Community Watchdog

I'll have an item in the Community Watchdog column soon about the deadline in Suffolk County for filing a tax assessment grievance. You can file a grievance from May 1 until the May 20 deadline. No filings are accepted after that date.

Michael J. Bernard, the Town of Babylon Assessor and President of the Suffolk County Assessors Association, will do a video walk-through of the four-page form that's used statewide (except for NYC, Nassau County and an upstate county), which will be posted on this blog in the future.

You can save yourself the trouble of filling out the forms by taking documentation showing your home is over-assessed to your Town Assessor before the May 1 tax rolls are set. After they're set, the assessor can't change anything - changes have to be approved by the Assessment Review Boards in each of the 10 Suffolk towns.

Check out this Web site if you think your assessment is too high.

Q.I am a Korean War veteran. Four years ago I applied for the enhanced STAR tax exemption and one year later, the aged tax exemption. The application was approved and in 2003, 2004 and 2005 I received the exemptions. Last year, I was denied them because I had "insufficient proof of income.” I submitted my proof of income again and now in a letter dated July 12, 2006, my request was denied. Without the exemption, my taxes are over $11,000, forcing me to put my property up for sale.

Louis Molinaro, Copiague

A.
Molinaro will not be getting the property tax exemption because the town assessor's office believes he is withholding income information. Rules are rules and town officials don't bend them when there are state guidelines to follow.

The 76-year-old's application for senior exemption to reduce his school, town and county taxes was denied because the town believed he was not reporting possible rental income, Town of Babylon Assessor Michael J. Bernard said.

Molinaro stated he receives only Social Security and veterans benefits but town records showed his property includes a house, a commercial building and an apartment. Molinaro's income statements "didn't show enough income to be able to live on, so there had to be another source of income,” such as money from rentals, Bernard said.

To qualify for senior exemption, the annual income limit is $22,000 for 50 percent savings. The town assessor told Molinaro he would have to prove he was not renting his property by allowing a building inspection. Molinaro refused.

"There's no money that I'm not showing,” Molinaro said. "I don't have it. If he thinks I do, let him show me.” The senior exemption had saved him $3,500 a year in taxes.

Bernard wouldn't talk specifically about Molinaro's income, but when numbers don't add up, officials have to question their accuracy, he said. As an example, he said, "If you have somebody who's claiming an income of $8,000 a year, and they have a property tax bill of $7,000 a year, how are they living? They have to be drawing money from an additional source.”

Molinaro can apply for the enhanced STAR exemption, which would give him $700-$800 more in property tax savings, along with his basic STAR and veterans exemptions, Bernard said. Enhanced STAR exemption is for seniors whose federally adjusted gross income is $70,650 or less.

Molinaro said he will apply for that exemption next year before the March 1 deadline.

The deadline for filing for the basic STAR rebate is Dec. 31. Homeowners who have not applied can visit www.tax.state.ny.us/star/2007/ or call 1-877-678-2769. The deadline for filing for exemptions is Jan. 2 in Nassau County and March 1 in Suffolk.

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