Property Tax Misfire
Curran needs a better plan on property taxes
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran promised Nassau residents that her tax reassessment plan would fix the broken assessment system and the resulting appeals. Her plan called for the reassessment of all properties in Nassau County to update their current market value in an effort to stabilize property taxes. The main reason for the reassessment was based on the fact that all assessments were frozen by the prior administration of Ed Mangano in 2011. Curran has used the freeze as a basis to shift blame for the problem to her political opponents. This hypocritical approach is laughable as Curran is a former member of the Nassau County Legislature and is equally responsible for any blame for a failed assessment system.
The rational for an assessment freeze by former County Executive Edward Mangano was based on taxpayer complaints. When a resident would file a tax challenge or Tax Certiorari and win a reduction, the reduction was short lived as the home would be reassessed the following year based on the current market value. This extreme variability created a tax challenge process that could be referred to as a "whack a mole" approach. Instead of having some stability in the assessed value of your home, albeit for at least a short period of time, it fluctuated to a point where the reduction was negated by next years increase in assessed value. This resulted in the making the companies that handle Tax Certiorari challenges rich. The one flaw in what the prior administration thought would help taxpayers caused an imbalance in the assessed values as the freeze on assessed values was too long. A period of two or three years would have been more appropriate and would have met both goals of bringing stability to assessed values and limiting any extreme imbalances between similarly situated properties.
In return for the Nassau County Legislature's approval of a contract to reassess all properties, Curran agreed to keep the ratio of .25% upon which the assessment is based. This agreement would assure that any increase in your taxes would be limited to 6% per year or no more than 20% over five years. Laura Curran agreed and signed an Executive Order agreeing to keep the ratio as is. Like most dishonest politicians, she lied. On September 26, 2018, she went back on her word and rescinded her worthless Executive order. Her action resulted in the elimination of any limitation on the size of any increase in property taxes. Acknowledging that her action would bring pain to Nassau residents, Newsday quoted Laura Curran, “Let’s be clear: This is going to bring about changes for all taxpayers and property owners,” "I said it would be difficult at times and painful. But I am committed to getting this right.”
The broader issue is why Curran decided to put the cart before the horse in addressing the reassessment system and being dishonest with the truth. Any approach must include all the drivers that lead to the current mess. One major reason for Nassau County's large debt load of almost 4 billion dollars is due to the county's responsibility to refund the entire share of the successful Tax Certiorari challenges even though the county is responsible for only 20% of the total taxes. The lack of reform is based in part to the power of the educational establishment which has fought against any change to the current system as they claim that any change would disrupt their budgets. Furthermore, the issue of Nassau's debt cannot be addressed without a significant reduction in borrowing costs as well as a mechanism to significantly reduce the actual amount of debt. Curran has made no effort to provide a detailed plan and has made no effort to present that plan to Albany as any change will need state legislative action. That would include any phase in phase in of any significant tax increases as well as any decreases.
Acting first without a definitive comprehensive plan for assessment reform is certainly a recipe for disaster. Failing to keep your word as an elected official further erodes the public's trust and reinforces the notion that all politicians are liars. Its time for Curran to step up to the plate, show her full plan, ensure residents are protected from any large increases in their property taxes, holds off on full implementation of her plan until Albany acts and restores trust in government by sticking to the truth.