If the Nassau County assessment method is unfair, then the village's approach is obscene.

With income tax time on us again it is important that taxpayers reflect on what taxes they pay and who they pay it to. While it is important that all residents pay their fair share, the big question is who defines your fair share.

In the case of the county, town and school district, your assessed valuation is based on an unfair, inequitable method. Thus the courts have moved to correct it and the county, admitting their errors, have been granting reductions in assessed valuations, thus reducing unfair tax burdens for thousands of Nassau taxpayers in the sum of millions of dollars.

But Village of Massapequa Park officials, realizing that by resolving these inequities, they could lose most, some, or all of these unfair taxes, have opted not to use the fairer (nor perfect) county-adjusted assessment roles, now used to set county, town, including water and fire taxes, as well as the school tax, thus continuing to overtax hundreds if not thousands of unsuspecting village residents and business property owners.

If you think I'm wrong, look at your tax bills. Those who had their assessments reviewed and adjusted will find that the figures in the upper right corner of the village tax bills labeled "Land & Buildings" could be between 10 percent and 30 percent higher than the comparable information on the "Statement of Taxes" from all other levels of government labeled "Taxable Value" or "Total Assessment."

This means the village could be paying much more than they should be paying because of the village's higher assessment figures compared to the court-approved assessed value of all other taxing municipalities. If they, or a firm they hired, followed the simple court-approved (normally cost-free) grievance proceedings then their assessment would be lowered and their resulting taxes would be lower.

Robert S. Thompson