Why is the assessment system in Nassau County so fucked up?

[TaxCutter490]

All I want to do is pay my fair share of taxes and stop bng ripped off.

What can I do?

[Unregistered,,l,]

Move...

[Unregistered200011]

1. Assessment alone is not what impacts the tax rates, its how your assessment compares to the average assessment in the county that impacts the assessment.

2. The reason why assessment went up is due to assessed values bng below what the actual fair market of the home in years past. this is due to a 6% cap on assessed values per year, but having several years of double digit increases

[LIRes92]

Assessments are estimates of a property's fair market value. A few years ago, Nassau County converted to an assessment system based on market value under court order. This resulted in serious disruption and financial pain for many people since properties that were undervalued (mostly older ones) had to pay more while overvalued properties recved reductions. Since then, assessment increases have been linked to increases in market value.

The county assessor does not set property tax rates. That is done by the various tax levying entities - county government, town government, villages, special districts, schools. The assessor's role is to provide information used to determine what your share of the total tax levy will be.

Until very recently, property assessments have been rising because property values were rising. A house that was work $350,000 in 2003 now might be worth $425,000, a 21% increase. That does not, however, equate into a 21%tax increase. Rising property values means the size of the pie - total valuation - is getting bigger. If government costs, i.e. tax levies, are growing at a slower pace than property values, the tax rate, the amount charged for every $1,000 a property is worth, will actually decline.

Generally, over time, property values should grow faster than property taxes. To test this theory, compare the percentage increase in the value of your home to the percentage increase in your taxes since you purchased your house. If the percentage increase in the value of your house is greater than the percentage increase in your taxes, you are technically ahead of the game.

[fed up with levinson]

1. Assessment alone is not what impacts the tax rates, its how your assessment compares to the average assessment in the county that impacts the assessment.

2. The reason why assessment went up is due to assessed values bng below what the actual fair market of the home in years past. this is due to a 6% cap on assessed values per year, but having several years of double digit increases

this is the bull that the people in the assessment office are trying to give us.
as i stated in other posts, the 6% cap may have affected the assessments 2 years ago, not these new assessments.

[fed up with levinson]

Assessments are estimates of a property's fair market value. A few years ago, Nassau County converted to an assessment system based on market value under court order. This resulted in serious disruption and financial pain for many people since properties that were undervalued (mostly older ones) had to pay more while overvalued properties recved reductions. Since then, assessment increases have been linked to increases in market value.

The county assessor does not set property tax rates. That is done by the various tax levying entities - county government, town government, villages, special districts, schools. The assessor's role is to provide information used to determine what your share of the total tax levy will be.

Until very recently, property assessments have been rising because property values were rising. A house that was work $350,000 in 2003 now might be worth $425,000, a 21% increase. That does not, however, equate into a 21%tax increase. Rising property values means the size of the pie - total valuation - is getting bigger. If government costs, i.e. tax levies, are growing at a slower pace than property values, the tax rate, the amount charged for every $1,000 a property is worth, will actually decline.

Generally, over time, property values should grow faster than property taxes. To test this theory, compare the percentage increase in the value of your home to the percentage increase in your taxes since you purchased your house. If the percentage increase in the value of your house is greater than the percentage increase in your taxes, you are technically ahead of the game.

the assessment of our homes is not very complex at all.

Assessed Value:

Assessed value is a uniform percentage of the market value of the property as of January 2 of any given year.
(Market Value x Level of Assessment = Assessed Value)

the problem is that some homes haven't been given the proper market value.
it is very important that the assessed value be correct, as it determines the "share of the tax pie" you will be paying.

[Movin' On]

Move...

True 'dat, very true. How do you fight a stupid, stubborn, abusive monolith (i.e., Nassau) ?

[Troothh]

Assessments are estimates of a property's fair market value. A few years ago, Nassau County converted to an assessment system based on market value under court order. This resulted in serious disruption and financial pain for many people since properties that were undervalued (mostly older ones) had to pay more while overvalued properties recved reductions. Since then, assessment increases have been linked to increases in market value.

The county assessor does not set property tax rates. That is done by the various tax levying entities - county government, town government, villages, special districts, schools. The assessor's role is to provide information used to determine what your share of the total tax levy will be.

Until very recently, property assessments have been rising because property values were rising. A house that was work $350,000 in 2003 now might be worth $425,000, a 21% increase. That does not, however, equate into a 21%tax increase. Rising property values means the size of the pie - total valuation - is getting bigger. If government costs, i.e. tax levies, are growing at a slower pace than property values, the tax rate, the amount charged for every $1,000 a property is worth, will actually decline.

Generally, over time, property values should grow faster than property taxes. To test this theory, compare the percentage increase in the value of your home to the percentage increase in your taxes since you purchased your house. If the percentage increase in the value of your house is greater than the percentage increase in your taxes, you are technically ahead of the game.

As to your para. 3, line 3, - in this freeeking County, government costs & spending NEVER go down, especiallly under Czar Thomas.

[Taxing Situation]

Assessments are estimates of a property's fair market value. A few years ago, Nassau County converted to an assessment system based on market value under court order. This resulted in serious disruption and financial pain for many people since properties that were undervalued (mostly older ones) had to pay more while overvalued properties recved reductions. Since then, assessment increases have been linked to increases in market value.

The county assessor does not set property tax rates. That is done by the various tax levying entities - county government, town government, villages, special districts, schools. The assessor's role is to provide information used to determine what your share of the total tax levy will be.

Until very recently, property assessments have been rising because property values were rising. A house that was work $350,000 in 2003 now might be worth $425,000, a 21% increase. That does not, however, equate into a 21%tax increase. Rising property values means the size of the pie - total valuation - is getting bigger. If government costs, i.e. tax levies, are growing at a slower pace than property values, the tax rate, the amount charged for every $1,000 a property is worth, will actually decline.

Generally, over time, property values should grow faster than property taxes. To test this theory, compare the percentage increase in the value of your home to the percentage increase in your taxes since you purchased your house. If the percentage increase in the value of your house is greater than the percentage increase in your taxes, you are technically ahead of the game.

It is just too darn disruptive & unsettling for homes & property to be reassessed every year. It causes alot of anger & turmoil, esp. when taxes are so HIGH!

[bluebldg]

My friend heard a rumor about Assessment. He said that the CLT(thats the company that was paid millions to do the reassessment) consultant who screwed up the reassessment all these years was hired by Assessment at a huge salary. Now she can continue to mess up the assessments as part of Assessments staff!:mad: :mad:

[Unregistered922q2]

this is the bull that the people in the assessment office are trying to give us.te
as i stated in other posts, the 6% cap may have affected the assessments 2 years ago, not these new assessments.

As I pointed out in the same thread it still has the impact. The fair market value (as per the county evaluations) has dropped the last two years, the reason the assessments have increased is to match the fair market value since the assessed value was capped. I will use an example of a home valued and assessed at $400,000 as of Jan of 04, an increase in value of 15% in 04, 14% in 05, a decrease in value of 2% in 06 and a decrease in value of 5% in 07. Those amounts pretty much typify the real estate value changes we have seen for those years


date fair market value assessed value
1/04 $400,000 $400,000
1/05 $460,000 $424,000
1/06 $524,400 $449,440
1/07 $513,912 $476,374
1/08 $493,916 $493,916

Thats why you are still seng increases in assessed value even when the fair market value was dropping, due to the large differences and assessed value that occurred, after having back to back years of increases in value of about 15%, but caps on assessment of 6%.

Also again the point needs to be made is how your change in assessed value compares to the average change in assessment in the county is what impacts the taxes. The assessment simply rising or declining does not impact taxes. In this case with the average assessment increase of 2.7%, unless your assessment increased by more than 2.7% your taxes will not rise. In fact if you saw an assessment increase, but of less than 2.7% (say 2.2%) your county taxes will actually decline

[Unregistered29292]

It is just too darn disruptive & unsettling for homes & property to be reassessed every year. It causes alot of anger & turmoil, esp. when taxes are so HIGH!


Assessment in itself doesn't impact taxes, its how that change in assessment compares to the change in assessment county wide. This is done in order to keep the differences in county taxes from one homeowner to the next relative to thr difference in property values. If your home is worth twice someone else's your going to pay twice the county taxes, if your home is worth half someone else's your going to pay 1/2 of the county taxes. You pay based on how your home compares to the average home. Its done yearly in order to make sure it stays proportionate. Under the old system, in some cases you had homeowners paying higher county taxes than another homeowner when thr home may have been worth 1/2 of what that other homeowners were worth, yet they still paid higher taxes.

[shammy]

As I pointed out in the same thread it still has the impact. The fair market value (as per the county evaluations) has dropped the last two years, the reason the assessments have increased is to match the fair market value since the assessed value was capped. I will use an example of a home valued and assessed at $400,000 as of Jan of 04, an increase in value of 15% in 04, 14% in 05, a decrease in value of 2% in 06 and a decrease in value of 5% in 07. Those amounts pretty much typify the real estate value changes we have seen for those years


date fair market value assessed value
1/04 $400,000 $400,000
1/05 $460,000 $424,000
1/06 $524,400 $449,440
1/07 $513,912 $476,374
1/08 $493,916 $493,916

Thats why you are still seng increases in assessed value even when the fair market value was dropping, due to the large differences and assessed value that occurred, after having back to back years of increases in value of about 15%, but caps on assessment of 6%.

Also again the point needs to be made is how your change in assessed value compares to the average change in assessment in the county is what impacts the taxes. The assessment simply rising or declining does not impact taxes. In this case with the average assessment increase of 2.7%, unless your assessment increased by more than 2.7% your taxes will not rise. In fact if you saw an assessment increase, but of less than 2.7% (say 2.2%) your county taxes will actually decline

this statement is not accurate, and i have to wonder who you work for, and why you would put out this lie.
you only have to go to the assessment depts' own website to see that facts for yourself. there are 2 values listed: fair market value (which is listed at the bottom), and adjusted market value - equalized full value (which is listed on top) the value on top reflects the adjustmenht for the 6% cap. with most homes, the cap affected adjusted market value 2 years ago. some last year. this year, there was no reason for the increase in home value if you had the 2 values equal for the last tax roll. (unless, of course, you put an addition on your home or had just purchased your home for a higher price). Many residents have seen an increase in the new assessment figures just put out by your department. there should have been some oversight before these figures were published, as there is no way your department can state that home sales prices have risen.

[Unregisteredssss]

this statement is not accurate, and i have to wonder who you work for, and why you would put out this lie.
you only have to go to the assessment depts' own website to see that facts for yourself. there are 2 values listed: fair market value (which is listed at the bottom), and adjusted market value - equalized full value (which is listed on top) the value on top reflects the adjustmenht for the 6% cap. with most homes, the cap affected adjusted market value 2 years ago. some last year. this year, there was no reason for the increase in home value if you had the 2 values equal for the last tax roll. (unless, of course, you put an addition on your home or had just purchased your home for a higher price). Many residents have seen an increase in the new assessment figures just put out by your department. there should have been some oversight before these figures were published, as there is no way your department can state that home sales prices have risen.


The VAST majority of homes did NOT see the assessed value = fair market value in 2007. The assessed value in 2007 for the vast majority of homes was still below the fair market value. In 2008 they are even on the majority of the homes, but to say that was the case in 2007 was simply false. For the vast majority of homes the fair market value DECLINED from 07 to 08, it did on my home and virtually every home in my nghborhood did as well. As well as many other parts of the county in which the fair market dropped in. Due to the vast increases in value in 04 & 05 that far outpaced the assessment cap we had huge difference between assessed and fair market value by the time the jan 06 figures came out. Now the gaps were narrowed by the time the Jan 07 figures were released, but the assessed values were still far below the fair market values. Even with the decline in values that we seen over the last year the 2008 fair market value was still below the 2007 assessed value (even if the 2008 fair market value was 5% below the 2007 fair market value) as a result the assessed values still increased.

But again one thing which seems to be missed in the argument is the way assessment impacts your taxes is not based off if your assessment increased or decreased, but how that change in assessment compared to the county average. For example if your assessment increased by 2% and the average assessment in the county increased by 2.7% (which is the case now) your taxes would be lower than if your assessment decreased by 2%, but the county average was a decrease of 2.7%

[shammy]

The VAST majority of homes did NOT see the assessed value = fair market value in 2007.

The assessed value in 2007 for the vast majority of homes was still below the fair market value. In 2008 they are even on the majority of the homes, but to say that was the case in 2007 was simply false. For the vast majority of homes the fair market value DECLINED from 07 to 08, it did on my home and virtually every home in my nghborhood did as well. As well as many other parts of the county in which the fair market dropped in. Due to the vast increases in value in 04 & 05 that far outpaced the assessment cap we had huge difference between assessed and fair market value by the time the jan 06 figures came out. Now the gaps were narrowed by the time the Jan 07 figures were released, but the assessed values were still far below the fair market values. Even with the decline in values that we seen over the last year the 2008 fair market value was still below the 2007 assessed value (even if the 2008 fair market value was 5% below the 2007 fair market value) as a result the assessed values still increased.

But again one thing which seems to be missed in the argument is the way assessment impacts your taxes is not based off if your assessment increased or decreased, but how that change in assessment compared to the county average. For example if your assessment increased by 2% and the average assessment in the county increased by 2.7% (which is the case now) your taxes would be lower than if your assessment decreased by 2%, but the county average was a decrease of 2.7%

you still got it wrong.
like i said before, if your fair market value, and adjusted market value were equal last year, when this tentative tax roll was presented, there should not have been an increase unless you had construction on your home, or had just purchased your home at a higher value. even you should agree with this point.

your first point is that the vast majority of homes did not see an increase. people have been complaining because they have seen an unjustified increase. it doesn't matter much whether you state most people were treated fairly, if you have not been treated fairly.
last year, my 2 values were equal. we had no construction, we did not just purchase our home. --we recved an increase in value.
this is absurd, as everyone knows the home sales values have decreased since the last valuation date. so how do you explain this?

secondly, the assessment department also tries to make an argument that your actual change in assessment doesn't matter much, only how that change in assessment compares to others in the county.
this is one ridiculous argument that i wish you people would stop trying to spin. it is imperative that each and every assessment be done properly. this figure, and only this, will determine how much is your fair share of the tax levy. if it didn't matter, we wouldn't need an assessment department or arc for that matter. if my home is assessed too high, and another home in glen cove is assessed too low, i will be the one paying for the error.
like i first stated, there should have been some oversight before these blaringly incorrect figures made thr way to the public.

[Unregistered22]

you still got it wrong.
like i said before, if your fair market value, and adjusted market value were equal last year, when this tentative tax roll was presented, there should not have been an increase unless you had construction on your home, or had just purchased your home at a higher value. even you should agree with this point.

your first point is that the vast majority of homes did not see an increase. people have been complaining because they have seen an unjustified increase. it doesn't matter much whether you state most people were treated fairly, if you have not been treated fairly.
last year, my 2 values were equal. we had no construction, we did not just purchase our home. --we recved an increase in value.
this is absurd, as everyone knows the home sales values have decreased since the last valuation date. so how do you explain this?

secondly, the assessment department also tries to make an argument that your actual change in assessment doesn't matter much, only how that change in assessment compares to others in the county.
this is one ridiculous argument that i wish you people would stop trying to spin. it is imperative that each and every assessment be done properly. this figure, and only this, will determine how much is your fair share of the tax levy. if it didn't matter, we wouldn't need an assessment department or arc for that matter. if my home is assessed too high, and another home in glen cove is assessed too low, i will be the one paying for the error.
like i first stated, there should have been some oversight before these blaringly incorrect figures made thr way to the public.


If this did occur you were an exception to the rule. I took a long look at homes across the county, looking into many towns, and different parts of a bunch of nghborhood. I saw virtually no one with the 2007 assessment values the same as the fair market. the reason thr tends to be the confusion thr is, is that most people don't understand the difference between assessed value and fair market value.


Out of curiosity what was the assessment last year and what is it this year?

[Unregistered5]

what you are missing is that regardless of your assessed value, whether fair or not, levinson has instituted the worst anti-taxpayer campaign ever. some assessed values are higher than they should be and if you challenge them, levinson's DROIDS will come into court with comparables sales that come in above that number. that's thr marching orders. if his "tax specialists" show a value that is below what the home is bng taxed on they have to go to the supervisor and levinson's counsel for review. so, they make sure they don't come in with a value under the current assessed value. even if it means coming in with comparables that are 1/2 mile away and over looking 5 comparable sale that are on the same block as your property which would prove the property is over-assessed. they're all drinking the same kool-aid over there and have been totally brainwashed. The dept of asses think that if they show a property is over-assessed, that the money is coming out of thr pocket when the money is actually going back to the homeowners that were over-taxed.

[shammy]

without bng too specific, under $380,000.00 last year.

over $400,000 this year.

i did see many homes with the problems i discussed. when i have more time, i will make a list and post it.

[Unregistered247]

what you are missing is that regardless of your assessed value, whether fair or not, levinson has instituted the worst anti-taxpayer campaign ever. some assessed values are higher than they should be and if you challenge them, levinson's DROIDS will come into court with comparables sales that come in above that number. ............................The dept of asses think that if they show a property is over-assessed, that the money is coming out of thr pocket when the money is actually going back to the homeowners that were over-taxed.

The problem is the way Nassau County handles assessment. Because of a problem we have been having with our assesment, we had gotten in contact with a department called ORPS with New York State. The Assessment Department had told us that NYS laws prevented them from making corrections past a certain date, even when they found out that they had been making an error on our property for years. ORPS told us that this was not true, and told us Nassau County lied in the letter they sent us. They also explained why the county refuses to make corrections.

If the Assessment Dept. makes an error, the COUNTY is responsible for refunding the total property taxes collected in error, not just the total County portion of property taxes. This is in order to not screw up everyones' budget (i.e. school, town, library.....) when the county made the error. It seems fair -- the county made the error, now the county is responsible. This is why people are saying that it is important to have the assessments done properly from the beginning. We were also told by ORPS that in other counties, when the tentative tax roll comes out, the residents who disagree have a chance to meet with thr Assessment Dept. and explain where they think they got it wrong. If the residents and the Assessment Dept. come to a meeting of the minds during this meeting, the tentative taxes are changed and there is no need for a grievance to be filed. This corrects the problem BEFORE it becomes a financial burden to the county.

Why aren't we doing this?

[shammy]

..... most people don't understand the difference between assessed value and fair market value.



the 2 values are posted right on the website, plain as day. how could someone not understand this? the problem is that many people don't look. like many others, we have had problems with our assessment and have had to learn the ins and outs of this system. we are now educating others. having them take a look at thr tax bills and assessments online. i now have friends of friends call up and have me talk them through the website. they are amazed at the information that was there all along and they never knew.

[shammy]

If this did occur you were an exception to the rule. I took a long look at homes across the county, looking into many towns, and different parts of a bunch of nghborhood. I saw virtually no one with the 2007 assessment values the same as the fair market. the reason thr tends to be the confusion thr is, is that most people don't understand the difference between assessed value and fair market value.


Out of curiosity what was the assessment last year and what is it this year?

as i stated, i did start to look at the home values in levittown. i was just kicked off the site after looking at only 2 blocks. here is some of what i found:
the homes had ther an increase this year, even though they had 2 equal values for fmv and efv, or, they had an increase from last year's fmv.
i searched in levittown:
abbey lane: 149, 6
academy: 10, 16, 17*, 23, 53, 6

*17 listed the recent sale as unusual circumstances, but the sale was for $320,000. the values last year were efv 350,400 and fmv 353,200. this years roll is listed with a huge increase in value of 440,600 both fmv & efv.

this was only about 10-15 mins. of searching. i was surprised to find that this error was much more widespread than i previously thought. i was also surprised to see that some homes have gone down much more than others. this goes to show that residents will NOT be paying thr fair share as the assessments seem very haphazard. how did this mistake occur? how could these figures have gone out? everyone knows that market values have gone down. not up or equal.

[shammy]

to Unregistered22

did you take a loot at these figures?? how were you able to go over a large group of figures as you state? i got knocked off the site after only a few. i don't know whether or not i can look at as many figures as you are able to.

[Unregistered9900]

to Unregistered22

did you take a loot at these figures?? how were you able to go over a large group of figures as you state? i got knocked off the site after only a few. i don't know whether or not i can look at as many figures as you are able to.


I didn't have a problem looking at the site, possibly yours could have been during a time when they were doing some work on the site itself. I didn't do all the research in one sitting, 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there.

As far as the homes on Abbey lane, one is an increase of less than 1%, another is an increase of a whole $700. An increase of 0.14%, same with the assessment, this home will actually see a drop in county taxes as its below the 2.7% barrier.

The home on 17 Academy, first off by the looks of it, seems like remodeled. The date on the photo is june of 07 (most the other photos are older than that) and if you go into the property description page it tells you right there the home was remodeled in 2007. The bulk of the other ones you mentioned are homes which increased at well under 1% and homeowners who will actually see thr taxes decline

[Unregistered56]

the 2 values are posted right on the website, plain as day. how could someone not understand this? the problem is that many people don't look. like many others, we have had problems with our assessment and have had to learn the ins and outs of this system. we are now educating others. having them take a look at thr tax bills and assessments online. i now have friends of friends call up and have me talk them through the website. they are amazed at the information that was there all along and they never knew.

PLAIN AS DAY YOU THINK! I guess then that you know about the .25 % (level of assessment) of value that the county "SAYS" they assess the market value at is not true? If you really did your home work you'd find out that 95% of the residential properties in nassau county are not really assessed at .25% of value, but at .23% of that market value. What at means in the real world is take your Assessed Value and divide it by .0023. It comes up with a much different market value than what is stated Dept Of Asses website. So a property that is "stated" as bng worth $500,000 with an assessed value of 1250 is actually equating to a market value of $543,478 (1250/.0023). The .25% (leval of assessment) of value is BS. Look at ORPS website -- class one equalization rate. So what you think is plain as day -- (i guess cause you just believe what government tells you or your are government)-- is anything but. That's why so many homeowners who file a tax grievance WIN. The whole system is clear as mud and meant to be that way. There's a lot more going on than is published on the website!

[shammy]

i definitely agree with you that there is a problem with the system, and they do not want the homeowners to be able to figure it out. but the values listed are there for you to see.

secondly, the previous post at first claimed that there were NO increases, and that home values actually decreased. so i went to look at the website. first of all, you can't go through many homes or it will knock you off -- this always happens. the person obviously has access that the rest of us don't have. the first town i checked, levittown, i was only able to go through 2 blocks before i came up with this list. not very many homes at all. imagine what could be found if an audit was done!!!! i don't think it makes a difference that they don't think the values were raised high enough to be concerened. they shouldn't have gone up at all. now this poses another problem. the previous post also said that where they live, everyone has shown a decrease.

then why has the burden of propertly taxes unfairly been shifted to the homeowners i stated? this also happened to our home, we went up in value.
everyone should have seen a decrease this year. this would have kept everyone equal.

and as for winning grievances, many people get turned down unjustly - like us. there is no accountability in that department. its time howard wtzman stopped complaining about special districts, and clean house first.

[Unregistered8989]

i definitely agree with you that there is a problem with the system, and they do not want the homeowners to be able to figure it out. but the values listed are there for you to see.

secondly, the previous post at first claimed that there were NO increases, and that home values actually decreased. so i went to look at the website. first of all, you can't go through many homes or it will knock you off -- this always happens. the person obviously has access that the rest of us don't have. the first town i checked, levittown, i was only able to go through 2 blocks before i came up with this list. not very many homes at all. imagine what could be found if an audit was done!!!! i don't think it makes a difference that they don't think the values were raised high enough to be concerened. they shouldn't have gone up at all. now this poses another problem. the previous post also said that where they live, everyone has shown a decrease.

then why has the burden of propertly taxes unfairly been shifted to the homeowners i stated? this also happened to our home, we went up in value.
everyone should have seen a decrease this year. this would have kept everyone equal.

and as for winning grievances, many people get turned down unjustly - like us. there is no accountability in that department. its time howard wtzman stopped complaining about special districts, and clean house first.

I have optimum online and didn't have any problem, so I don't know why you did. Anyway you mentioned about the burden bng shifted to the homeowners you mentioned. Other than the home which was remodeled in 2007, virtually all the homeowners you mentioned had assessments which rose by less than the 2.7% average, which means those homeowners will actually see county taxes they pay decline.

[Yet another lie]

PLAIN AS DAY YOU THINK! I guess then that you know about the .25 % (level of assessment) of value that the county "SAYS" they assess the market value at is not true? If you really did your home work you'd find out that 95% of the residential properties in nassau county are not really assessed at .25% of value, but at .23% of that market value. What at means in the real world is take your Assessed Value and divide it by .0023. It comes up with a much different market value than what is stated Dept Of Asses website. So a property that is "stated" as bng worth $500,000 with an assessed value of 1250 is actually equating to a market value of $543,478 (1250/.0023). The .25% (leval of assessment) of value is BS. Look at ORPS website -- class one equalization rate. So what you think is plain as day -- (i guess cause you just believe what government tells you or your are government)-- is anything but. That's why so many homeowners who file a tax grievance WIN. The whole system is clear as mud and meant to be that way. There's a lot more going on than is published on the website!


Show an example of this.... All the homes are assessed at 0.25% of the adjusted market value. Any other statement is an outright lie

[shammy]

I have optimum online and didn't have any problem, so I don't know why you did. Anyway you mentioned about the burden bng shifted to the homeowners you mentioned. Other than the home which was remodeled in 2007, virtually all the homeowners you mentioned had assessments which rose by less than the 2.7% average, which means those homeowners will actually see county taxes they pay decline.

i also have optimum online. you can't keep going through the website, or you will start getting strange screens. thats the way its been for a long time.
but, the fact is you said the home values had declined on all the homes you checked. you stated i was wrong about increases. when i proved you were wrong, i can't believe you don't just admit the assessment department screwed up. now your claiming these homes didn't go up "that much". the decreases in taxes payable you spoke of should be more of a decrease because to put in in the assessment dept lingo -- "its not how much your assesment is, it is how it compares to everyone else." (isn't that how you put it?) since all the homes YOU searched showed decreases, it doesn't seem everyone was treated equally. therefore, compared with everyone else, the homes with increases are paying more than thr fair share of taxes.

and why the increases when home values have declined????

[Unregisteredabcdefg]

I firmly believe that the county and all of these tax correction experts are in bed with one another.The assessments are ridiculous and they know it. It creates a whole lot of jobs--- the whole grievance procedure. If they just got it right from the beginning people wouldn't have to file all of these grievances. I am disgusted with how our county assesses homes. I have never seen so many mistakes made by one office in my life, except for george bush and his band of liars! WHEN YOU VOTE NEXT TIME REMEMBER TO VOTE OUT THE TAX ASSESSOR. HE IS THE WORST PROFESSIONAL I HAVE EVER BEEN WITNESS TO.

[shammy]

I didn't have a problem looking at the site, possibly yours could have been during a time when they were doing some work on the site itself. I didn't do all the research in one sitting, 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there.

As far as the homes on Abbey lane, one is an increase of less than 1%, another is an increase of a whole $700. An increase of 0.14%, same with the assessment, this home will actually see a drop in county taxes as its below the 2.7% barrier.

The home on 17 Academy, first off by the looks of it, seems like remodeled. The date on the photo is june of 07 (most the other photos are older than that) and if you go into the property description page it tells you right there the home was remodeled in 2007. The bulk of the other ones you mentioned are homes which increased at well under 1% and homeowners who will actually see thr taxes decline

i am very dismayed to hear your response. judging by your posts, it appears as though you work for the assessment dept.

i would think that your department would understand the importance of a correct assessment, knowing that all tax calculations are based on that home value figure, yet you make excuse after excuse.

at first you stated that home values dropped and i was mistaken. then i proved you wrong, and your answer is "well, they didn't go up that much and they will still see a drop in taxes anyway." i was only able to look at 2 blocks in 1 town, and found these errors. it is not enough to say the increase is not that much, when the fact remains that there should have been a decrease. you have to judge how much overassessed those homes are, by factoring in the decrease in market values, then calculating what the homes actually should have been valued, then subtracting that figure from the newest figure. that is how much overassessed that home is.

example:
a home that was 400,000 and is now 400,700, should have seen a drop to maybe 350,000-360,000 in this market. the value of this home is approximately $40,700 - $50,700 higher than it should be. not $700 higher as you have stated. this will result in a higher assessment figure, and thus higher taxes than they should be paying.

i looked at somes homes in expensive nghborhoods and have seen homes that were 1,100,000 are now about 980,000. why the disparity??

you state that the assessed value is not that important, what matters is how your home compares to others. as far as county taxes are concerned, someone like me who has had thr assessment rise unjustly, is shouldering the tax burden for another home anywhere in the county who has seen a reduction in thr value.

likewise with the town and school in within thr respective districts.

many homes have been improperly assessed. this number is too important to the finances of a resident and thr family. with times as hard as they are getting now, i don't think i should be forced to pay more than my fair share of the tax burden.

its time the assessment department shows some integrity. these numbers are wrong, so stop defending them with excuses. the assessments should be reviewed and re-called. howard wietzman should do an audit of this years assessment figures.

[Unregistered9998]

i am very dismayed to hear your response. judging by your posts, it appears as though you work for the assessment dept.

i would think that your department would understand the importance of a correct assessment, knowing that all tax calculations are based on that home value figure, yet you make excuse after excuse.

at first you stated that home values dropped and i was mistaken. then i proved you wrong, and your answer is "well, they didn't go up that much and they will still see a drop in taxes anyway." i was only able to look at 2 blocks in 1 town, and found these errors. it is not enough to say the increase is not that much, when the fact remains that there should have been a decrease. you have to judge how much overassessed those homes are, by factoring in the decrease in market values, then calculating what the homes actually should have been valued, then subtracting that figure from the newest figure. that is how much overassessed that home is.

example:
a home that was 400,000 and is now 400,700, should have seen a drop to maybe 350,000-360,000 in this market. the value of this home is approximately $40,700 - $50,700 higher than it should be. not $700 higher as you have stated. this will result in a higher assessment figure, and thus higher taxes than they should be paying.

i looked at somes homes in expensive nghborhoods and have seen homes that were 1,100,000 are now about 980,000. why the disparity??

you state that the assessed value is not that important, what matters is how your home compares to others. as far as county taxes are concerned, someone like me who has had thr assessment rise unjustly, is shouldering the tax burden for another home anywhere in the county who has seen a reduction in thr value.

likewise with the town and school in within thr respective districts.

many homes have been improperly assessed. this number is too important to the finances of a resident and thr family. with times as hard as they are getting now, i don't think i should be forced to pay more than my fair share of the tax burden.

its time the assessment department shows some integrity. these numbers are wrong, so stop defending them with excuses. the assessments should be reviewed and re-called. howard wietzman should do an audit of this years assessment figures.


350-360??? Where are you coming up with numbers like that?? thats a 10-12% drop. Long Island as a whole averaged about a 4.5% drop according to MLS. one more thing, many of the homes you listed saw a 4-5% drop in fair market value in 2006, according to MLS the figures Islandwide were pretty much even during 06. Some areas peform better than the average, some worse, sometimes that could change on a year to year basis. One areas values may have done worse than the average from one year to the next, while the next year it may have performed better than the average.

I'm not arguing the system is perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but its far better than the old system

[shammy]

where am i coming up with these figures?????
the market has dropped considerably. look at the recent sales. look at the homes that are NOT EVEN SELLING!!!!!!!!!!! and why is ok for the "upscale" homes to drop 10-15% according to the assessment dept., when the high-end market remains relatively in tact??

[Unregisteredssss]

where am i coming up with these figures?????
the market has dropped considerably. look at the recent sales. look at the homes that are NOT EVEN SELLING!!!!!!!!!!! and why is ok for the "upscale" homes to drop 10-15% according to the assessment dept., when the high-end market remains relatively in tact??


So are you suggesting MLS is lying?? Because the drops you suggested aren't even remotely close to what MLS is reporting

[shammy]

multiple LISTING service? is that what you are talking about -- listings?
i just looked at some recent SALES in levittown, i've seen several that actually sold in the $200,000's. all reports show SALES are indeed way down. i just read an article in newsday stating that many homes aren't even selling and homeowners are taking them off the market or renting them out. sounds pretty bleak to me.

besides, are you really going to argue the point that home sales haven't declined? come on now, seriously!

[Unregistered9898]

multiple LISTING service? is that what you are talking about -- listings?
i just looked at some recent SALES in levittown, i've seen several that actually sold in the $200,000's. all reports show SALES are indeed way down. i just read an article in newsday stating that many homes aren't even selling and homeowners are taking them off the market or renting them out. sounds pretty bleak to me.

besides, are you really going to argue the point that home sales haven't declined? come on now, seriously!

i'm talking about the official sales data, the actual home sales in 2007 were not down nearly as much as you claimed it was period.

As far as the houses in the 200's in Levittown, would like to see some evidence to back it up, but thr are some very small homes in Levittown, the old orignial Levitt capes which were not remodeled or redone in anyway.

[shammy]

the original homes in levittown were selling very high recently. absurdly high for the value, i'll agree. but nevertheless, the prices were high and the assessments were increased along with the rising values - of course.

here's a few from newsday recent home sales: (put in levittown in the search and you will notice that this is only from page 1 & 2 of 10)

30 Baker - $250,000
24 Hook - $295,000
237 Old Farm - $240,000
20 Snapdragon - $287,500
19 Appletree - $290,000

there are also many homes sold in the low 300,000's. this is SOLD price.

you will also still see homes in the 400,000's. its hard to decipher, but many of these homes have 2 or more units in them. go to open houses, you will see this is true. i have asked the town and the assessment dept to go to these open houses themselves, even gave a list of addresses. the response from both was - we don't do open houses. why not? they would garner much information in this manner. its not fair at all to comp homes which are truly single units, with that of multiple unit dwellings.

[Unregistered2727]

for the record I was actually wrong when I suggested a 5% decline, I overestimated the decline. Nassau County saw a 2.2% drop in year over year sales from Jan 07 to Jan 08

Prices in Nassau County declined the l -- by 2.2 percent from January of last year, to a median of $440,000. In Suffolk, the decline was 6 percent, to $373,500. Queens was hardest hit, with the median price falling by 9.8 percent in January from a year earlier, to $438,000.

http://www.newsday.com/news/ny-bzhome0212,0,7298149.story

[chef of nassau county]

for the record I was actually wrong when I suggested a 5% decline, I overestimated the decline. Nassau County saw a 2.2% drop in year over year sales from Jan 07 to Jan 08



http://www.newsday.com/news/ny-bzhome0212,0,7298149.story

I have been following your discussion and I find it funny that the link to Newsday is for a artiticle today and your post was yesterday? Is this Harvey or one of his flunkies? And like always with a Newsday artiticle you have to read the whole thing. This is from that artitcle. (Martin Cantor, director of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute, was quoted in Sunday's Newsday as suggesting that home prices on Long Island, which have fallen by 5 percent in Nassau County and 7 percent in Suffolk over the past year, could drop another 15 percent before prices stabilize. He predicted that the time a house spends on the market, currently under four months, will jump to seven months.) It all goes with who's study do you believe?

[chef of nassau county]

I have been following your discussion and I find it funny that the link to Newsday is for a artiticle today and your post was yesterday? Is this Harvey or one of his flunkies? And like always with a Newsday artiticle you have to read the whole thing. This is from that artitcle. (Martin Cantor, director of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute, was quoted in Sunday's Newsday as suggesting that home prices on Long Island, which have fallen by 5 percent in Nassau County and 7 percent in Suffolk over the past year, could drop another 15 percent before prices stabilize. He predicted that the time a house spends on the market, currently under four months, will jump to seven months.) It all goes with who's study do you believe?
Sorry, I didn't use my spell check.

[Unregistered112]

I have been following your discussion and I find it funny that the link to Newsday is for a artiticle today and your post was yesterday? Is this Harvey or one of his flunkies? And like always with a Newsday artiticle you have to read the whole thing. This is from that artitcle. (Martin Cantor, director of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute, was quoted in Sunday's Newsday as suggesting that home prices on Long Island, which have fallen by 5 percent in Nassau County and 7 percent in Suffolk over the past year, could drop another 15 percent before prices stabilize. He predicted that the time a house spends on the market, currently under four months, will jump to seven months.) It all goes with who's study do you believe?

Do you have a link for that study?? The numbers that were reported in the Newsday article is the actual year to year change from Jan 07 to Jan 08. e

[shammy]

I have been following your discussion and I find it funny that the link to Newsday is for a artiticle today and your post was yesterday? Is this Harvey or one of his flunkies? And like always with a Newsday artiticle you have to read the whole thing. This is from that artitcle. (Martin Cantor, director of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute, was quoted in Sunday's Newsday as suggesting that home prices on Long Island, which have fallen by 5 percent in Nassau County and 7 percent in Suffolk over the past year, could drop another 15 percent before prices stabilize. He predicted that the time a house spends on the market, currently under four months, will jump to seven months.) It all goes with who's study do you believe?

good catch with the date of the newsday article and the date of the post.
makes you wonder.

i'm glad to someone else post against this dept. i see alot of views, but not enough speaking up. thats the problem - not enough people bother to speak up anywhere that counts. many people are complaining about the taxes, but only to each other. when it comes time to speak out, they go silent.

[Unregistered333]

good catch with the date of the newsday article and the date of the post.
makes you wonder.

i'm glad to someone else post against this dept. i see alot of views, but not enough speaking up. thats the problem - not enough people bother to speak up anywhere that counts. many people are complaining about the taxes, but only to each other. when it comes time to speak out, they go silent.

Ahh yes when the actual facts about the sales data don't match your claims you choose to dismiss them. fact of the matter is from Jan 07 to Jan 08 Nassau County saw a 2.2% drop, which was quite a bit lower than the national drop and the overall drop in the metro area. The article just wasn't in Newsday btw, it was in other sources as well, which I will look through and post tonight after I get home from work.

[shammy]

for the record I was actually wrong when I suggested a 5% decline, I overestimated the decline. Nassau County saw a 2.2% drop in year over year sales from Jan 07 to Jan 08



http://www.newsday.com/news/ny-bzhome0212,0,7298149.story


you are dreaming. try selling that misinformation to homeowners who are trying to sell thr homes or refinance.

thr homes don't have the value they did last year. so sellers are taking less, letting thr homes go to foreclosure, renting, or not selling.

homeowners trying to refinance are finding that the home equity lines of credit they took out last year cannot be refinanced because they are now "upside down" in thr equity. meaning, they owe more than thr home is worth. with the usual 80% loan to value ratios, and now seng news reports regarding this issue, you can safely say that these homes have lost at l 20% of thr value.

did you look at what the listings and sales were last year within random towns, and have you now taken a second look at those same towns? are you trying to state there is only a 2% difference at most? you are stating that a home that could sell for 480,000 can now still sell for 470,400? you need to take an honest look at what you are posting. your figures aren't realistic.

i would also like to point out to you if i may, that you are looking at a nassau county averages in the information you posted. nassau towns are not all comparable. i read / heard news reports which stated that upscale real estate is holding its value. nassau county has some very expensive, large and beautiful homes. i'm sure jlo's home or billy joel's home will not see a loss in value. these real estate values will be factored into your report, as well as the new upscale condos which sold around 1 million. hicksville, levittown, meadow ---well, thats another story. us average middle class homeowners will see a major decline, and it won't be the 2% you are suggesting.

as for you not believing any homes in levittown are down in the $200,000's, did you take a look? those were sales!

[Unregistered9292]

you are dreaming. try selling that misinformation to homeowners who are trying to sell thr homes or refinance.

thr homes don't have the value they did last year. so sellers are taking less, letting thr homes go to foreclosure, renting, or not selling.

homeowners trying to refinance are finding that the home equity lines of credit they took out last year cannot be refinanced because they are now "upside down" in thr equity. meaning, they owe more than thr home is worth. with the usual 80% loan to value ratios, and now seng news reports regarding this issue, you can safely say that these homes have lost at l 20% of thr value.

did you look at what the listings and sales were last year within random towns, and have you now taken a second look at those same towns? are you trying to state there is only a 2% difference at most? you are stating that a home that could sell for 480,000 can now still sell for 470,400? you need to take an honest look at what you are posting. your figures aren't realistic.

i would also like to point out to you if i may, that you are looking at a nassau county averages in the information you posted. nassau towns are not all comparable. i read / heard news reports which stated that upscale real estate is holding its value. nassau county has some very expensive, large and beautiful homes. i'm sure jlo's home or billy joel's home will not see a loss in value. these real estate values will be factored into your report, as well as the new upscale condos which sold around 1 million. hicksville, levittown, meadow ---well, thats another story. us average middle class homeowners will see a major decline, and it won't be the 2% you are suggesting.

as for you not believing any homes in levittown are down in the $200,000's, did you take a look? those were sales!

First off those are median figures, which means half the homes sell for more half the homes sell for less. So if those million $$ homes are rising or declining is not going to have an impact on the median values as they are already selling for more no matter what the year. Now if what was bng mentioned was Mean or average figures than the upper end homes argument would hold water, but not when your talking about median amounts.

As far as homes bng foreclosed a report on News 12 last night showed foreclosers down sharply in both Nassau & Suffolk from last Jan and the rate of foreclosure well below the national average.

[shammy]

First off those are median figures, which means half the homes sell for more half the homes sell for less. So if those million $$ homes are rising or declining is not going to have an impact on the median values as they are already selling for more no matter what the year. Now if what was bng mentioned was Mean or average figures than the upper end homes argument would hold water, but not when your talking about median amounts.

As far as homes bng foreclosed a report on News 12 last night showed foreclosures down sharply in both Nassau & Suffolk from last Jan and the rate of foreclosure well below the national average.

foreclosures are not down sharply. they are rising. if news 12 reported that foreclosures are down, they reported the story inaccurately. people in the title insurance business are saying that they have never seen so many foreclosures. i never knew anyone who had thr home foreclosed, but i know of 2 people who are presently going through 2 separate foreclosures. a friend in the clerks office said they had 25 foreclosures come in i think it was monday or tuesday. pretty sloppy reporting on news12's part if what you state was accurate.

as for bng median or average, i'll check that out for myself. if it were only 2% in value that homes were dropping, homeowners wouldn't be having trouble refinancing, and the banks and mortgage companies wouldn't be in the mess they are now.

try again!

[Unregistered122]

foreclosures are not down sharply. they are rising. if news 12 reported that foreclosures are down, they reported the story inaccurately. people in the title insurance business are saying that they have never seen so many foreclosures. i never knew anyone who had thr home foreclosed, but i know of 2 people who are presently going through 2 separate foreclosures. a friend in the clerks office said they had 25 foreclosures come in i think it was monday or tuesday. pretty sloppy reporting on news12's part if what you state was accurate.

as for bng median or average, i'll check that out for myself. if it were only 2% in value that homes were dropping, homeowners wouldn't be having trouble refinancing, and the banks and mortgage companies wouldn't be in the mess they are now.

try again!

The report on News 12 was forclosure filings from Jan 08 compared to Jan 07, year to year change. It was down in both Nassau & suffolk County, lower in Nassau than Suffolk and WELL below the national average in both. As far as the refinancing issues. I use to work in the Mortgage field. Thr has been a crack down on stated income loans, mortgage companies are also less willing to go up to the 90 % 100% financing that they were a couple years ago. the credit standars to get some of these loans are higher than they were a couple years ago. On top of that you have people with adjustable rates readjusting and not bng able to afford to make the ney payments. As a result they start missing some payments which impacts thr credit and results in someone not qualifiyng for a loan in which they would have in the past. Many people also took out MTA loans or option arms in which you had the option to pay less than interest only. However doing that caused your principal balance to rise.

[Unregistered33333]

Principal balance doesn't rise with rising mortgage interest. 2 separate totals. To get a higher loan (80%-100%), you had to be able to show that the home had a higher value when sending the applications to funding. If you were in the business, you should know this. We can't prove the higher values anymore. They even used to accept readings from the county website, then do a drive by. Things have changed because home values are down and the banks don't want to get stuck with the homes.

[Unregistered222]

Principal balance doesn't rise with rising mortgage interest. 2 separate totals. To get a higher loan (80%-100%), you had to be able to show that the home had a higher value when sending the applications to funding. If you were in the business, you should know this. We can't prove the higher values anymore. They even used to accept readings from the county website, then do a drive by. Things have changed because home values are down and the banks don't want to get stuck with the homes.


I'm talking about MTA loans, negative amoritization loans, the ones with the 1.25% teaser rates. Those kind of things. This type of loan gave the homeowner four options. They could pay the fully indexred rate paying principal + Interest which is the MTA index (which is the average of the T Bill for the last 12 months) + the margin from the lender. They could make that payment based off a 15 year payoff or 30 year payoff. They could also take that fully indeed rate and make the Interest Only Payment. Yet another option was a Mininmum payment (that 1.25% I mentioned) which would be lower than paying the fully indexed rate as Interest Only. They could also choose to pay any amount of the minmum 1.25% rate.

However, if they chose the 1.25% payment option or chose to pay more than that option, but less than what the fully indexed rate Interest only option would have been, the difference between the amount that they paid and the ctual Interest only Payment would be added to thr balance. People got caught up in this in two ways, first of which are those who constanly chose to make the 1.25% payment or lower than Interest only payment were hit every month and added more every month to thr principal balance. On top of that with the MTA index rising basically every month the amount they were adding onto the principal balance also increased each year.

You also have the people who bought into the loan at a time the index of the MTA was very low to get a real low rate. They may have done this with the intention of paying the fully indexed rate at ther P&I or Interest only, but as the Index went up, they were no longer able to afford to make those payments and the Principal Balances went up as a result of paying lesss than that Interest only amount.

[shammy]

and this is why you see the increase in foreclosures and the resulting loss of property values in communities as a whole.

[Unregistered888]

and this is why you see the increase in foreclosures and the resulting loss of property values in communities as a whole.

Foreclosures from Jan 07 to Jan 08 actually dropped in both Nassau & Suffolk. The foreclosure rate on Long Island is MUCH lower than the national average. the median price fell 2.2% in Nassau during that time. I'm not suggesting the market isn't in a downturn it is, what I am saying is Long Island and Nassau county in particular is faring better than most of the rest of the country in regards to the downturn in the housing market.

[shammy]

you posted a link to an article and claimed the article stated there was only a 2.2% decline in the nassau market, yet at the end of the article, it stated there was actually a 5% decline in nassau.
.........
Martin Cantor, director of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute, was quoted in Sunday's Newsday as suggesting that home prices on Long Island, which have fallen by 5 percent in Nassau County and 7 percent in Suffolk over the past year, could drop another 15 percent before prices stabilize
.........
you also neglect to factor in that the high-end homes have held thr value. you stated that the extremely high, and extremley low values are thrown out. although martin cantor did not state that this was not an average of all homes, you have to admit there are a lot of different nghborhoods in nassau, with many different values. average places like levittown, meadow, hicksville, have declined greatly - yet the assessments don't reflect that drop. i showed in a recent post that the assessment dept had increased the value on some homes which had not been under construction, or had not been recently sold.

don't you agree that this is an error? even by your statement that homes values are down only 2%, these homes should not have seen an increase in value (i am referring to the homes that DID NOT have the 6% cap in effect).
the assessment dept made an error. there was no oversight. a red flag should have gone up when these figures were entered. some one of the many supervisors should have made sure this did not happen.

now it is up to arc to correct these errors. we have read in the news that arc is urged not to make the corrections because it is too costly to the county. i have also been told by clerks from the assessment dept. that the grievances are routinely thrown out without even bng looked at. (which is the reason for many people recve denial, after denial when a correction is in order). next step is to go to a hearing. harvey levinson has also gone on record that he wanted several hearing officers removed for approving reductions. now howard wtzman wants to make the job of the assessor an appointee political patronage job so the assessor doesn't have to answer to the people.

do the job correctly! and we will vote you in again.

[Fed up 2]

When are we going to wake up and get rid of Suozzi? Are we all so weak minded and uninvolved that we can't elect someone who will advocate for the citizens rather than thr own political career ?

[Unregistered8484]

you posted a link to an article and claimed the article stated there was only a 2.2% decline in the nassau market, yet at the end of the article, it stated there was actually a 5% decline in nassau.
.........
Martin Cantor, director of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute, was quoted in Sunday's Newsday as suggesting that home prices on Long Island, which have fallen by 5 percent in Nassau County and 7 percent in Suffolk over the past year, could drop another 15 percent before prices stabilize
.........
you also neglect to factor in that the high-end homes have held thr value. you stated that the extremely high, and extremley low values are thrown out. although martin cantor did not state that this was not an average of all homes, you have to admit there are a lot of different nghborhoods in nassau, with many different values. average places like levittown, meadow, hicksville, have declined greatly - yet the assessments don't reflect that drop. i showed in a recent post that the assessment dept had increased the value on some homes which had not been under construction, or had not been recently sold.

don't you agree that this is an error? even by your statement that homes values are down only 2%, these homes should not have seen an increase in value (i am referring to the homes that DID NOT have the 6% cap in effect).
the assessment dept made an error. there was no oversight. a red flag should have gone up when these figures were entered. some one of the many supervisors should have made sure this did not happen.

now it is up to arc to correct these errors. we have read in the news that arc is urged not to make the corrections because it is too costly to the county. i have also been told by clerks from the assessment dept. that the grievances are routinely thrown out without even bng looked at. (which is the reason for many people recve denial, after denial when a correction is in order). next step is to go to a hearing. harvey levinson has also gone on record that he wanted several hearing officers removed for approving reductions. now howard wtzman wants to make the job of the assessor an appointee political patronage job so the assessor doesn't have to answer to the people.

do the job correctly! and we will vote you in again.


What was mentioned by Castor was his OPINION on the drop, what he thought the drop was. The start of the article which mentioned the 2.2% drop, used mentioned specifically the amount of drop and the actual values. in other words it used cold hard data and facts about the median values from jan 07 to jan 08, not a suggestion on the drop. You don't see anywhere in Castor's suggestion him using the actual median value differences from jan 7 to jan 08, he doesn't state that the values were a specific amount, he doesn't mention any of that.

I'm not suggesting that we haven't seen some drop, I'm not suggesting the system is perfect or free of mistakes. What I am saying is the actual facts, the cold hard data about the median values from this year compared to last, while dropping haven't dropped by the amounts some have suggested. In regards to the assessment system, while its not perfect, the system is MUCH better than the previous system and the alternatives that have been proposed by Schmtt and company.

[Unregistered21111]

What was mentioned by Castor was his OPINION on the drop, what he thought the drop was. The start of the article which mentioned the 2.2% drop, used mentioned specifically the amount of drop and the actual values. in other words it used cold hard data and facts about the median values from jan 07 to jan 08, not a suggestion on the drop. You don't see anywhere in Castor's suggestion him using the actual median value differences from jan 7 to jan 08, he doesn't state that the values were a specific amount, he doesn't mention any of that.

I'm not suggesting that we haven't seen some drop, I'm not suggesting the system is perfect or free of mistakes. What I am saying is the actual facts, the cold hard data about the median values from this year compared to last, while dropping haven't dropped by the amounts some have suggested. In regards to the assessment system, while its not perfect, the system is MUCH better than the previous system and the alternatives that have been proposed by Schmtt and company.

Read it again. It was not his OPINION that prices in Nassau have fallen 5%, it was fact. The OPINION part was that he believes we will see a further reduction of 15%. Stop trying to manipulate that facts. Thats the problem with you people in the Assessment Dept. Face the facts --- you screwed up, stop making excuses and after excuse for the poor handling of you job.

[Unregistered112]

Read it again. It was not his OPINION that prices in Nassau have fallen 5%, it was fact. The OPINION part was that he believes we will see a further reduction of 15%. Stop trying to manipulate that facts. Thats the problem with you people in the Assessment Dept. Face the facts --- you screwed up, stop making excuses and after excuse for the poor handling of you job.


First off i don't work for the assessment Dept or anywhere else in the county. Secondly the article states he suggests in dropped 5%, with no mention of the median prices to back up that suggestion. Meanwhile the 2.2% mentioned in the article is actually based of the median sales data.

[shammy]

not very likely or you wouldn't be defending the messed up system the way you do.

[unregistered 21111]

[QUOTE=TaxCutter490;186137]All I want to do is pay my fair share of taxes and stop bng ripped off.QUOTE]


I think this post says it all. It would be nice if the Assessment Dept. would listen.

[Unregistered112]

not very likely or you wouldn't be defending the messed up system the way you do.

Fact of the matter is I don't work for the assessment dept or the county, I work for a bank in Manhattan.

the reason why I am "defending" them is simply to correct inaccurate information which in some cases are out & out lies.

[shammy]

Fact of the matter is I don't work for the assessment dept or the county, I work for a bank in Manhattan.

the reason why I am "defending" them is simply to correct inaccurate information which in some cases are out & out lies.

don't believe you at all. there is a reason for you defending this misinformation and quoting the exact rhetoric coming out of the assessment department. the information you are giving is false, misleading ... inaccurate. you are definitely tied to the assessment dept. or this wouldn't be such an issue for you. the reason people like me are trying to get the truth out about what is going on, is that we are tired of overpaying on our taxes.

[Unregistered4444]

Fact of the matter is I don't work for the assessment dept or the county, I work for a bank in Manhattan.

the reason why I am "defending" them is simply to correct inaccurate information which in some cases are out & out lies.


The Lone Manhattan Banker fights for truth and justice to protect the unfairly maligned Nassau County Assessment Dept.

Gimme a break -- give us all a break.

[shammy]

The Lone Manhattan Banker fights for truth and justice to protect the unfairly maligned Nassau County Assessment Dept.

Gimme a break -- give us all a break.

you got that right!! the department needs to be audited. all of these audits are turning up gross misuse of taxpayer's time and money. why isn't the assessment dept. bng audited too?

[Unregistered22211]

don't believe you at all. there is a reason for you defending this misinformation and quoting the exact rhetoric coming out of the assessment department. the information you are giving is false, misleading ... inaccurate. you are definitely tied to the assessment dept. or this wouldn't be such an issue for you. the reason people like me are trying to get the truth out about what is going on, is that we are tired of overpaying on our taxes.


The reason the infor I am giving matches the rhetoric as you suggest is its because its correct. the median prices are not sown as much as you have tried to suggest its down, the sales data backs that up. With a few exceptions the reason assessments havegone up is due to the run up in prices in previous years which caused a gap between assessed & fair market value. the system isn't perfect I'm not trying to suggest it is and mistakes are made. however the system is better than what we have had in the past and what has been proposed by others. For example the assessment freeze proposal would have resulted in higher taxes for the homeowners you mentioned than what they are going to wind up paying.

[shammy]

everyone knows that what i am suggesting is correct. i believe even the people in the assessment dept know the truth. but the truth doesn't fit with thr game plan. this is why they refuse to accept the facts. for the life of me i just can't understand how the appraisers in the dept. could turn in values which were higher than last year for homes which had reached the 6% cap 2 years ago, and had no construction or recent sale.

quite simply, it just doesn't make sense. thr supervisors should have rejected those values and handed the work back to the appraiser for correction. it is not "just a handful of homes" as you said, its alot of homes. mine is one of them. even if it were only a few, for those few it is unfair because whether or not taxes go up or down, it means paying more than your fair share of taxes.

your assessed value is a very important number. it needs to be correct.

by the way, you do keep repeating that it is not a perfect system. what do you think is wrong with it, and what's your ideas on fixing it?

[Unregistered333]

everyone knows that what i am suggesting is correct. i believe even the people in the assessment dept know the truth. but the truth doesn't fit with thr game plan. this is why they refuse to accept the facts. for the life of me i just can't understand how the appraisers in the dept. could turn in values which were higher than last year for homes which had reached the 6% cap 2 years ago, and had no construction or recent sale.

quite simply, it just doesn't make sense. thr supervisors should have rejected those values and handed the work back to the appraiser for correction. it is not "just a handful of homes" as you said, its alot of homes. mine is one of them. even if it were only a few, for those few it is unfair because whether or not taxes go up or down, it means paying more than your fair share of taxes.

your assessed value is a very important number. it needs to be correct.

by the way, you do keep repeating that it is not a perfect system. what do you think is wrong with it, and what's your ideas on fixing it?

Likely due to the sales and comps in that immediate area. Countywde the change year over year median sales price was 2.2%. Some areas are going to be hit harder than that, others will do better. Even in certain communities certain areas may perform better than others. An increase of less than 1% is really not out of wack when we saw an average decrease of just over 2%, just like if we had happen to see an increase of 2% it wouldn't be out of wack to see an area drop by about 1%.

[shammy]

you still can't get over that 2% can you, and what do you mean by "year over year". the assessments are the values of homes as of the valuation date -- 1/2008 -- that's it. prices all over have declined. where were the increases you are speaking about? do you not have a clue as to what happened in the real estate market.

the assessment dept got it very wrong.

[Unregistered333]

you still can't get over that 2% can you, and what do you mean by "year over year". the assessments are the values of homes as of the valuation date -- 1/2008 -- that's it. prices all over have declined. where were the increases you are speaking about? do you not have a clue as to what happened in the real estate market.

the assessment dept got it very wrong.

By year over year I mean median sales price in Jan 07 compared to median sales price of Jan 08. Fact of the matter is when the median prices go up, go down or stay the same, you are going to have some areas do exactly average, some do a little better than average, others do worse than the average.

[shammy]

the assessment dept. did not propertly assess the homes. many people are complaining because they are paying more than thr fair share of taxes. the assessed value is too important not to be correct. families pay taxes based on that number. THATS THE POINT!!!

[Unregistered111]

the assessment dept. did not propertly assess the homes. many people are complaining because they are paying more than thr fair share of taxes. the assessed value is too important not to be correct. families pay taxes based on that number. THATS THE POINT!!!


Many are trying whatever they can to lower the taxes, others are trying to go back to the old way when thr properties were under assessed.

Thats not to say some people may not have legit gripes, some do and more needs to be done to ensure that the system is as accurate as possible. With that bng said the system is still better than the old system that we had, and is better than this five year assessment freeze gimmick that has been thrown around as the alternative by Schmitt & company.

[Assessment Sucks]

My friend heard a rumor about Assessment. He said that the CLT(thats the company that was paid millions to do the reassessment) consultant who screwed up the reassessment all these years was hired by Assessment at a huge salary. Now she can continue to mess up the assessments as part of Assessments staff!:mad: :mad:

I believe the real point of this string of posts was the assessors inability to rid this county of CLT and its strangle hold on this county of never getting an assessment right. I have also heard that the assessor has hired the one person, at a ridiculous salary I am sure, that has been the leading member of the CLT clan all along. This person is obviously the one that is defending the department in all of these posts to show what a great job CLT has done for this county and will continue to do for as long as they can. The assessor is obviously clueless as to what goes on in his department and has now hired someone who will pound the CLT mentality into every employee in that department who didn't know how to assess property in the first place. Lets keep sending the taxpayers hard earned money to CLT who got this county's assessment's like this in the first place. It would be nice at some point if this county could be run by employees and elected officials who actually lived and cared about this county. Millions of dollars well spent and keep on spending!!

[shammy]

who is the person in assessment you are talking about?

[Assessment Sucks1]

who is the person in assessment you are talking about?

Well whats your name Shammy? You would know

[Assessment Sucks2]

who is the person in assessment you are talking about?

The person is obviously the unregistered poster here. Who seems awfully quite now that her scheme has been uncovered.

[Thanks Harvey]

Nah .... annual reassessment isn't hurting anyone ....


Foreclosure filings up 47 percent in Nassau

BY ELLEN YAN | ellen.yan@newsday.com
8:39 AM EDT, March 13, 2008

Nassau's foreclosure-related filings jumped 47 percent from January to February, the biggest percentage hike of any downstate county, according to RealtyTrac, a California-based online marketplace for foreclosures.

There were 507 February filings, among them default and auction notices, compared to 346 in January and 367 a year ago, RealtyTrac said.

The significance of the jump is unclear because monthly filing numbers for each county have gone up and down over the years without a clear pattern.

Related links

*
Foreclosure Activity Rises in February

Nassau started 2007 with four months of decreasing filings until numbers went up from 236 in April to 399 in May. Nationwide, filings dropped 4 percent from January to February but were still 60 percent higher than a year ago.

Some confuse the filings with actual foreclosures when homeowners with default notices have trouble one month, and never reach foreclosure.

Suffolk filings in February dropped 19 percent from the month before and 59 percent from a year ago, RealtyTrac data shows. The county had 667 filings last month and 821 in January, according to the report.

Queens had a 2 percent decrease, from 985 filings in January to 962 in February, the company said.

New York State saw an 8 percent increase, with 5,243 filings in February and 4,861 in January.

[chef of nassau county]

The person is obviously the unregistered poster here. Who seems awfully quite now that her scheme has been uncovered.

Dolores S.?

[shammy]

Well whats your name Shammy? You would know

i would know????? sorry, i don't know, but i am very interested in who this could be?

[Unregistered111]

Nah .... annual reassessment isn't hurting anyone ....


Foreclosure filings up 47 percent in Nassau

BY ELLEN YAN | ellen.yan@newsday.com
8:39 AM EDT, March 13, 2008

Nassau's foreclosure-related filings jumped 47 percent from January to February, the biggest percentage hike of any downstate county, according to RealtyTrac, a California-based online marketplace for foreclosures.

There were 507 February filings, among them default and auction notices, compared to 346 in January and 367 a year ago, RealtyTrac said.

The significance of the jump is unclear because monthly filing numbers for each county have gone up and down over the years without a clear pattern.

Related links

*
Foreclosure Activity Rises in February

Nassau started 2007 with four months of decreasing filings until numbers went up from 236 in April to 399 in May. Nationwide, filings dropped 4 percent from January to February but were still 60 percent higher than a year ago.

Some confuse the filings with actual foreclosures when homeowners with default notices have trouble one month, and never reach foreclosure.

Suffolk filings in February dropped 19 percent from the month before and 59 percent from a year ago, RealtyTrac data shows. The county had 667 filings last month and 821 in January, according to the report.

Queens had a 2 percent decrease, from 985 filings in January to 962 in February, the company said.

New York State saw an 8 percent increase, with 5,243 filings in February and 4,861 in January.

The increase happened after a sharp decline, the article itself mentions that monthly numbers go up and down without a clear pattern. Nassau still has a lower filing rate than Suffolk, and a MUCH lower filing rate than the average in the country.

[shammy]

The increase happened after a sharp decline, the article itself mentions that monthly numbers go up and down without a clear pattern. Nassau still has a lower filing rate than Suffolk, and a MUCH lower filing rate than the average in the country.

what difference does it make who is No. 1 in foreclosure filings. its a tragedy that it is happening in such large numbers no matter which county is considered "worst."

can you get the point already!! the real estate market has been in a downfall.

[Unregistered1223]

what difference does it make who is No. 1 in foreclosure filings. its a tragedy that it is happening in such large numbers no matter which county is considered "worst."

can you get the point already!! the real estate market has been in a downfall.

I'm not arguing that it isn't, however the market here in Nassau isn't nearly as bad as it is in the rest of the country. The median sales numbers & the forclosure numbers back that up.

[shammy]

why is this system such a mess, and why is it so hard for residents to navigate the system?
well, we just went for our "small claims hearing" after bng denied our grievance. the hearing officer looked at the market value, then looked at the adjusted market value (which was reduced because of the 6 % cap 2 years ago), then said, "why are you here? i see you already got a reduction"
the people in the system don't even know what they are doing.

[shammy]

when i read newsday today, i thought it was time to bring this issue back.

harvey levinson is in a condo which sells for 800,000's - 1,200,000.00's, and is complaining his assessment is 502,000?? thinking it should be 300,770???

there is something wrong when people with million dollar homes are bng assessed for less than the fair market value.

that's one screwed up law that needs to be changed. the county (although he claims the state), gives the builder / seller the opportunity to fix the level of assessment?? how fair could that possibly be.

now, why was it again that comptroller wtzman felt that the position of assessor should be a political appointee -- not an elected official??

[DB07]

when i read newsday today, i thought it was time to bring this issue back.

harvey levinson is in a condo which sells for 800,000's - 1,200,000.00's, and is complaining his assessment is 502,000?? thinking it should be 300,770???

there is something wrong when people with million dollar homes are bng assessed for less than the fair market value.

that's one screwed up law that needs to be changed. the county (although he claims the state), gives the builder / seller the opportunity to fix the level of assessment?? how fair could that possibly be.

now, why was it again that comptroller wtzman felt that the position of assessor should be a political appointee -- not an elected official??

It is the people who work for Harv that have him in this mess in the first place. His CLT Chief Deputy and his Massachusetts Deputy Assessor who know nothing and care nothing about this County and how the people are overburdened with taxes are running the assessment department. When big Harv leaves for his mansion in FLA we will be left with remnants of two out-of state, out of thr minds people who could gave a rats ass about how taxes are killing nassau county and its because they don't pay any. Give them thr 100K salaries that we the taxpayers of Nassau county pay and get all three of them the hell out of here before its too late.

[ask harvey why]

he sux and so do his assistants.

[shammy]

the people who work for him have him in a mess?

look up the wyndam apartments on the county website. 100 hilton aveune.
the market value is very low. it seems the people who are working for him don't have HIM in such a mess at all.

WE ARE THE ONES IN THE MESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is an outrage that homes with such a high market value are bng given an assessed value determined by the builder / seller of the property.

[Neversurprised]

1. Assessment alone is not what impacts the tax rates, its how your assessment compares to the average assessment in the county that impacts the assessment.

2. The reason why assessment went up is due to assessed values bng below what the actual fair market of the home in years past. this is due to a 6% cap on assessed values per year, but having several years of double digit increases

Hey Harvey, remember this post???!!!!
Don't complain about your assessment -- it really doesn't make a difference!

Aren't we all glad Nassau County is throwing our money at these people in order to attract the best and brightest!!

[DB07]

the people who work for him have him in a mess?

look up the wyndam apartments on the county website. 100 hilton aveune.
the market value is very low. it seems the people who are working for him don't have HIM in such a mess at all.

WE ARE THE ONES IN THE MESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is an outrage that homes with such a high market value are bng given an assessed value determined by the builder / seller of the property.

the out-of state hacks that are working for him are so far up his ass hoping to keep thr jobs so that they can take our hard earned tax dollars back to the states that they belong in. They have screwed up everybodys values, cost the county millions of dollars and do not even own a piece of property in this overtaxed county of ours. They have cost good employees thr jobs in an effort to save thr own and take no responsibility for thr mistakes. Just look to the pipeline for just one example.

[shammy]

you're right that the assessment dept. screwed up our assessments - and as such - the finances of many families here in nassau.

we need for residents to take this matter seriously, and finally elect someone who will straighten out this mess.

[Neversurprised]

This administration has screwed us all. Time to get them OUT.