Richard Fromewick Authors, "Nassau County School Tax Increases"

For many who received their Nassau County School Tax Bill in October, it was a terrible surprise. Although many assessments were reduced, those tax payers were not likely to see a reduction in their tax bill from the prior year. This is because commercial and residential tax rates were significantly increased, in some cases in upwards of 30%. If your real estate tax assessment did not decrease there was definitely an actual increase in the tax bill. These tax rate increases have created an unfortunate hall of mirrors for Nassau County taxpayers. Market values are down, real estate tax assessments are down, tax rates and tax bills are up. To complicate matters, the ratio of assessment to market value has decreased for both residential and commercial properties. Therefore, the market values the taxes are based on is actually higher than the County reports on their website. The County’s real estate tax system literally pits one neighbor against another. When a substantial amount of properties in a school district receive lower tax assessments, from either the Assessment Review Commission or Court tax certiorari proceedings, the other properties in the district must pick up the slack. District budgets must be covered one way or another. Of course, if everyone had a fair and equitable tax assessment the bills would be less volatile - tis a consumption devoutly to be wished.