Nassau schools sue over charter change

Forty-one of Nassau's 50- plus school districts have filed suit to challenge a recent amendment to the county charter that would leave school districts liable for successful property tax challenges.

Richard Hamburger, an attorney representing the school systems, said they could be responsible for $52 million in refunds annually.

The lawsuit, filed this month in Nassau County Supreme Court, comes after the county legislature voted in November to amend the charter to eliminate the guarantee that it would pay such claims for schools, towns and special districts.

Hamburger called the move unfair and unlawful, saying only the state could authorize such a change.

"Nassau County has created this terrible mess, and they're trying to push the responsibility for their failed accounting system on to the school districts," he said.

The county has had to borrow money to settle these tax certiorari claims -- which have averaged about $100 million annually. The Nassau County Interim Finance Authority has long criticized the county for this practice; the borrowing was one of the reasons for NIFA's creation in 2000.

Brian Nevin, communications and senior policy director for Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, said the charter change was long overdue. He said Nassau is the only county in the state to receive 17 cents on the dollar in taxes, yet return the whole dollar when someone overpays.

"This craziness has resulted in $1.6 billion in debt and outstanding liability while costing the average homeowner 10 percent more annually on their county tax bill," he said in a statement.

He said Mangano and the legislature are trying to improve the system by ending the practice of "borrowing against our children's future to pay tax refunds."

Nevin said schools will feel little impact. "It is absurd that school districts would refuse to refund money they received in error," he said.

Ranier Melucci, president of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents, said the new policy would create an unbearable financial burden for schools already suffering from the prospect of state aid cuts.

"It's what they call the perfect storm, everything coming at once," Melucci said."With the cuts in state aid and the potential for a 2 percent tax levy cap, the results would be disastrous."