At a Mineola press conference on Nov. 16 Hempstead Town Receiver of Taxes Don Clavin called upon Nassau Assessor Harvey Levinson to reform county procedures that he says resulted in overcharges on residents' tax bills. In some instances the STAR (school tax reduction) exemption had been deleted due to a clerical error. He also said it is unfair to have these homeowners wait up to a year for refunds on the overcharges.

"It's downright unforgivable that arcane county procedures then force homeowners to wait up to a year for a refund because of a bureaucratic snafu," said Clavin.

Clavin was joined at his press conference by Levittown homeowners Ronald and Marilyn Stenzler, who had this mistake in their tax bill. Marilyn and her husband Ronald, who is recovering from cancer, were shocked to see an inexplicable $1,300 increase in their 2004-2005 school taxes this past October. They learned that a clerical error in the Nassau Assessor's Office removed the 21-year homeowners' longstanding STAR property tax exemption. Although the county acknowledged and apologized for its error, Clavin said Ms. Stenzler was told she would have to pay the overcharge and wait an estimated eight months for a refund.

Clavin said that Ms. Stenzler, "is just one of many victims who have come to him in search of assistance."

"I spoke to an Atlantic Beach woman yesterday who had an exemption eliminated due to haphazard record keeping," said Clavin. "She is simply astounded that she has to pay for the county's error and is outraged that she will have to wait over six months for a refund."

Clavin also said that some residents do not study tax bills carefully, and as a result may unknowingly be paying higher taxes than owed unknowingly.

"I am calling upon the county comptroller to perform an audit focusing on the number of taxpayers who are unknowingly paying inflated taxes due to clerical errors in the assessment department," Clavin said.

"I urge every taxpayer in Nassau County to carefully review their school tax bill receipt to make sure they are receiving their STAR savings and not paying inflated taxes," Clavin stated.

Randolf Yunker, spokesman for Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson said that Clavin had spoken to Levinson the prior week and Clavin had not brought up the subject of his press conference to him.

Yunker also said the handful of errors on tax bills the assessor's office has dealt with are due to clerical errors and do not reflect a systemic problem, but are instances of human error in the large number of tax bills generated. He said that Chairman Levinson is making sure the errors are being corrected and processed properly and that refunds are received.

Yunker reiterated a statement given to another newspaper when he said that Chairman Levinson "feels it's unfortunate that we're conducting government through press conferences now."