The economic situation on Long Island is made worse by ever-rising property taxes. But one way to try to lower your property taxes is by challenging your assessment. The time to challenge your assessment began on Jan. 2 and you have until March 2 to submit your application. After challenging, the Assessment Review Commission (ARC) will review your application and determine if you are being over-assessed. In this housing market, while most home values have declined, home assessments are still increasing. If you win your challenge, you should see a reduction in the following year's tax bill, or you will receive a refund check from the county. Challenging your assessment does not affect the resale value of your home; it only affects what value your home will be taxed on.

You can challenge your assessment online by visiting https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/wps51/portal/AROW. Once you register, you will be able to complete your challenge. By using the county's website, www.mynassauproperty.com, you can see how your neighbors with similar properties are assessed and use that as evidence. If you recently purchased your home, the sale price is your best piece of evidence in determining what your house is actually worth and should be assessed at. You are not required to use an attorney. If you hired a representative to challenge a prior assessment, you are free to change representatives or file for yourself for review of the new assessment. For a description of the ins and outs of challenging your assessment, visit http://www.kemphannon.com/topics10_2%20Challenging_a_tax_assessment.htm. If you file for yourself, you may check your appeal's status on-line at any time at the county's website above. You may also look up the status of appeals for past tax years. _ _

Kemp Hannon
New York State Senator