Due to what appears to be a colossal error on the part of the Nassau County Assessor’s office, or perhaps a miscommunication with the state, military veterans and Gold Star families in Manhasset will have to wait for their tax break until next year.
Manhasset is one of several local school districts that recently approved resolutions extending a new tax exemption to local veterans, even though budgets and Albany’s tax cap make it a tough choice. Manhasset School Board trustees voted to provide a school tax exemption for veterans living in the district, starting with the 2014-2015 school year.
According to Manhasset Superintendent of Schools Charles Cardillo, the district approved the exemption in mid-March but was blindsided by the county giving wrong information.
“We have contacted Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello’s office for reconsideration of this reversal,” said Cardillo.
On Dec. 18, 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a new law allowing local school districts to extend tax exemptions to U.S. military veterans and some families. Each district was required to pass a resolution to opt in. An email sent from Deputy Assessor Michele D. Wawrzynski to school administrators on Jan. 8, told administrators that “a resolution must be transmitted to the Nassau County Department of Assessment no later than March 15th, 2014, to be effective for the 2014/15 school year.”
A letter from the county signed by Acting Assessor James E. Davis and sent on April 1, however, says that in fact Jan. 2 was the deadline.
Although the letter acknowledges that all school districts seem to have been caught by surprise—“To my office’s knowledge, all school districts throughout Nassau County passed resolutions … AFTER Jan. 2”—it does not acknowledge any role the assessor’s office may have played in such a widespread misunderstanding.
The assessor’s office declined to speak on the record.
The veterans school tax bill offers three tiers of income exemption: $12,000 for all eligible recipients, with an additional $8,000 for all veterans who served in a “combat zone” and an additional $40,000 for all veterans who suffered a “service connected” disability. Exemptions would be available for residents whose children were killed while in military service (known as “Gold Star Parents”) as well.
Rosemary Johnson, the district’s assistant superintendent for business, has said the Assessor’s office notified the district that there are 347 eligible veterans in Manhasset, but no Gold Star parents.
Cardillo noted that the veterans exemptions will now take effect in the 2015-2016 school year. –-By Chris Boyle, Rich Forestano, and Elizabeth Johnson
