Nassau Residents Upset About Property Tax Bill
NEW YORK (CBS 2/1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- The deadline to pay Nassau County's new school property tax bill is looming.
In the county, school taxes account for more than 60 percent of property tax bills. But with dramatic declines in assessed values of homes, school districts must raise tax rates for everyone.
78-year-old retiree Dan Carroll, of Farmingdale, and his wife received a whopping 25 percent tax increase.
"They're hurting people who can ill afford it," Carroll told CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan, "it's terrible they're punishing the seniors who have no children in school."
The Carroll's downsized to a Farmingdale condo to save on property and school taxes, but their bill skyrocketed. They thought it was a mistake.
"I'm going broke," Carroll said.
County officials are scrambling to fix what they called a "broken" tax system. Amid tax roll error complaints, County Executive Ed Mangano fired the chief assessor, Ted Jankowski, on Friday.
LISTEN: WCBS 880's Mike Xirinachs reports on property tax assessment in Nassau County
On Monday in Mineola, Mangano took the first step in finding a new one by announcing a transition team, 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reported.
Gregory Hild was named the chair of that transition team and is charged with the duty of reviewing the assessment department and finding a new assessor.
Hild retired after 26 years as Smithtown's chief tax assessor.
Mangano asked county residents to be patient in addition to ordering a change.
Beginning in 2012, there will be a freeze on assessments and revaluation of homes and businesses every 4 years, rather than every year.
Property owners have until the end of the month to pay the new taxes, but they have until November 10th before they're assessed with penalties.
