Recent appearances by Laura Curran show the Nassau County Executive pleading with lawmakers to allow a five year roll out and phase in of new property tax bills, after implementing what has effectively been a massive hike for local property owners.

According to Newsday Long Island Curran has been urging Nassau’s 19 legislators to defer the implementation of new countywide property tax assessments over the coming years. Yet, the effort dubbed the ‘Taxpayer Protection Plan’ almost feels like punting the ball and looking for a scapegoat for the impact of the new assessments and higher bills commissioned by the new county executive.

New Property Tax Assessments

Nassau County recently assessed every property in the county. A monumental move, which just happened to come at the peak of the market. The assessments have been criticized, with some pointing to many errors and flaws in the assessment of over 400,000 local properties.

While some may potentially save under the move, half of the county will see their annual tax bills go up. Some are facing a 50% increase or more on what they have been paying. That’s not counting any new tax rate hikes next year or increases in school district taxes.

The 5 Year Plan

Now the county wants to temporarily walk back that plan by rolling out the increases and savings over the next five years.

So, if your bill is to sky rocket, if approved the phase in would slightly soften the blow over five years. However, if you’ve been 50% too much in tax, you don’t get the immediate benefit either. Even if the county knows you are being over charged. They’ll offer to gradually reduce your bill over the next five years, while you continue to over pay. It’s like, “we know you are being over-billed and overpaying and have been for years, we might fix that in five years from now.” No company would get away with that.

The Pros of a 5 Year Plan

1. Delayed hit for the half of residents with rising bills
2. May lure some residents and businesses into staying
3. Gives time for property values to go down again, before full hit comes
4. Begins increasing local tax revenue immediately

The Cons of a 5 Year Plan

1. You won’t get savings you are owed for five years
2. Can be tricked into not challenging your assessment
3. Blatantly overcharging property owners for years
4. Allows politicians to pass the blame ball around for too long

You don’t have to wait 8 or 60 months for help. Contact us today to see what we can do to help you save.