Nassau Homeowners Fear Property Reassessment Will Hit Pockets Hard

Joseph Caffera pays more than $10,000 dollars a year in property taxes on his Bellmore home, and he wasn't happy to hear that Nassau now plans to reassess all county properties by 2018.

"I said, 'Don't tell me they're gonna start this again,' and I guess they are," he said.

Like many, Caffera worries that if the county determines his home is worth more, his taxes will increase. Former board of assessors member Jeffrey Gold says that concern is warranted.

"I would venture to say everyone will see their assessment go up," said Gold. "It's gonna be a real mess. Even with a perfect reassessment, there's going to be a lot of unhappy people."

The problem, Gold says, is that in recent years, home values fell and a record number of homeowners challenged their assessments and won tax reductions. Now, with values rising again, those homeowners could get hit hard.

"We could go up and that wouldn't bode well for me or for the fact that I am trying to sell my home," said Pat Arcoro, who fought her tax bill and won a $10,000 reduction.

In some cases, Gold said homeowners have slashed their tax bills by 50 percent.. The reassessment, he said, could reverse a lot of that

"Usually when they reassess, it's not to send taxes back down," he said.

The county executive's office declined comment on its plan.

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