Mangano Calls On Assessment Officials To Accept Grievances Until April 23rd

In an effort to help taxpayers who received late assessment disclosure letters, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today announced he has directed officials at the Assessment Review Commission (ARC) and Department of Assessment (DOA) to not reject property tax assessment grievance filings until after April 23rd – New York State’s 2010 Tax Freedom Day.

“Every day we continue to discover additional problems within Nassau County’s assessment system,” said County Executive Ed Mangano. “In an effort to allow the taxpayers of Nassau County an opportunity to make sure that the assessed value placed on their home or business is accurate, I called on assessment officials to permit a grace period to accept grievances until April 23rd. The grace period deadline will be final.

Assessment disclosure letters mailed in January for the tentative 2012/2013 assessment roll reflect County Executive Mangano’s initial efforts to reform the broken, costly property tax assessment system in Nassau. For the first time ever, the assessment roll utilizes assessed values that were the result of a successful grievance or court-ordered judgment within the last two years. Taking these reductions into account is an important departure from the past dysfunctional practice of wholly disregarding successful grievances previously won by property owners when setting their assessments. This 2012-13 assessment roll will be utilized for four-years, with annual improvements made by the DOA.

“We inherited an assessment system that was dysfunctional in every way,” said Mangano. “For the first time ever, Nassau’s tax roll will reflect the justice residents received through the grievance process. This is an important step in the total transformation of the broken property tax assessment system that has pushed Nassau County into fiscal instability. This reform alone stops the assessment sham of making the same error each year.”

Although County Executive Mangano has made significant improvements to the assessment system, we must remember that it has been dysfunctional for over a decade. Even though the DOA staff worked hard to enter all settlements, the computer system is inaccurate and unaccountable. That is why the County Executive reminds property owners to carefully review their tentative assessment for the 2012-13 tax roll and to inform the DOA if corrections were not made. If owners have not received their assessment disclosure letter that had been mailed in January, they may simply call the DOA at (516) 571-1500.