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Writer's pictureThomas Tittmann

Property Taxmen: The Real Criminals in Nassau County

Updated: Nov 16, 2021

If you’re already “in the choir” on this matter, you have my permission to cut class and go right to the “music for the revolution” PAYlist (playlist) at the end... OR, just click this Playlist link. Simply click the arrow at the "PLAY ALL" link.




FULL DISCLOSURE:

My comments apply equally to both of Long Island’s main political parties…


Nassau County, NY Property Taxes...the Numbers and Some Reasons


Nassau County NY’s real property taxes are among the highest in the nation. This 2017 report lists us as second highest in NY State.


In another also from 2017, LI Business News reports “Nassau County is among nine counties in the country that have average annual property taxes of more than $10,000…”


This 2020 report “noted that among 1,453 U.S. counties with at least 10,000 single family homes in 2020 and sufficient data, 16 had an average single-family-home tax of more than $10,000, including 12 in the New York City metro area. The report mentioned the top five were Rockland County, NY ($13,931); Marin County, CA (outside San Francisco) ($13,257); Essex County, NJ ($12,698); Nassau County, NY ($12,386) and Bergen County, NJ ($12,348).


-for readers like myself that are interested in which side of the aisle Newsday might favor, I refer you to this 2020 article from Newsday that lists all their presidential endorsements since the paper was founded in 1940. I’ll let you decide for yourself.


While the source is a tax-grievance attorney, it lists the following areas for further scrutiny:

  • Property Values Are Higher

  • High Property Taxes for Public Education

  • Unique Assessment Formulas

  • Public Employees (Current & Former) Receive a Lot

  • Unnecessary Expenses in Public Services



Time to ID and round up all the usual suspects...and their accomplices




When I first saw one of the above 2021 political signs, I immediately thought:

“HOW REDUNDANT – ‘Taxes’ and ‘Crime’ - They’re the same thing!”


Our property taxes are among the highest in the nation. The real crime issue in Nassau County is the real property taxes.


Both the Republicans and the Democrats are complicit in this crime. But they have accomplices beyond whoever’s the reigning County Executive:

$ The Tax Assessor (sets the values - not currently an elected position – see why)

$ The Receiver of Taxes (aka, “the fence” or “receiver of stolen goods”)

$ The County Legislators that vote on the tax levy and increases (we elect these folks)

$ The numerous for-profit “tax-reduction” specialists (aka, “sharks”) that prey on the public’s inability to adequately contest (grieve) their property’s assessed valuation with the Assessment Review Commission (ARC).

FYI – These bottom feeders keep one-half of any annual savings they negotiate for the homeowners – like us - I know and have continued to fork over half my savings. I tried filing my own grievances but only got reductions when I used one of these services.


These piranhas popped up on my iPhone when I searched for “who sets property taxes in Nassau county”. It's a lucrative business.





Homeowners Voicing Frustration After Nassau County’s 2018 Reassessment Plan


Whoever gets elected as District Attorney, won’t even have to leave the Mineola County seat to fight criminals…he or she can catch them “green-handed” right in their “hideout.”






“The words of the prophets are written on subway walls and tenement halls”…and light poles on Hempstead Avenue…

--thanks S&G for the lyrical inspiration...that said, their version doesn't carry the rage that needs to be expressed...so I chose the "Disturbed" one.)



And from the same PHYSICAL message board…




MUSIC FOR OUR REVOLUTION


Full Disclosure: I'm employing artistic license in using songs about income taxes...


Your choice of revolutionary weapons: 33 1/3, 38 (song link), 45, 78...


Before we get the turntable spinning, check out this 8-minute video about Mexican artist Pedro Reyes who repurposes weapons into shovels (Isaiah 2:4 "swords into plowshares") and musical instruments.


A BIG Shoutout to VH1 for their 2015 post on taxes…it helped fuel my revolutionary playlist…take time to read the comments in their article.


“If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street/If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat/If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat/If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet”




“The tax man’s taken all my dough/And left me in this stately home/Lazing on a sunny afternoon/And I can’t sail my yacht/He’s taken everything I got/All I’ve got’s this sunny afternoon”


“If you want to breathe, I’ll tax the air” (from Mel Brooks’ “Spaceballs – The Movie”)


“You work hard, you make money/There ain’t no one in the world who can stop you/You work hard, you went hungry/Now the Taxman is out to get you”


“Away for the weekend, I’ve gotta play some one-night stands/six for the taxman, one for the band”


“Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand/Lord, don’t they help themselves, y’all/But when the taxman comes to the door/Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yeah”


“Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas/You know he knows just exactly what the facts is/He ain’t gonna let those two escape justice/He makes his livin’ off of the people’s taxes”

--There are many fan-created videos but I liked this homemade one.


“You can pay Uncle Sam with your overtime/is that all you get for your money?”


“You can dream about vacation in the sun/You can dream but you can’t never have you one/’Cause by the time your good old Uncle Sam gets done/You’ve got just enough for gas/To see them city limits pass/And if you get back home fourth class/I’d say you won”


“The bill collector called today/the IRS has all my pay!” “SHOVE!”


Tax Free – Jimi Hendrix (live 1968 video performance)

Jimi’s message comes through in his manhandling of his musical weaponry. And the rest of the Experience are equally on the offensive…check out that skinsman…


Tax Free – Jimi Hendrix (1968 live but no video)

I included this YouTube so it could be added to the playlist I created. The above is not on YouTube.




--FYI – The band made a common mistake in their lyrics “Money, so they say,

Is the root of all evil today.” The actual words in the scripture begin with “The LOVE of money…”





High Property Taxes Are No Laughing Matter











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