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County assessments hit mail boxes and hit hard

by Kate Mayberry

When your tax notice arrived in your mailbox last month, did your jaw drop? Did your heart sink? Did your blood boil?

Chances are, your jaw, heart, and blood all did something funny if you are in the one-third of the population of Nassau County—according to officials watching closely—whose local school district taxes skyrocketed when new property assessments took effect countywide.

And then… you probably called your school district to let them hear it.

It’s an issue as complicated to explain as it is to understand, but business administrators for local school districts have been hard-pressed to help their residents fully understand why Nassau County’s new plan for more equitably determining tax obligations has, for some people, made school taxes a tough pill to swallow.

Some school officials have received hundreds of calls from exasperated and confused residents - like Farmingdale's Assistant Superintendent for Business John Lorenz. He said he had to train others in his office to anser te questions because he couldn't field the volume alone. Other school officials have entertained questions from furious visitors who went to their offices demanding explanations to their face, like Jack Waters of Amityville who described someone so livid that his fists were clenched and he was pounding on the desk.

But, school officials in Massapequa, Farmingdale, Plainedge and Amityville want residents to be clear that any jaw-dropping due to school taxes this year is the result of Nassau County’s new property assessments. Since school taxes are the greatest chunk of property taxes, about 65 percent, a dramatic increase in tax obligation would show up there. But school officials emphasize that the districts have made no changes to the voter-approved budgets from June.

"The district is not asking for any more money than the 8.7 percent increase in taxes that we discussed with residents and was approved by voters in the spring," said Massapequa’s Assistant Superintendent for Business, Alan Adcock. "Find 8.7 percent of your tax bill from last year and add it on top of that. That’s all the increase you should be paying in school taxes this year because of the school district."

In the Amityville School District, that amount is also 8.7 percent. In Farmingdale, the increase to school taxes was approved by voters at 8.4 percent, and in Plainedge, the voters said yes to a 14.4 percent increase in their school taxes for the 2003-04 budget year,

"Any increase in school taxes greater than the percentage approved by the voters in June was caused by Nassau County’s reassessment of real property," explained Adcock.

Prior to reassessment, real property in Nassau County, the largest assessing entity in New York State, was valued for taxation according to 1938 construction costs. The new method taking effect this year will assess properties according to full-market value, and take one percent of that for the property’s assessed value. The strategy also includes a plan to reevaluate property values every year, for seven more years.

Most officials agree that a reassessment was necessary to more equitably distribute tax obligations and to formulate a more current method for doing so, since the last time that had been determined countywide was in 1938.

But they all disagree, however, on how the reassessments should have been done, since now it is obvious that the results have been troubling to so many.

N.C. Leg. Peter Schmitt (R-12LD), said he would have supported a much slower and more cautious approach to the reassessment.

"I don’t dispute the need for a reassessment, but it should have been based on some models and there should have been some exemptions built-in for seniors. I would have supported a more phased-in approach," he said.

While the reassessment’s purpose was to make tax obligations more fairly distributed, Schmitt argues, "This has not been fair."

Joseph Walsh is a senior citizen and 40-year resident of Shoreham Road, Massapequa. He said he is troubled by the change, which has threatened his future.

"I have no hopes," he said, with emotion evident in his voice and on his face. "It’s not terrible. Its just that I don’t know what they’ll do next, especially since they plan to do this for seven more years."

The father of four grown children who all now live within four miles of him, Walsh said he can’t afford to keep his home. "I will have to leave my home and my children," he said sadly.

Prior to reassessment, Walsh’s school tax bill in 2002-03 was $5,180. That year, the school district passed a budget that would have increased his taxes for the following year 8.7 percent, or $451. But, Walsh said he got curious and concerned when he saw a significant 12 percent increase on his October bill instead. His taxes rose from $5,180 to about $6,000, adding around $720 to his bill.

"I pay my school taxes without complaint because I want to contribute to a community that’s been good to me and my family for many years. When you have a nice community, you want to keep it that way," he said.

Anthony Pizzella is a Merrick resident who has run the 1.1-acre Manor East catering facility at Broadway and Jerusalem Ave. in Massapequa for 34 years, and he sees things differently. He pays commercial school taxes to Plainedge School District, but does not have the right to vote on their budget, because he does not live in the district. He also pays school taxes to Merrick, although he sends his three children to private school.

The increase in his commercial school taxes to the Plainedge School District went from approximately $64,000 to $92,000 a year—a $28,000 increase.

"How can I come up that much in taxes in two weeks?" he said pointing out that the notice of increase came with his tax bill. "They are really forcing us to consider whether we can continue to run our business," he said, pointing out that his is a purely "luxury business."

"With prices the way they are, people just won’t have big parties for a Sweet 16 or a Bar Mitzvah. If I can’t earn more than I have to pay in taxes, what’s my reason for continuing?" he asked.

Walsh and other residents were able to put the issue into some perspective at an informational meeting held in Massapequa recently.

Adcock stood before about 60 residents, mostly senior citizens, on a stormy night in a small and dimly lit elementary school auditorium. Some residents saw a decrease in their taxes, if their home was assessed at less than the average for their district, which, in Massapequa has been determined at $3,372. Still, others saw a dramatic increase, if they had been previously under-assessed by a significant amount and are now placed well above the average for their district.

The meeting started off on a sour note.

"It isn’t fair!" shouted one in attendance.

"How can you do this to us?" asked another.

"Why are we being punished?" a woman demanded. She said her school taxes rose by $1,800 more than they should have.

"I only understand that one and one make two…" said one incensed resident. "I don’t want to listen to your finger pointing anymore. I want real answers!" insisted the voice up front.

That voice belonged to Vincent Nigro of Plainedge who said he is a long-time retired senior citizen who has spent many years paying hard-earned money to the community in the form of taxes.

"I’m on a fixed income," he explained. "I don’t make $150,000 to $200,000 a year like some of the young people moving in now," he said. "And I don’t like you with your hands in my pockets."

But, eventually, the meeting ended with heads nodding in comprehension, disappointment, and doubt. As some clarity dawned on the group as a result of Adcock’s explanations, the residents exited the school building in the slowing rain, digesting the information of the night.

They did not know that yet another tax notice would appear in their mail boxes three days later, adding a confusing twist to the reassessment saga.

Now known as 'November's surprise,' it was a second evaluation of property values that showed the county was now taking only one-half percent of the full market value to establish assessed values for 2003-04. The increases were still dramatic, however, because they raised property values. Most residents noted that the wording made it appear as though they were getting a break. But in fact it was misleading.

For example, Walsh’s increase this year at the half percent would have been $2,414, if his appraised value were stabilized. However, the county increased his property values from $482,800 to $570,000. His increase this year will be $2,851 then, $400 more that had it been set at last year’s values.

Why? Officials couldn’t answer. But some point to a New York state law that caps the maximum percentage that taxes can go up in a given period due to assessments. Nassau County Legislator Peter Schmitt said he can only assume the change circumvents the law by taking a smaller percentage of higher market values which in turn generates more tax revenues.

"I don’t doubt we’ll soon be down to a quarter of a percent," Schmitt scoffed, adding that he does not know who made the decision or permitted the change from one to a half percent. "I haven’t received an answer from County Executive Tom Suozzi andthe Legislature did not vote on this," he said.

That is where the average resident like Walsh and Nigro come in.

Walsh said, "The Legislature has left me with a big black hole in my future. I don’t know what will happen next. Just when I think I’m getting a handle on what’s happening, they change it. And nobody’s speaking just plain English."

The answers aren’t written down anywhere and no one seems to have an answer with certainty. To top it off, Massapequa’s School Superintendent, Lawrence Pereira pointed out that fed-up county residents elected Democrat Harvey Levinson to replace Charles O’Shea as Chairman of the Board of Assessors, and that things might change still.

"This is bigger than all of us right now, and I urge you to watch it closely because we are convinced it will get worse," Pereira said.