“The school districts and special interests that chose to attend today’s legislative proceedings just don’t understand that Nassau families and seniors are struggling to make ends meet. Rather than protect a broken system that wastes $250 million annually in tax dollars, they should join taxpayers in rallying to support the County Executive’s reform plan. With smart budgeting and responsible management, the County Executive’s reform will not cost school districts one penny.
Today’s taxpayer rally at the steps of the Executive and Legislative Building serves as further proof that the ‘county guarantee’ must be ended to fully correct Nassau County’s broken property tax assessment system and stop wasting taxpayer dollars. For a decade, Minority Leader Diane Yatauro and her Democrat colleagues remained complacent with a system that over-taxes homeowners and employers while wasting $250 million a year to pay back refunds and interest on $1.2 billion in debt associated with the broken property tax assessment system. In fact, an additional $364 million in outstanding liability exists due to this complacency.
The truth remains that residents and employers alike are offended by the Democrat Minority caucus for choosing partisanship over the protection of taxpayers. The assessment reforms passed by the Republican Majority earlier this year will freeze assessments and reduce the $100 million in annual liability by the time the ‘county guarantee’ ends in 2013. The County Executive’s reform plan not only fixes the assessment system but also cleans up the $1.6 billion in debt and outstanding liabilities he inherited from the Diane Yatauro and her Democrat colleagues. What solution has Diane Yatauro and her Democrat colleagues presented to fix this problem? Higher property taxes! Surprised? Don’t be. They spent the last decade hiking property taxes by double digits.”
Facts on the “County Guarantee:”
- · Nassau’s broken property tax assessment system is responsible for bringing the County to the brink of bankruptcy.
- · Nassau County is the only county in the United States of America to provide the “County Guarantee.”
- · The County Executive’s Proposed 2011 No Property Tax Increase Budget continues to reform the assessment system by ending the “County Guarantee” and requiring schools and towns that receive tax dollars in error, to pay back those tax dollars.
- · This reform effectively ends the “county guarantee” in 2013, thereby allowing over two years for reforms passed earlier this year to take effect and reduce liability for all.
- · By 2013, the elimination of the “county guarantee” will save Nassau County taxpayers $80 million per year, completely end borrowing to pay refunds, and will have minimal impact on school districts.
For more information on Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano’s reform plan or to read about news throughout the County, please visit www.nassaucountynewsnetwork.com.
