Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, October 8, 2021
Vol. 70, No. 41
GUIDE TO MINEOLA STREET FAIR
EX-HEMPSTEAD EXEC COUNTY LEGISLATURE OK OKss FOUND GUILTY FEE CUTS, $375 GRANTS
PAGES 21-36
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GOPers call for assessment phase-in audit Republican legislators cite alleged errors in overbilling to taxpayers BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z Republican legislators in Nassau County on Monday called for an audit of alleged errors in tax bills that resulted in more than $16 million in overbilling. Majority oļ¬cials claim that the alleged errors in the countyās fiveyear reassessment phase-in could reach $50 million in overbilling if not corrected. Oļ¬cials claim the overbilling of more than 16,000 homes throughout the county was caused by an error in calculating the assessed values of properties. Republican leaders also referred to previous errors made by the countyās Assessment Department in the 2020 tentative tax roll. As a result of the errors, oļ¬cials claim, the 2020 assessed valuation for aļ¬ected properties exceeded the stateās 6 percent statutory cap on how much a propertyās value can increase in a year. Majority Legislators John Ferretti and Bill Gaylor demanded that an audit be conducted and criticized
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and her administration for the handling of the assessment phase-in. āThe County Executive originally touted this as the fairest reassessment ever, indicating that there would be little need for property tax assessment challenges under the new property values,ā Gaylor said. āHowever, even the Administration now realizes how badly flawed the project has been, actually encouraging the public to challenge their assessments.ā āAn audit needs to take place in order to restore public trust in the County Executiveās botched reassessment process,ā Ferretti said. āAt the same time, I think we clearly need a comprehensive audit to substantiate the extent of the mistake and to recommend steps to remediate the problem, as well as a corrective action plan to prevent the recurrence of mistakes that are costing our taxpayers hard-earned money.ā Continued on Page 42
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE EAST WILLISTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
North Side Elementary School students in the East Williston school district put their imaginations to work in the schoolās new Innovation Lab. See story on page 55.
Funeral home owner William Cassidy dies at 73 BY B R A N D ON DUFFY William Henry Cassidy, owner and funeral director of Cassidy Funeral Home in Mineola, died last Wednesday. He
was 73 years old. Cassidy, of East Williston and Mineola, was a fourth-generation New York state licensed funeral director for over five decades and had been operating in Mineola for over 40 years.
He was born on May 19, 1948, in Queens and grew up in New Hyde Park, according to his son William. A graduate of the Niagara University College of Business in 1970, Cassidy Continued on Page 43
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