Laura Curran files bill to phase-in property assessment changes

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran on Tuesday filed county legislation to spread property assessment changes over five years.

Curran proposed the phase-in last September in order to lessen the immediate impact of the county's first reassessment in nearly a decade. New York State authorized the plan as part of the 2019-20 budget deal, and the county Legislature must authorize the county's participation in the phase-in.

The Curran administration said the bill would provide homeowners with "Taxpayer Protection Plan" statements with estimated property taxes for the 2020-21 tax year.

Curran said that under reassessment, 95 percent of homeowners will see their market values increase, but that doesn't necessarily mean tax bills will rise.

Curran said Tuesday that 55 percent of residents will see tax reductions under the phase-in, and 45 percent will get tax increases. With the phase-in, both increases and decreases in assessments would be slowed.

Last year, the county legislature's budget review office reported 48.1 percent of homeowners would see a decrease, while 51.9 percent would get increases.

County officials attributed the difference in the calculations to property owner exemptions, the impact of the phase-in and other adjustments made at the end of last year.

Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said Curran's bill would get a hearing.

In a statement, Nicolello said majority Republicans support “measures that will give taxpayers relief from large tax increases. It is important, however, that we scrutinize the proposal given the number of mistakes the administration has already made in the Reassessment process and lack of data we have been provided with to back up their claims.”

Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said he was pleased with the phase-in plan. He said homeowners due assessment increases "shouldn't be penalized immediately because of inaction based on the previous administration" of Republican County Executive Edward Mangano.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler covers Nassau County government and politics for Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.