6-16-08

Nassau County Legislator John J. Ciotti joined with his fellow Legislators to announce their new plan to shield Nassau County residents from out-of-control property tax increases. The “Stabilization Plan” seeks to take a five year hiatus from rising property taxes and return fiscal predictability to households.

As the Long Island housing market skyrocketed over the past few years, so did most residents’ property values. Now, as the housing market plunges, somehow the property taxes are not following suit. The plan seeks to halt the yearly increases in home assessments for five years and apply only decreases to assessed values on homeowners’ tax bills.

“The plan will stop increases in assessment, while allowing for decreases as the market corrects itself. Residents’ property assessment will not increase during the stabilization period. This will be a welcome reprieve from the soaring increases we’ve witnessed since 2001,” said Legislator Ciotti. Once the five year stabilization period ends, rises in property assessments, if any, shall be limited to the state-mandated level of 6%.

Though the county does not control school taxes, the county’s rate of assessment is linked to how school taxes are calculated. “Once this Stabilization Plan takes effect, county property assessments will be steadied and school taxes will become predictable again,” said Legislator Ciotti. For example, if a 5% school budget was approved, residents may have seen a greater than 5% increase on their school tax bill once they received their tax bills. This is because an increase in the home’s property assessment done by the County Assessor’s Office between the school budget vote and the calculation of taxes disproportionately alters the percentage of the increase. “The process has become overly complicated and burdensome, and it has confused residents. The new Stabilization Plan will return predictability back to the calculation of school taxes by stabilizing assessments,” said Legislator Ciotti. In addition, the constant reassessment also had the unintended consequence of shifting a greater portion of the tax burden off of commercial property onto residential property.

Ciotti and his colleagues have made previous attempts to introduce tax relief legislation, including a Tax Freeze introduced in March of 2007 and gasoline tax cuts introduced in 2007 and 2008. They also presented a petition to the Legislature signed by more than 45,000 Nassau County residents seeking to hold hearings on the property tax freeze. The Legislature’s current Majority has consistently shut out all tax cuts and continues to search for additional revenue sources to keep spending more of your money. “The bottom line is that the cost of living is increasing faster than our incomes. If residents have to cut their spending then the county should, too. I believe there is enough room in the county’s budget to accommodate this plan. Something must be done to provide relief to the hard-working residents of Nassau County before it’s too late,” stated Legislator Ciotti.

“I am disappointed that the majority will not even hold a hearing to discuss the merits of this legislation. Even if they do not support this plan, I urge them to submit their own proposal to reduce taxes. I would certainly support tax relief for Nassau County,” said Legislator Ciotti.

Ciotti and Legislators Propose New Property Tax Stabilization Plan