Many Nassau County Residents Getting Bad News: Property Tax Reassessment Not In Their Favor
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The numbers are out and some Nassau County residents are reeling.
The long-awaited county-wide reassessment has some paying less in property taxes.
But others, more.
And as CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff found out Wednesday, county officials are standing by their accuracy.
Reassessment is going to cost Roosevelt resident Don Coleman. His property taxes will nearly double.
"I'm a single person, living by myself, retired. It's gonna be tough," Coleman said.
His neighbor's taxes are also going up.
"That's crazy. That's absurd," Yvette Williams said.
For others, there's relief.
"I think the last I saw it was pretty fair," one person told CBS2's Gusoff.
"It's better than the reverse," another person said.
MORE: Sticker Shock: Nassau County Residents Getting Letters On New Assessments
Some 400,000 Nassau homeowners are anxiously checking their tax impact after the first county-wide reassessment in eight years. Around half will go up and half will go down. It's a touchy subject in one of the nation's highest-taxed regions, with property taxes to no longer be fully deductible.
"It's bad. Everything is bad," one person said.
Critics question how the county came up with new home values.
"We have residents whose assessments in some cases have quadrupled, taxes have doubled. They have questions about the process," said Town of Hempstead Receiver of Taxes Donald Clavin.
"Not five or 10, but dozens and dozens of sales were incorporated to derive the value of the property," Nassau County Tax Assessor David Moog added.
Officials stand by the tax roll accuracy that has been verified by an outside expert. The overhaul is needed, said County Executive Laura Curran, to fix an unfair system that for years filled the pockets of tax firms.
"No longer will a home that can sell for $1 million be assessed for half that amount, shifting the tax burden to other county residents and other taxpayers," Curran said.
Now is your time to fix any errors. The county has launched a tutorial. You can make an appointment at temporary outreach offices or make corrections yourself online. More than 4,000 property owners have contacted or already visited the outreach offices, which still have 13,000-plus appointments open until Jan. 31, 2019. Appointments can be made online by visiting and following the schedule and appointment link that can be found here. Or, you can call (516) 571-4374.
In addition, there is a Facebook page with more than 23,000 members that discusses the issue. It can be found here.
And to soften the blow of any tax increase, Curran is asking Albany for a five-year phase-in to allow homeowners time to transition to reality.
The communities bracing for the greatest tax hikes are Great Neck, Port Washington, Hewlett-Woodmere and Jericho. The greatest drop will be felt in Massapequa, CBS2's Gusoff reported.
