Mangano makes changes to assessment system

County Executive Edward Mangano signed two executive orders last week that he calls "emergency measures" to fix Nassau's "broken" property tax assessment
system.
   
The first order focuses on alleviating the county's burden of paying out more than $100 million a year on assessment errors made on commercial properties. The second immediately transforms the current method of annual re-assessment into a four-year cyclical system.
   
Under the first measure, known as the Emergency Taxpayer Protection Order of 2010, commercial property owners who challenge there assessments will be required to obtain and produce a certified appraisal to the county. This way, Mangano says, the property will be properly assessed and prevent businesses from overpaying and reduce refunds issues by the county. According to Mangano, county businesses collected $110 million of the $136 million paid out in refunds and accumulated interest last year.
   
"By signing this order, we begin to stop the tens of millions in tax dollar waste while providing businesses an opportunity to correct their taxes before they are forced to overpay," Mangano said on April 7, the day he implemented the changes.
   
The second executive measure, known as the Tax Stabilization Order of 2010, puts an end to the county's current system of annual reassessment. Instead, assessments will be done on a four-year cyclical system, giving staff more time to make corrections to the 2011 roll that was sent to property owners in January. The next reassessment is slated for 2015.
   
Both Mangano, a Republican from Bethpage, and Legislative Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) acknowledged that revisions could be made along the way, but said that something needed to be done now to save taxpayer money.