By Jonann Brady
The Browers own two 40 x 100 lots on Steele Boulevard in Baldwin, on one lot is their two-bedroom Cape-style home, valued at $120,960. Their tax bill for that property could rise about $1,900 to $4,300, according to the letter the Browers received from Cole Layer Trumble, the private firm that reassessed every property in Nassau County. That increase seemed fair to them.
The other lot is vacant, save for some trees, a swing set and a shed. For that empty lot, the Browers could see their tax bill rise $8,667 dollars -- from $565 to $9,232, according to the tentative bill.
Kathy Brower said she was shocked by the steep jump. "I didn't expect the taxes to go up this much, not on a vacant lot," she said.
Her husband Russ added, "It's an expensive playground for the kids."
The Browers are among the thousands of Nassau County residents who are unhappy with their preliminary tax bills and want some answers. The county reassessed every property in Nassau County based on current market values formulas, which had not been changed since the 1930s, in order to equalize property taxes for all residents.
Last Tuesday morning, the Browers made a trip to the make-shift offices of Cole Layer Trumble, where counselors hear taxpayers' grievances and then make recommendations to the County Assessors Office to either adjust the taxes or not. Over 18,000 people have come to the Westbury office to have their cases heard, some more than once, said Tom Davis, a Cole Layer Trumble supervisor.
At their Tuesday appointment, the Browers were first greeted by a counselor named Pam Christie. The Browers took their place at a desk in the middle of an open room filled with dozens of other desks, where taxpayers were trying to make sense of their bills.
Kathy Brower, an accounting clerk for the Baldwin School District and no stranger to numbers, had done her homework. She pulled out a stack of documents, including printouts from the reassessment web site (www.mynassauproperty.com). First off, the photo on the web site was not her home.
"This is not the best picture," said Christie, inspecting the sheet.
"It's not the right picture," said Brower.
Brower also showed Christie web site printouts of other empty, waterfront lots near hers where the tax rates had not risen as dramatically. The Brower's lot is not on the water.
Why, the Browers wondered, was their tax bill for a vacant property so much higher than their waterfront neighbors'?
The property has been designated as buildable, said Christie, which means it could fetch a hefty sum if sold on the open market. The other properties were not deemed buildable and so less valuable, said Christie.
But, with more than $8,500 on the line, Kathy Brower was not satisfied with that answer. "What is the multiplier? Who calculated this?" she asked.
"The computer did this," said Christie, who said she was not sure of the formula used to calculate the bill and went to find a supervisor.
When Christie left, the Browers shook their heads in disbelief. "It's frustrating," said Kathy. "At least tell me how you came up with these figures."
Tom Davis, a supervisor, returned to try and clarify the situation. After some back and forth, the Browers got some hard numbers. The empty lot, which had been valued at around $8,000, had been revalued at over $120,000, said Davis. Based on the desirability of Long Island real estate and its scarcity, this was not unusual, he said.
Though they were relieved to finally understand the numbers, the Browers were still upset. The tax rate for a vacant lot was double that of a lot with a home, which seemed to them unjustified.
"The tax rate is not set by Cole Layer Trumble," said Davis. "It's set by the county."
"Now I have to go fight with the county," said Kathy.
According to Randy Yunker, a spokesperson at the County Assessor's Office, several other owners of vacant properties have complained about the same dilemma. The problem, he said, is a quirk in the New York State law that classifies empty residential lots as commercial property.
"They're trying to rectify that legislatively before the end of the year," said Yunker.
As for individual taxpayer complaints, Yunker said that after Cole Layer Trumble makes their final recommendations by Jan. 1, 2003, the county will hold two "grievance nights," where the public can speak with representatives of the Assessment Review Commission. Final town and county tax bills will hit mailboxes in January of 2004.
For the Browers, their options include trying to prove their empty lot is not buildable, or combine both properties on one deed, neither of which they want to do.
Kathy Brower says she will continue to press her case with whomever will listen at the county level.
"I don't think we'll get very far," she said and added that she will also try to contact other disgruntled taxpayers in the same situation.
Another, more disheartening, option for the Browers who have owned their Baldwin home for 11 years, is to unload the expensive properties altogether and relocate.
"It's extremely frustrating," said Kathy, who has three children, two of whom are still in school. "If push comes to shove, that's what I would do is sell this piece of property if that's the only way to get out of it."
To contact the Reassessment Project Team:
phone: 516-873-9701
fax: 516-873-7876
web site: www.mynassauproperty.com
mail: Cole Layer Trumble Company
Public Information Section
140 Old Country Rd., Suite 200
Mineola, NY 11501
