School tax bills delayed in Hempstead, Oyster Bay

Errors by Nassau's beleaguered assessment system delayed two towns' delivery of school tax bills last month, but as Wednesday's first payment deadline passed, officials said no grace period could be offered.

"It's a firm date," said Hempstead Receiver of Taxes Donald Clavin, "so we knew we still had to get our bills out in a timely fashion."

Nassau County administrative code says that statements should be mailed within 10 days of a town's receipt of the county tax warrants. According to Clavin, no enforcement or penalties are attached to the code. Nassau towns received the county information Oct. 1.

After working to correct county errors discovered that day, Hempstead mailed its 240,000 statements by Oct. 6, a few days later than in past years, giving residents less time to pay their taxes

In Oyster Bay, efforts to fix accounting discrepancies also began on Oct. 1 and lasted a week. Its school tax statements went out Oct. 14 after the standard printing and addressing process, officials said.

Former Nassau chief assessor Ted Jankowski had attributed the errors to "challenges" in converting assessments to a new computer system this year. The problems led to Jankowski's dismissal.

Hempstead had alerted Nassau to its most major error - failing to provide an exemption for the historic county courthouse, resulting in a $1.3 million bill the county will now shoulder.

Oyster Bay Town Receiver of Taxes James Stefanich also pointed out numerous errors with the county's data, including improper exemptions and uneven dollar splits between the two payment installments offered to taxpayers. Errors affected about 30,000 of the town's 60,000 statements. "I don't believe it was a hardship," Stefanich said of the late mailing. "Basically the information was delayed approximately a week."

In Hempstead, Clavin said he has heard less grousing about delays and more about the general reliability of the county assessor's office.

"We're hearing a lot of complaints," Clavin said.

One Oyster Bay resident said his bill didn't arrive alarmingly late, but he still wasn't sure he could trust it.

"That's the thing with these tax bills," said Hicksville retiree Greg Yatzyshyn. "How do people know? How many people are really qualified to dissect these bills."

At the same time Jankowski's office was being criticized for the paperwork errors that caused delays, some taxpayers complained their rates rose dramatically - as much as 33 percent - to make up for declines in assessed home values.

County officials have promised a thorough review of the assessor's office, but said any relief to overtaxed property owners would not come immediately.

Stefanich said the root of most of Oyster Bay's problems came from the assessor's new computer system and the county's decision to no longer provide the town with levy documentation and property class breakdowns. "That was additional work," he said.

North Hempstead reported no delays in mailing out its school tax bills. Town spokesman Collin Nash said officials there asked for the county's information under the old computer system.

"That happened because they realized the problem was coming down the pike," he said.

With Jennifer Sinco Kelleher