Letter: Let schools check assessment accuracy
Property tax files are stacked for processing by clerks at the Nassau County Department of Assessment in Mineola on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Credit: Newsday / John Paraskevas
I am one of those Nassau residents who believed Edward Mangano when, as county executive, he announced he would no longer challenge tax assessments. My assessment is dramatically lower than that of neighbors who haven’t challenged their assessments. I don’t feel sorry for the 22 percent of property owners who chose not to grieve. They chose to do nothing to lower their assessment.
Mangano’s successor, Laura Curran, promised to reassess every residential property in Nassau County. This is the fairest way to assign accurate values. Creating a new rate for properties that haven’t been reassessed is not [“Curran eyes assessment shift,” News, Sept. 3].
Nassau County could accept the assessment for the 79 percent of residential property owners who challenged their assessments as correct and just have those same tax challenge companies revalue the remaining 21 percent. That should be five times cheaper than reassessing the entire county.
Mangano was fixing the wrong problem. Most taxes collected go to local school districts. He should have just agreed that the county assessments were wrong and given school districts responsibility for assessments in their districts. Then any assessment errors would be owned by the school districts, and county assessment errors would become unprofitable for tax-grieving companies to pursue.
Craig Aarseth, Massapequa
