Calling for the complete reassessment of Nassau's over 415,000 parcels of property in a news conference held in the press room of the State Supreme Court building in Mineola earlier this week, Nassau County Assessor Charles O'Shea made the most dramatic step to date to modernize the county's assessment system that has been unchanged since 1938.

"It will give fiscal stability to Nassau County by putting into place a modern assessment system that takes into account changes in property values," said O'Shea.

According to O'Shea, the next step for the county will be to settle the lawsuit brought against the county that cites the assessment system is discriminatory and for the legislature to appropriate the funds to begin the reassessment process. O'Shea would not comment on the projected cost or time frame for reassessing the state's second largest assessing jurisdiction, but it has been speculated that it would take anywhere from $30 to $50 million and three years to complete the project.

On the same day that O'Shea made his announcement County Executive Thomas Gulotta also endorsed the concept of reassessment. In a statement released to the press he stated, "While I have traditionally opposed reassessment, the County's financial condition mandates we stop the hemorrhaging and undertake reassessment with procedures that provide maximum protection for our homeowners."

O'Shea's announcement to reassess all residential and commercial properties in the county comes less than three weeks before a lawsuit claiming the county's assessment system discriminates against minorities was set to go to trial. O'Shea insisted, however, that his decision was based on the recommendations of the Nassau Assessment Improvement Commission (NAIC).

According to O'Shea, the consensus of members of the NAIC, which was formed early last year to examine the county's assessment system, was that "the county had to modernize and improve the current system. Reform must not wait."

The lawsuit against the county was originally filed by the Nassau Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of six plaintiffs and has since been joined by the New York state attorney general and the federal attorney general. It alleges that through the current system of assessment, which uses 1938 construction costs and land values, minorities are discriminated against because it over assesses their property value in relation to other more affluent communities. O'Shea still contends that the current assessment system is fair and that his decision to reassess is not a reaction to the legality of the system.

"Nassau does not have a racially discriminatory assessment system ...There is one system that is applied across the board evenly to every homeowner in Nassau County," stated O'Shea.

Nassau County Legislator Roger Corbin who has long been a strong proponent of reassessment stated that he was encouraged by the assessor's announcement, adding "the current system has been, will always be, if it is left in place, discriminatory for those in minority communities."

Don Shaffer, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit and the legal director of the Nassau Chapter ACLU, stated in an interview following the press conference that at the present time they are unready to settle or stay the trial. He indicated that they want a court order that would guarantee that any system put in by the county would eliminate the racial discrimination.

"The details of the plan as proposed and outlined by the county are, as of this day, very much up in the air and unacceptable, therefore it is unclear as to whether we can accept the proposals to stay the trial," said Shaffer.

In addition to the looming trial date, the announcement comes as pressure builds against the county to take affirmative actions to address an estimated budget deficit of over $100 million. In recent months, Wall Street ratings agencies have identified the assessment system as being a substantial contributor to the county's fiscal instability. County Democrats have argued that the current assessment system has cost the county a total of $775 million and is an annual cost of $100 million per year.

Phoebe Goodman, executive director of Nassau Citizens Budget Committee, an organization whose study on the county's assessment system revealed the great disparity in assessed value between homeowners in minority communities and homeowners in traditionally white affluent communities, stated that the impact of reassessment will be hard to ascertain until the process is well under way. She further stated that "it is tragic that Nassau County has to wait until a real crisis situation for it to act."

"I think that if the bond rating agencies had not dropped the bond rating and weren't threatening to drop it some more nothing would have happened."

Peter Schmitt, minority leader Nassau County Legislature, stated that he has never been a defender of the current system, but he insisted that he will have to be certain that any plan that comes before the legislature does not cause a tax shock.

Legislator Corbin said that he is hopeful the county can settle the lawsuit and move forward with plans to reassess. "We will stop the hemorrhaging and two, three, four, five years down the road we will have fiscal health, this county will be in good shape. Out of the press room of the Supreme Court building in Mineola our road to recovery has begun."

"It offers some hope that down the road the system will be changed ... and that there will be an equitable and nondiscriminatory uniform system of assessment which is just not the case now." concluded Shaffer.