Mangano Appoints "Assessor Of The Year" To Conduct Review

Former Smithtown Assessor Gregory Hild Appointed to Root Out Problems

As he continues to implement sweeping reforms to Nassau’s broken and costly property tax assessment system, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano today announced the appointment of former Smithtown Assessor Gregory Hild as Chairman of a transition team that will conduct a thorough review of the Department of Assessment. The announcement comes three days after the termination of the former Nassau County Assessor.

“I am committed to restoring the public's faith in our assessment system while protecting homeowners and employers from an unfair and broken system,” said Mangano. “Together with the reforms passed earlier this year by the Legislature, this top to bottom review of the department will help to ensure that we are doing everything possible to address Nassau’s broken assessment system.”

County Executive Mangano has directed Chairman Hild to conduct a thorough review of the Department of Assessment, recommend improvements to the Department, and to immediately identify candidates for the position of County Assessor. The transition team will also be comprised of Deputy Comptroller Joy Watson, Chief Deputy County Attorney Lisa LoCurto, Deputy County Attorney Dan Valentino, Deputy Assessor Jim Davis and Department of Assessment Financial Systems Administrator Tom Albanese. Together, the transition team will ensure that departmental staff is working to implement the County Executive’s reforms passed by the Legislature earlier this year.

“Nassau’s broken property tax assessment system costs taxpayers $250 million annually and has brought our great County on the brink of bankruptcy,” said Mangano. “Our homeowners and employers will greatly benefit from a full review conducted by Chairman Hild - an experienced professional assessor.”

Comptroller George Maragos announced at the press conference that he will assemble a team from his office to look into past problems within the Department of Assessment.

“We intend on conducting a forensic audit to determine how these errors occurred, the extent of the problems and what should we done to ensure they don’t happen again,” said Maragos. “Our taxpayers deserve to know what happened.”

Hild retired from his position in Smithtown in August of 2010. He has since served as a special assistant to Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio. Hild began his career with Smithtown in 1975 and served as the Town’s Assessor for 26 years. In August 2010, the New York State Assessor’s Association named Gregory Hild “Assessor of the Year.” He comes to Nassau County with a stellar record of performance.

“I am honored that County Executive Mangano asked me to lead this transition at such a crucial time in Nassau’s history,” said Hild. “I look forward to working with County Executive and the dedicated staff at the Department of Assessment as we review and improve the department and reform this broken assessment system.”

For more information on Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano’s reform plan or to read about news throughout the County, please visit www.nassaucountynewsnetwork.com.