By Jason Scheer
Nassau County Board of Assessors Chairman Harvey Levinson laid out his plan to put more money in the pockets of local homeowners last week.
At a packed meeting of the West Hempstead Civic Association at West Hempstead Middle School on Feb. 17, Levinson proposed exploring the possibility of eliminating the residential portion of the school property tax and replacing it with a "modest" income tax. He said that such a move would help prevent homeowners from getting hit with rapidly increasing school taxes. A flier issued at the meeting stated, "If current school spending increases by eight percent annually, homeowners would see their school property tax obligation double by the end of this decade."
Levinson also took aim at local fire, water and sanitary districts, calling them "invisible governments." He said that these districts are often unchecked and are given free reign to establish the costs for taxpayers, often at their expense.
For example, Levinson presented the tax bill for a $346,900 home in West Hempstead. The homeowner will pay $656 in taxes to Sanitary District 6. Levinson said that if the same home had its garbage picked up by the Town of Hempstead Refuse and Garbage District, rather than the individual sanitary district, the taxes would be reduced to $308.
Levinson has called for a state audit to examine the financial management of these "hidden governments," but none are planned as of yet.
In addition, Levinson proposed stretching the county's limited commercial property tax revenues to other communities. For example, he said that the revenues generated by Roosevelt Field should stretch beyond Uniondale and Garden City and be allocated to school districts throughout the county. "It's an accident of geography that Uniondale and Garden City get the benefit of these taxes," Levinson said.
Attacking illegal housing
Levinson also spoke about the issue of illegal housing. He said that while he has taken initial steps, such as reclassifying homes from residential to commercial properties in order to force illegal landlords out of business, there is still more work to be done.
Levinson said it is no accident that people are trying to profit from the county's lack of affordable housing. "Many investors have bought up houses and chopped them up," he said, noting that investors make their money back through as-yet untaxable rent.
Levinson also criticized Nassau County's district court for aiding these illegal landlords. "The District Court of Nassau County is a part of the illegal housing industry," he said. "They give these landlords the judicial reinforcement to collect back rent from tenants they shouldn't have in the first place. It's a disgrace."
He said, however, that the best way to counteract the problem would be to increase communication among different arms of government. He cited one village in which representatives from the fire department, after responding to a fire in a house that had illegal apartments, informed officials about them.
In the same vein, Levinson said, illegal apartments represent a health and fire hazard for tenants. He referred to an incident in the Bronx, in which firefighter Lt. Curtis Meyran, a Malverne resident, was killed in a blaze. He was trapped by a makeshift wall put up by a landlord to illegally divide the building, and forced to jump to escape. Meyran died alongside firefighter John Bellew.
"It's only a matter of time until something like that happens here," Levinson said.
Challenging the challenges
Levinson urged those thinking about challenging their assessment to think otherwise. He said that the value of a home is determined by averaging the sale prices of five recently sold similar homes. Rather than relying on workers to actually survey individual properties, values are determined using a Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal Program. The desired result is an estimate of how much someone would pay for a home as of Jan. 3, 2005. Thus far, the system has been quite accurate.
The reassessment process, while troublesome to some homeowners, was long overdue, Levinson said. He said the previous method of assessment was to use 1938 construction costs when determining the current values of people's homes. "It looked like an office that you would have seen in the 1940s. There really wasn't any sense of any type of order in regards to assessing property," Levinson said of the office of his predecessor, Charles O'Shea. "...The whole system made no sense, and people were challenging their income as a sport."
Levinson is confident that the "sport" will come to an end with the new methods. He said that many of the properties will fall within 10 percent of the actual selling price, while the goal is to be within 5 percent.
For those who believe their homes had been overvalued, the most likely reason is because of a "but for." For instance, Levinson said that homes would usually have values similar to other homes in the area "but for" special circumstances. The vicinity to a railroad, a busy street or a highway had, in many cases, not been included in determining a home's value, and is the most likely reason for a home's being over-assessed.
Since the last day to file an assessment challenge is March 1, Levinson advised those who feel compelled to do so to do it on their own. He said that a "cottage industry" had grown out of reassessment, with lawyers, real estate executives and opportunistic - but under-qualified - businessmen seeking to make money off the process. Levinson believes that people are no more likely to win their appeals if they are represented by these firms.
Those interested in learning more about Levinson's property tax proposals, or voicing their concerns about the process, can do so at a public hearing on Saturday, March 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Nassau County's Legislative Chamber, 1 West St. in Mineola.
Comments about this story? Mal-wheditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
