respectively, .80%, 11.98%, 100%, and 93.50%.

“Another troubling fact is that the law allows husband and wife ministers who own the same property to double the amount of their exemption,” Assessor Levinson stated. “One notable husband and wife minister family who owns a home in Old Westbury valued at $2.2 million dollars is being granted a clergy exemption totaling $20,200.83 dollars for the 2006-2007 school tax year. Is this policy fair?

“That is why I am calling on state lawmakers to conduct a comprehensive review of this and other provisions of NYS Real Property Tax Law, so that fair and sensible standards that reflect the true intent of the law can be adopted in the next legislative session,” concluded Assessor Levinson. “There is no reason why a clergy member in one part of the state should be granted a greater property tax exemption than other parts of the state.”

ASSESSOR LEVINSON ASKS STATE LAWMAKERS TO FIX PROBLEMS WITH CLERGY EXEMPTION LAW