POTENTIAL HOMEOWNER TAX INCREASES

Published on January 27, 2011 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

*** Important Notice To All Island Park Property Owners and Taxpayers***

The below letter is from Dr. Bovino, Superintendent of Island Park Schools.   Please take a moment to read it, to inform yourself of Barrett Power Plant’s possible petition for tax reduction, this is a real issue which could impact your taxes.  All are urged to make sure their friends and neighbors are aware of the issue and to contact their elected officials.  
Dear Resident,
 
I am writing to make you aware of a very important matter.  On Monday, October 18th, the Nassau County Legislature is set to vote on legislation called, “The Common Sense Act of 2010,” which would result in a sizable increase in school property taxes across Nassau County.  The Legislature is proposing that each school district, rather than the County, pays all refunds to individual taxpayers who successfully challenge to have their assessments lowered.  Currently, the County performs the assessments, collects the taxes, deals with the individual tax certiorari claims, and pays the refunds.  Should this legislation pass, the property assessments would be completed by each town, but each school district would have to take the legal responsibility for fighting the tax certiorari claims and pay the refunds to individual taxpayers, should they win their cases.   These tax certiorari refunds cost the County about $80,000,000 annually.  When divided among the 56 school districts, this translates to approximately $1 million annually in refunds per district, plus thousands of dollars in legal fees—as we would also have to pay lawyers to fight each individual claim separately.  
 
As a point of information, the District continues to pay the MTA payroll tax imposed on us two years ago by the NYS Legislature.  Last year we were required to pay nearly $42,000.  This year the cost is approximately $60,000. Why should the burden of MTA operations be imposed on local school districts that are trying to reduce costs and contain their tax levy?  Why should an MTA tax be imposed on local communities that are struggling to make ends meet?  The Nassau County Legislature’s move on Monday with this is no different from the burden placed on us by the NYS Legislature with the MTA payroll tax. 
 
Last Tuesday, the Island Park Board of Education passed a resolution urging Local, County, and State Elected Officials to intervene on the District’s behalf by saying “no” to the proposed legislation.  Please contact these individuals yourself (via email or letter) this weekend and say:

 
  • Districts should not be responsible for $80 million per year in adjustments and thousands of dollars to pay attorneys for defense of mistakes on county assessments.
  • Nassau County should not penalize school districts for its own inability to assess taxpayers accurately.
  • Nassau County and its legislature should not be taking action to impose its debt on school district thus forcing school boards to raise property tax levies.
  • Curricular and extra-curricular programs should not cut or eliminated as a result of the County’s fiscal mismanagement.

The list of all Local, County, and State Elected Officials is on the reverse side of this letter.  You can also find this information on the district website (www.ips.k12.ny.us) with hyperlinks that take you to their respective webpages.  
 
If available, on Monday morning (October 18 at 10:00 a.m.), I encourage you to join other property owners at the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola to express your displeasure concerning this matter.
 
Thank you for your concern, support, and action.

 
Yours sincerely,

 
Rosmarie T. Bovino, Ed.D.
 
 
List of Elected Officals:

County Legislator Denise Ford
4th District
1550 Franklin Avenue
Mineola, NY  11501
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/legis/LD/04/contact.html
 
County Legislator Howard Kopel
7th District
1550 Franklin Avenue
Mineola, NY  11501
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/legis/LD/07/contact2.html
 
State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg
20th District
20 West Park Avenue
Long Beach, NY  11561
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=020&sh=contact
 
State Senator Dean Skelos
9th District
55 Front Street
Rockville Centre, NY  11570
http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/dean-g-skelos/contact
 
Mr. Edward P. Mangano
Nassau County Executive
1550 Franklin Avenue
Mineola, NY  11501 http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/countyexecutive/email.html
 
Mr. Thaddeus J. Jankowski, Jr.
Nassau County Assessor
240 Old County Road
Mineola, NY 11501
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/assessor/contact.html
 
Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate P. Murray
Town Hall
One Washington Street
Hempstead, NY  11550
http://townofhempstead.org/content/home/contact.html
 
Mr. Donald X. Clavin, Jr., Hempstead Town Receiver of Taxes
200 North Franklin Street, First Floor
Hempstead, NY  11550
(516) 538-1500
 

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