Laura Curran again extends deadline for property tax protests

Nassau County has further extended the deadline for filing property assessment protests until the close of business Tuesday to accommodate concerns from the Orthodox Jewish community.

County Executive Laura Curran already had moved the deadline, originally March 1, twice.

The Assessment Review Commission, which oversees tax challenges, first extended it until April 30. Curran and the county legislature said property owners needed more time to react to new values issued Jan. 1 as part of a countywide reassessment.

Then on Tuesday, Curran announced an extension until Friday night after the county website for filing challenges crashed repeatedly under a record number of protests.

Hempstead Tax Receiver Don Clavin, a Republican running for town supervisor this fall, and Nassau County Legis. Howard Kopel (R-Lawrence) separately wrote Curran Tuesday asking for an extension to May 7.

Kopel noted in his letter that the Friday deadline did not “go far enough in addressing the unique needs of the many Orthodox Jewish residents” of his district and the county. He noted “Orthodox Jewish practice requires a cessation of all business activities beginning at sundown on Friday evening” in observance of the Sabbath. He also said many property owners may have waited to file until after the Passover holiday but were frustrated by the website outages.

In a response to Kopel Wednesday, Curran said ARC had extended the deadline until the close of business on May 7, “out of an abundance of caution for our Orthodox community and as a courtesy to you.” However, Curran said the website had been up and running consistently since Tuesday afternoon.

Kopel said he was pleased Curran extended the deadline “to accommodate the Orthodox Jewish community and others.”

Clavin said, “It’s a great win for all Nassau residents.”

Curran spokeswoman Chris Geed said 250,056 protests had been filed by Wednesday afternoon. That is the highest number of protests ever filed, according to Newsday records.

Last year, 232,970 total protests were filed. By comparison, 160,548 protests were filed after the 2003 reassessment.