Mangano's tax refund plan for schools, towns criticized

School officials and Democratic county legislators Monday criticized a plan by Republican Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano to have schools, towns and other local jurisdictions pay their share of property tax refunds.

In an average year where the refunds total $100 million, the county pays the full amount, although it collects only about 20 percent of the taxes, or $20 million, Mangano said last month in calling for an end to the current system.

But Democrats said Monday that the change would force schools to increase taxes or cut programs without any savings to either taxpayers or the taxing jurisdictions.

"The $80 million that the county pays now, the county tax is not going down. There's no tax decrease, just the school taxes will be going up, as will the town (taxes)," Legis. David Denenberg (D-Merrick) said at news conference outside the legislative chamber.

A spokesman for Mangano said there would be $80 million less in debt issued by the county each year if the practice was ended.

As for the impact on other jurisdictions, the statement said Mangano would work with schools and towns to find savings that would not impact taxpayers.

Inside the legislative chambers, school board officials told the legislature at its bimonthly meeting that school districts are highly dependent on property tax revenue, and that when the county sought authority in 1938 to assume assessment duties from the towns, it promised to make good on refunds.

"In order to secure control of a countywide system and the benefits thereof, the county pledged and guaranteed to protect its school districts from any negative consequences resulting from the assessment procedures utilized by the county," Mary Jo O'Hagan, vice president of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association, told lawmakers.