John Peguillan, chairman of Nassau's Assessment Review Commission, encourages homeowners to appeal their tax assessment themselves.
Nassau County homeowners who are thinking about appealing the tax assessment on their homes but haven’t yet started the process need to get moving. March 3 is the no-exceptions deadline.
In Nassau, tax assessment challenges are handled by the Assessment Review Commission (ARC), which is independent of the Nassau County Assessor, who sets the assessment. In Suffolk County, property owners have until May 15 to file, and the process is done by the towns.
Nassau is the only muncipality in the state where appeals can be filed online ARC Chairman John Peguillan (PEG’-A-LON) said. Go to ARC’s Web site and its link to AROW (Assessment Review on the Web) for the application and the Sales Locator that lists data on comparable sales in your area.
Click below the video player to read more.
There are companies that will file the appeal for you and charge up to half of what the savings will be if they win. However, in the past two years homeowners who have appealed fared bettern at getting a reduction than professionals who submitted bulk filings, Peguillan and County Assessor Harvey Levinson said.
“The way you could win and get a reduced value on the assessment is if there’s something negative about your house” that wasn’t considered when the home was assessed, Levinson said.
He calls it the “but for” factor. It’d be a near-perfect home but for the adjacent commercial property, or the closeness of the LIRR, or the double-yellow line on your street that usually means heavy traffic.
Homeowners should also check the “inventory” of the amenities listed for their house on the assessor’s Web site www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/Assessor/. (Click property search and then, “I accept the conditions and wish to continue.”) If records show your home has two bathrooms but there's only one, or there's a patio or deck listed and all you have is grass, or the home is listed in the wrong school district, the mistakes should be indicated on your appeals application to help win a reduction.
Homeowners who file their own appeal have a better chance of winning because they’re more familiar with the negatives that could lead to a successful challenge, Peguillan said.
“Homeowners will fill out the application completely and they’ll tell us any issues they have - if their street floods, if their windows or kitchens are old. It goes to the value of the house,” he said.
Equally important is using the Sales Locator on the AROW link of ARC’s Web site that shows what similar homes in the area sold for recently. Check the sales for homes similar in size, features and environment. If you’re in a quiet neighborhood, don’t compare your home to those on busy streets or near commercial property.
Comparing your home will help determine what your house is worth for Part B of the application:"I believe the market value of the property is $XXX,XXX.” If you leave that blank, you’re sure to lose the appeal.
Based on the information you gather in your research, the AROW link can tell you if you have a good chance of winning the appeal and will give you the status of your appeal after you file.
Appeals for this year will affect the 2009-2010 tax assessment. Last year, 11,100 homeowners filed their own appeals and 22 percent won reductions; professionals filed 111,000 on behalf of homeowners and 6 percent were successful, Peguillan said.
For those who prefer to appeal by mail, call 516-571-2391 for an application. The completed application must be postmarked March 3 or earlier.
Comments (3)
Hi, The sales locator button doesn't work.
Hi, The sales locator button doesn't work
Hi, Mr. Reichert,
It seems to work for me. Maybe you're putting in too much information? Try using the street name only with no suffix and no house number.
Gwen