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September 1, 2002
Senator Dean Skelos
55 Front Street
Rockville Center, N.Y. 11570
Dear Senator:
Recently your constituents in the community of
Point Lookout received their tax impact disclosure notices from
Cole - Layer- Trumble Company with the expressed purpose of
informing them of their new preliminary tax assessment on their
homes. The information supplied to this community of approximately
850 homes was unconscionable!! Most homeowners were given a
preliminary assessment resulting in increases between 65 to 100%.
Many residents have informed us that their property taxes will
rise from an average of $7000 to $15, 000 annually, with some
exceeding $20,000.
There is a substantial core group of individuals who
have lived her for more than thirty years, are on fixed incomes,
live on undersized lots and clearly have no apparent wherewithal
to be able to afford this increase. To make matters worse,
notices were issued this past week on individuals who own vacant
parcels of land. These "lots" were assessed comparable
to a developed property not an unutilized parcel.
At a recent meeting of the Point Lookout Civic Association some
300 people packed our community rec center to express their
outrage. Enclosed please find a petition and questions from those
attendees indicating their strong displeasure and respectfully
seeking some definitive avenues of assistance.
Questions were raised regarding a New York State statute which
limits the increase in property assessments to 6% in any one year
and not more than 20% over a five year period. Why was this state
statute apparently circumvented? Why did some homeowners witness a
decrease in their assessed home market value, yet their overall
tax assessment dramatically increased? How can any law abiding
taxpayer be expected to pay such an unfair proportion in a single
allotment? Our residents are confused, anxious and extremely
angry. We need your assistance and guidance on how to rectify this
most unfortunate circumstance. It is our firm belief that no
community in Nassau County has been hit as hard with this
"fiscal hurricane" as Point Lookout.
We respectfully ask for you to use the power of your office to
provide a solution. Some have called for a home rule measure that
could minimally phase in and cap the amount of increase one maybe
expected to absorb annually. There is also a strong need and
information required on what exemptions are feasible and readily
available that maybe applied to offset these increases. Many have
suggested a need to introduce legislation to alleviate the unfair
fiscal burden that is being placed on many of our homeowners.
There is a clear perception that state statues were violated
without any regard for the consequences.
No one in this community is attempting to avoid paying their fair
share but there needs to be equity of fairness on attempting to
balance the injustices of the past. Two wrongs don't make a right!
As our Senator you have provide the leadership in the past on
issues that were in our best interest. At this all important
time, we are asking you to once again provide the leadership and
help us face this challenge. Together there must be a viable
solution to correct and ameliorate this injustice. Many
residents have gone to Cole-Layer- Trumble to seek redress and
have come away more confused or with few answers to their
questions. Many have begun the process of hiring legal counsel to
fight what they believe will be a very protracted litigation. Many
cannot afford this approach and are seeking answers through your
good office.
The community of Point Lookout eagerly looks forward to what legal
or legislative remedies you can offer. The Civic has scheduled a
special meeting on Thursday, September 26th to provide feedback on
what avenues we can expect you to undertake. We respectfully,
invite you to join us that evening so we can hear firsthand what
avenues you can offer. In this all important year, there is no
greater challenge than the one we are currently facing. Point
Lookout needs your ability now.
I look forward to hearing from you soon. You may reach me at
889-4429, thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Francis X. Ryan
President
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