Nassau County legislator puts pressure on assessor’s office to provide relief

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A Nassau County lawmaker on Monday called for the county assessor to immediately restore the Green Acres Mall to the tax rolls, and for his colleagues in the County Legislature to vote to amend the tax rolls, which he said, were informed by “potential miscalculations” regarding the mall’s tax break agreement with the Hempstead Town Industrial Development Agency.

“Last week I issued a measure to ask the Republican Legislature to not pass the tax roll because the tax roll is incorrect,” said Legislator Carrie Solages (D-Elmont) at a news conference. “Because the tax roll included in it are these false calculations as to the tax benefit that Green Acres Mall receives.”

Solages also said that over the past several years, residential properties have paid higher percentages of the total tax burden, and commercial properties have paid less. He said that he believed as a result of the payment in lieu of taxes agreement between the Green Acres Mall and the Hempstead Town IDA, that taxes in the Town of Hempstead, library districts, lighting districts and other taxing districts would continue to increase.

Many residents have been up in arms since learning that the Town of Hempstead IDA granted a $6 million tax reduction for the Green Acres Mall beginning this year. The mall will receive a similar cutback every year through 2022. The financial burden was shifted to other classes of properties, and the mall comes off the tax rolls for 10 years, per the contract.

“This is only the start of a financial crisis that the residents of my district cannot afford, and I’m asking please, all leaders — especially [Hempstead Town Supervisor] Anthony Santino — to do the right thing and to issue some form of immediate or short term relief,” Solages said.