Posted on 05/02/2019 7:45:35 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Four Nassau homeowners filed a lawsuit Tuesday against County Executive Laura Curran, contending the county’s reassessment is arbitrary, secretive and violates state and federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process.
The suit filed in state Supreme Court asks that the county be barred permanently from levying or collecting taxes based on new home values, which are scheduled to become final next month. It also asks the court to order and supervise new annual “scientific” property tax assessments for Nassau’s more than 386,000 residential properties.
“The public record demonstrates that the countywide reassessment was performed in an extremely rushed manner, during an unreasonably short period of time, under a veil of secrecy and with utilization of undisclosed software, modeling, algorithms, undisclosed protocols and the so-called 'neighborhood factors' which, without rhyme or reason, either added excessive value or greatly reduced the assessed value of similar homes,” the lawsuit says.
The resulting home values “were arbitrary and capricious, not uniform, not scientific and demonstrably unfair,” according to the lawsuit.
The suit was filed by Manhattan attorney Scott Mollen on behalf of Sands Point resident Eric Berliner and three other homeowners, who are seeking class action status.
Since new assessments were issued Jan. 1, Berliner has appeared at county legislative hearings and meetings to complain about inaccuracies in the new residential values. He said his home was overassessed by $4.55 million and that many of the new assessments made no sense.
The lawsuit points to “striking differences” between similar areas caused by an unexplained neighborhood factor.
For example, the factor increased values throughout Port Washington while “inexplicably” decreasing values in Oyster Bay. It alleges, without offering specifics, that “certain significant contributors to the Democratic party in Nassau County, who reside in Oyster Bay, benefited from their use of the neighborhood adjustment factors.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
The property taxes paid downstate are simply outrageous.
I know someone in Westchester County. Has a standard middle class home, nothing special, but the value, due to location, has risen to $800K. She claims they have to pay >$20K per year in taxes. Lost her job recently, so probably will be forced to move.
Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey have some of the highest property taxes in the USA.
Average is 5 figures for most homes.
Another filthy government. Sounds like Illinois.
The cap on SALT deductibility on federal taxes is reportedly having a downward pressure on the sales prices of high end properties in high tax states. That situation is ripe for over-valuations of such properties by local governmental overlords.
I don’t blame those taxpayers for fighting it. The government beast is always hungry for more,
I do flips so I am always looking at the taxes on properties. Here in Seattle, you almost never see less than a $6K tax bill, and 5 figures is average.
Pay up, you voted for it!...................
In my neck of the woods, we’ve got folks paying almost 10 grand in property tax on houses assessed between 100 to 150k.
With the new changes to the STAR program the state is implementing, I suspect fighting city hall will soon be replaced by fighting the state capital.
And we know the taxes were lowered on property that lost its value during the past downturn.
Oh wait..............
It’s a generally accepted wealth tax.
It’s somewhat voluntary...
They need the money.
Shut up and pay, peasants.
“Here in Seattle, you almost never see less than a $6K tax bill, and 5 figures is average.”
Thanks to California’s Proposition 13, we are able to stay in the home we built 35 years ago. Even though it’s been re-assessed every year, those re-assessments have only been 2% But it does create some serious differences in taxes paid on homes of equal value, because valuation steps up to price paid when properties are sold. We keep a weather eye on Sacramento, because the RATs are busy trying to figure out how to break Prop 13’s constraints, with the first likely foray being taking business property’s Prop 13 benefits away. So for that reason, we sold a commercial property here we had owned for 18 years, and reinvested the proceeds in properties in Arizona and Nevada using a 1031 Tax-free exchange.
RE: It’s a generally accepted wealth tax. It’s somewhat voluntary...
A voluntary tax is an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one :)
“Increased values throughout Port Washington while “inexplicably” decreasing values in Oyster Bay. It alleges, without offering specifics, that “certain significant contributors to the Democratic party in Nassau County, who reside in Oyster Bay, benefited from their use of the neighborhood adjustment factors.”
They will settle this before it ever goes to court. There is no way that they will risk their ability to play favorites.
What Curran and the Dems have done is based assessments on current home values based on sales data. That in itself is not terrible. But then they concluded that sales values Did not reflect community desirabilty. So while similar homes in Westbury and Mineola might reflect similar sales value, Westbury might be considered more desirable so a durcharge is added to the valuation. This is where the federal court, if truly doing its job, will strike this down under the equal protection clause.
One of our neighbors lost the family home to back propery taxes.
I won’t print the rest of what I’m thinking.
The primary arguments could be made about any county assessors office in all 50 states. Not necessarily about the dem donors but arbitrary and secretive for sure.
If you claim your house is “overassessed by $4.55 million”, if it highly likely that you are not middle class.
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