Merry-go-round assessment process must end

Nassau County got a win last week with a judge's ruling that it could push back to towns and villages some of the cost of billions in dollars of property tax refunds and interest that have hurt county finances.

The move would bring Nassau in line with most other municipalities in New York State. But pushing costs to the towns and villages is fair only if the county's assessment system is fair, too.

Last week, as Newsday reported, many county residents were reeling over double-digit increases in their school property tax bills.

Yes, the increases are because voters in most school districts approved tax-increase budgets. But there's something else going on there too, which calls into question the fairness -- and the accuracy -- of the county-generated assessments.

Last year, County Comptroller George Maragos, in an audit of the assessment system, pointed out that a change in the way Nassau handled property tax appeal cases has resulted in higher costs for many property owners.

What's happening?

According to Maragos' audit, the assessor's office modified computer-generated mass appraisal numbers to make many 2012 assessments lower. But some of those modified assessments are so low that they raise questions about whether they are accurate, the audit said.

Meanwhile, the county, in working to cut into a backlog of appeals, officials said, also hired a private company to help settle tens of thousands of cases. In some, critics say, the county agreed to refunds where the initial assessment was fair.

The changes -- like the judge's decision, pending the results of any appeal -- work to the financial benefit of the county. Lower mass assessments mean property owners have less of a chance of winning property tax appeals, while settling claims en masse mitigates the chances of Nassau being on the hook for climbing interest payments.

But what works for the county doesn't necessarily work for property owners. Every time a property owner wins an assessment reduction, others must cover that cost.

"There are always going to be a large volume of grievances filed by homeowners and representatives, as there is no reason not to," said Brian Nevin, a spokesman for County Executive Edward Mangano.

"There is no filing fee, no chance of an increased value being placed on the property and the worst the assessment review commission will say is 'No,' " he said. "Of the approximately 120,000 grievances filed, only 10,000 were filed by actual homeowners; 110,000 grievances had been filed by representatives whose livelihood is grieving values in Nassau County with no repercussions to the homeowner."

Nevin said that the county is not settling claims just to settle claims. And he said that Mangano hoped that towns, villages and school districts, rather than appealing last week's court decision, would join the county in seeking state legislation that would make it harder to win assessment challenges.

Mangano has said that the assessment system has not worked properly for more than a decade. That's one reason he continues to encourage property owners to appeal their assessments.

But Nassau's merry-go-round of appeal, assess, appeal, assess increasingly has moved the burden of making the system work from the county to the property owner.

That should not be.