Caving in to public outcry and pressure from the Legislature’s Democratic Caucus, the County Executive has essentially admitted that the mailing of assessment letters was flawed to the detriment of Nassau County’s homeowners. The letters were late or never received by taxpayers, putting them in a position of possibly denying them the right to challenge their assessment for the upcoming year. The deadline for homeowners to file a challenge to their assessment was March 1, 2011. It has now been extended to April 23, 2011.
Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg (D-Merrick) said, “I’m glad the County Executive listened to the Democratic Minority Legislators. Property owners should not be penalized for the County’s incompetence.
“I applaud the County Executive for recognizing that too many homeowners have been hamstrung by the problems emanating from the Department of assessment in giving timely notice of the tentative assessment rolls. I hope that the legal opinions authorizing the extension are valid and I will do what I can within my power to notify the taxpayers of Nassau County that they have this additional time to file a challenge where warranted,” said Nassau County Legislator Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn).