LEGISLATORS ALERT HOMEOWNERS:
YOUR TAX NOTICE DOESN’T TELL YOUR TAX IMPACT
Nassau county Legislator John Ferretti is warning all homeowners to look carefully at their “Assessment Disclosure Notice” letters and start asking questions, as some residents could see drastic increases to their taxes thanks to the County Executive’s new assessment plan. This week, all homeowners have started to receive a written notice in the mail from the Nassau County Executive and Department of Assessment showing the new values assigned to their homes based on the countywide revaluation of properties ordered by the County Executive earlier this year. However, while the Legislature entered into a deal with the taxpayer limiting yearly increases to your taxes, the County Executive opted to unilaterally renege on that agreement and to ignore the protections in NY State law, in coming up with her new proposal. This could lead to massive increases for residents, especially those who have been challenging their taxes year after year. As such, it is more important than ever to look for this notice in the mail and ask questions about the new values listed.
The notices may show Fair Market Values that are as much as doubled from the previous year. This may cause alarm to many residents, so the Legislature has unanimously, in bipartisan fashion, passed a law submitted by the Republican majority requiring the County Executive to send a notice that will show the impact of the change in FMV on each homeowner’s tax bill in dollars. The County Executive and Assessor have promised that the new, more informative notices will go out by November 15, 2018....although it now has been reported by Newsday that the County Executive is inexplicably delaying the mailing of this pivotal notice until mid December.
In the meantime, every resident is urged to do the following:
- Watch the mail for your initial notice. If you see an unusual increase in your Fair Market Value, please ACT! Call the Assessor at 516-571-1500 and make an appointment to review the new valuation of your property to see if it can be reduced. Go to the County Executive and Assessor’s new website www.AskTheCountyAssessor.com, and read it VERY carefully. But be warned, much of the information on the website is misleading and will not tell you how the revaluation impacts your tax bills.
- ASK: How much will my taxes change?
- Don’t take NO, or I DON’T KNOW for an answer.
- Call the County Executive at 516-571-3131 and tell her to do these 2 things:
- #1. Reverse her decision to renege on her deal with the taxpayers and manipulate the Level of Assessment % calculation which removes state cap protections from tax assessment increases on 95% of residents.
- #2. Call her out on the fact that she has yet to attain the State law that she has promised, which would implement a 5 year phase-in for any tax increases. To date, the County Executive has not even drafted this law, or sent it to the State for consideration. Without this law, any property tax increases resulting from the revaluation will be implemented all at once in a single year. This is unacceptable, and may drive people out of their homes. Additionally, her "phase in," even if she gets the State approval she has yet to seek, will allow for 20% of the increase per year. Ask her how she can consider this "taxpayer protection!" This "phase in" will phase people out of Nassau County! 20% is egregious.
“The most basic responsibility of government is to tell residents what their taxes are,” said Legislator Ferretti. “Unfortunately, the administration is trying to increase taxes with the hope that residents won’t be able to understand this complicated process. The current notification letters omit the impact of the revaluation and change in LOA on the homeowners’ tax bills, and I can’t allow this to happen. Our law forces the County Executive and Assessor to be transparent and truthful. Taxpayers must know what their future tax bills will look like, why their taxes are changing, and how to challenge it....that's what residents care about and need to know...their tax obligation , not ratios.”