Nassau Notebook: Economic Development Announcement, Assessment Reforms

Mangano Discusses Economic Development

“In the coming days I will release a job creation plan for Nassau that includes economic development opportunities throughout our County Job Corridor," Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said earlier this week. "Working together with Governor Cuomo and his Regional Economic Development Council, we can truly jump-start job creation at Belmont Park in the west, at Nassau's Hub in the center of our county and at the former U.S. Navy-Grumman property in the east. In the interest of public transparency, I have asked my counsel Edward Ambrosino to finalize Nassau County's submission prior to the Council’s Oct. 14 submission deadline. Residents should stay tuned for our exciting announcement.”

Mangano Assessment Reforms Settle Claims Before Demanding Payment

Mangano announced Monday that the county has established a new process that will result in efficient and equitable treatment of all taxpayers. The process, established in coordination with the county executive’s Residential Assessment Reform Team, includes an administrative review of assessments before the commencement of SCAR hearings. As such, this procedure will enable the county to conduct meaningful, good-faith settlement negotiations concerning residential assessments at the earliest possible stage.

Further, audits conducted by Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos of the Nassau County Assessment Department and the County Attorney’s handling of the grievance and settlement process also found a $35 million improvement in 2010 over 2009 and lays out the challenges that still need to be addressed.

For more than a decade, Nassau County has failed to settle tax grievances before homeowners and commercial property owners paid their property taxes. According to Mangano, this resulted in unneeded expense to the county — an estimated $100 million in property tax refunds annually, $30 million of which is related to residential property tax refunds. The past failure to settle these grievances before tax bills were issued contributed toward the county borrowing more $1.3 billion to pay for tax refunds, costing taxpayers another a total of $250 million a year.

Mobile Town Hall Meetings Announced

The county will be holding Mobile Town Hall Meetings at different locations around Nassau throughout October. The Mobile Town Hall meetings will provide the residents of Nassau County the opportunity to share their views and have their concerns addressed.

The meetings will be held on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The schedule through October is as follows:

• Thursday, Oct. 6, Oyster Bay-East Norwich Library, located at 89 E. Main Street in Oyster Bay
• Tuesday, Oct. 11, Wantagh Library, located at 3285 Park Avenue in Wantagh
• Thursday, Oct. 13, Farmingdale Library, located at 116 Merrits Road in Farmingdale
• Tuesday, Oct. 18, Valley Stream Library, located at 60 Verona Place in Valley Stream
• Thursday, Oct. 20, Glen Head Community Center, located at 200 Glen Head Road in Glen Head
• Tuesday, Oct. 25, Levittown Library, located at 1 Bluegrass Lane, Levittown
• Thursday, Oct. 27, East Meadow Library, located at 1886 Front Street, East Meadow