Bravo! You’ve filed your 2024/25 tax grievance in a timely fashion. Good for you – you’ve taken the first step to protect your rights as a Nassau County homeowner.
“What’s next?” is a natural question to ask at this point. When will you learn about the status of your grievance? What impact will any reduction have on your future property tax bills? How will you track the progress of your case?
We have your answers. Below is a summary of the next steps in the tax grievance process.
Step 1: The County Will Review Your Grievance and Possibly Make an Offer
ARC – the Nassau County Assessment Review Commission – now has your tax grievance on file. At some point within the next year, its staff will review your challenge and possibly make a settlement offer. Although ARC works full-time, year-round, it can take some time for them to get to your particular case, so you’ll need to be a bit patient. ARC is bound by the administrative code to handle your grievance no later than March 31, 2024.
Here’s the good news – if you’re a Maidenbaum client, you can check the status of your case at any time using our new client portal at: https://clientportal.mptrg.com. (If you are a new client and need the temporary credentials to set up your account, give us a call.) There, you’ll find any communications from us advising you of any potential offer from ARC pertaining to your challenge. Think of our client portal as your “dashboard” where you can easily track the progress of your case and any communications pertaining to it.
Step 2: Accept or Reject ARC’s Offer/Filing for SCAR
If ARC makes an offer of reduction, and that offer is accepted, the assessed value of your property should be adjusted to the new lower value by April 1, 2024, when the Final Tax Roll is released. This new assessed value will be used to calculate your eventual taxes in October 2024 and January 2025 for the School and General Taxes respectively.
Once the offer is accepted, you can verify this new lower value by simply going to https://lrv.nassaucountyny.gov/ — the site maintained by Nassau County that allows homeowners to inspect their property tax records — and clicking on the View Value Changes To Current, Prior or Tentative Assessment Roll link on the bottom of the home page of your property.
If you don’t agree with the proposed offer and have evidence that your property value should be even lower, you still have options. You (or Maidenbaum, if we’re handling your tax challenge) can appeal’s ARC’s offer by filing for a SCAR (Small Claims Assessment Review) hearing. The court-imposed filing fee for such an appeal is currently $30, and the deadline to file for the tax year in question is April 30, 2024.
At a SCAR hearing, the burden of proof is placed on the homeowner (or on the homeowner’s representative) to prove the County’s assessment is unequal or excessive. That’s where having a “pro” in your corner can be a huge help. Maidenbaum has a long history of challenging and winning unequal or excessive assessments at SCAR hearings, and the only risk is the nominal $30 court filing fee.
If the SCAR challenge is successful, your savings can be reflected in one of three ways: either in reduced property tax bills, corrected property tax bills, or a refund for overpayment.
Step 3: Stay in the Loop
If you’ve let Maidenbaum handle your 2024/25 tax grievance, you can be confident that your challenge is in good hands. We’ll keep you in the loop with regular communications as your case makes its way through ARC’s review process, and, if necessary, through a SCAR proceeding.
We strongly suggest bookmarking our new client portal at: https://clientportal.mptrg.com to stay up to date and “in the loop.”
For more information on the property tax grievance process in Nassau County, please see our Frequently Asked Questions area at: https://www.maidenbaumtax.com/faqs/.
To get in touch with Maidenbaum directly, please visit our contact page at: https://www.maidenbaumtax.com/contact-us/
We thank all of you who chose to put your trust in us this tax season.