Letter: Nassau County seeks to fix its assessment roll

Before I gave an order to post online tax impact notices [“Nassau to borrow $100M,” News, Nov. 20], I was warned that sending notices to property owners by Dec. 1 was akin to falling off a political tightrope. But when I ran for office, I promised to fix the assessment mess — and I am fulfilling that promise.

I will be straight with taxpayers: About half of Nassau’s property owners will see a decrease in their taxes, while the other half will experience increases. To mitigate the impact, I am putting forth my Taxpayer Protection Plan, which will transition the new assessments for both increases and decreases over a period of at least five years for homeowners. This plan will need approval by the State Legislature.

Since everyone hates property taxes, why did I do this? Nassau County’s fiscal mess is intertwined with the unfair and inaccurate assessment roll. This week, the legislature authorized the county’s borrowing of $100 million to pay old assessment settlements — and that is only one-third of what is needed to clear the backlog. That is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

If we get assessments right, we won’t have to borrow to pay back property owners. Instead, we can fix our roads and bridges on time.

Use our website, www.askthecountyassessor.com. Residents already have made more than 8,000 phone calls to staff, and more than 2,500 property owners have visited our satellite offices. Appointments are available through January. Get the facts.

It is tempting to play it safe and just keep kicking the can down the road. But I know a transition over at least five years to new assessments will put the county on the right path for our future and our children’s future.

Laura Curran, Mineola

Editor’s note: The writer is Nassau County executive.

Weighing a ban on e-cigarettes

Dozens of vape shops would close. Hundreds of people would be out of work. It’s the end of the world for Long Island as we know it [“Fuming over e-cig plan,” News, Nov. 10].

Well, if you listen to the vape shop owners, this is what would happen if the state Health Department decided to stop the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.

So will we forget all those tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars spent on anti-smoking ads, as well as the hundreds of millions spent on smoking-related cancers, just to ensure that a few hundred people continue working? Only time and a bit of sanity will tell.

Thomas W. Smith, Riverhead