In Nassau County, the tax certiorari process commences with the filing of a grievance with the County Assessment Review Commission (“ARC”). If the matter is not resolved at ARC, an appeal can be filed in small claims court, which is called a Small Claims Assessment Review (“SCAR”) proceeding. In Nassau County, the homeowner is challenging the tentative assessment sent to each homeowner in January which doesn’t take effect until the following year. Accordingly, in January and February 2020, you are challenging the assessment for the 2021/22 school year and the 2022 general tax.

Assessments in Nassau County are established by the County Assessor. The tentative assessment for each year is set by January of the prior year (i.e., January 2, 2020 tentative assessment is finalized April 2021 for the 2021/22 school tax roll and the 2022 general tax). Nassau County reassessed all properties for 2020 and as such, your assessment may be much higher than in past years. Accordingly, it is incumbent on all Nassau residents to file a grievance for the 2021-22 tax year.

The deadline to file a grievance in Nassau County is the first business day in March, which is March 1, 2021!.

Nassau County currently assesses property at 1% of full market value.

In Nassau County, when you timely file your challenge by March, ARC will typically advise you of the result and/or seek a conference to discuss a settlement before the end of the year, but certainly no later than March of the following year. If a reduction is obtained, the reduction is reflected in the final tax role set for April 1st of the following year. As such, the reduced assessment will be reflected on your tax bills. No tax refund is necessary because you will not have over-paid. On the other hand, if the ARC decision is appealed through a SCAR proceeding, and that decision is not made before the role is finalized, a refund could be owed to the homeowner. In recent years, ARC has made most decisions prior to the tax role being finalized.