Williston Park 2021_10_08

Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown

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Friday, October 8, 2021

Vol. 70, No. 41

GUIDE TO MINEOLA STREET FAIR

EX-HEMPSTEAD EXEC COUNTY LEGISLATURE OK OKss FOUND GUILTY FEE CUTS, $375 GRANTS

PAGES 21-36

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GOPers call for assessment phase-in audit Republican legislators cite alleged errors in overbilling to taxpayers BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z Republican legislators in Nassau County on Monday called for an audit of alleged errors in tax bills that resulted in more than $16 million in overbilling. Majority officials claim that the alleged errors in the county’s fiveyear reassessment phase-in could reach $50 million in overbilling if not corrected. Officials claim the overbilling of more than 16,000 homes throughout the county was caused by an error in calculating the assessed values of properties. Republican leaders also referred to previous errors made by the county’s Assessment Department in the 2020 tentative tax roll. As a result of the errors, officials claim, the 2020 assessed valuation for affected properties exceeded the state’s 6 percent statutory cap on how much a property’s value can increase in a year. Majority Legislators John Ferretti and Bill Gaylor demanded that an audit be conducted and criticized

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and her administration for the handling of the assessment phase-in. “The County Executive originally touted this as the fairest reassessment ever, indicating that there would be little need for property tax assessment challenges under the new property values,” Gaylor said. “However, even the Administration now realizes how badly flawed the project has been, actually encouraging the public to challenge their assessments.” “An audit needs to take place in order to restore public trust in the County Executive’s botched reassessment process,” Ferretti said. “At the same time, I think we clearly need a comprehensive audit to substantiate the extent of the mistake and to recommend steps to remediate the problem, as well as a corrective action plan to prevent the recurrence of mistakes that are costing our taxpayers hard-earned money.” Continued on Page 42

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE EAST WILLISTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

North Side Elementary School students in the East Williston school district put their imaginations to work in the school’s new Innovation Lab. See story on page 55.

Funeral home owner William Cassidy dies at 73 BY B R A N D ON DUFFY William Henry Cassidy, owner and funeral director of Cassidy Funeral Home in Mineola, died last Wednesday. He

was 73 years old. Cassidy, of East Williston and Mineola, was a fourth-generation New York state licensed funeral director for over five decades and had been operating in Mineola for over 40 years.

He was born on May 19, 1948, in Queens and grew up in New Hyde Park, according to his son William. A graduate of the Niagara University College of Business in 1970, Cassidy Continued on Page 43

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