Letter: A fairer way to refund taxes

Regarding "Nassau Democrats wrong on tax bills" [Letters, Jan. 22], Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano is wrong on two fronts about passing the burden of tax refunds on to school districts.

School districts and property owners fully meet their obligations when school taxes are levied. Adjustment of those taxes after the fact is a result of Nassau County failing to provide school districts with the correct assessed value of the real property.

In the past, the county addressed assessment refunds by totaling all refunds from all tax districts and tax classes, and then assessing that amount to all county residents, regardless of district, as a general county tax. This was wrong and in fact resulted in an over-refund by the county.

It is the county's responsibility to fund the adjustments made for incorrect assessments, not the school districts' or any other districts'. Nassau should levy a county assessment tax within each district and class where an assessment error was made. That would be a fairer way to fund these assessment refunds and would reduce the costs.

There are further changes needed to the assessment process, and major changes needed to reform the funding of our public schools statewide. But adding costs to our overtaxed school districts is not the solution.

John Brooks, Seaford

Editor's note: The writer is a former member of the Seaford school board and a former candidate for State Assembly.