1. 1 Nassau County Department of Assessment Unfair School Property Tax System Is It Time for an Income Tax? Presented By Harvey B. Levinson Chairman, Board of Assessors July 2007

2. 2 Great Ideas – Three Stages All great ideas go through three stages: Stage One – They are ridiculed Stage Two – They are strongly opposed Stage Three – They are considered to be self-evident

3. 3 Ability to Pay “The assessed value of a home is not an indicator of a family’s ability to pay school taxes. We have to explore alternatives to providing school district funding to help families on Long Island who find themselves ‘house rich and cash poor’ and struggle to pay their property taxes.” Harvey B. Levinson Chairman, Nassau County Board of Assessors

4. 4 Levittown & Hicksville * Excluding Sewer Taxes Homes with the same value pay the same taxes, but only for the Nassau County portion of the taxes, which is approximately 15% of the total property tax bill.

5. 5 SCHOOL BUDGET LEVIES 2006-2007 Total raised by School Budget Levies in the 2006-2007 year is $3.47 billion Presently, two-thirds of the levy is paid by residential homeowners, and one- third is paid by commercial tax base In 2006-2007, New York State gave Nassau County over $357 million in STAR reimbursements

6. 6 School Tax Disparity Homes with the same Market Value pay widely different school taxes The following slides illustrate examples of the disparity between districts Tax rates on all parcels are per $100 of Assessed Value

7. 7 Levittown and Island Trees Levittown pays $1,505 more! Tax Rate $735 Tax Rate $553

8. 8 Baldwin, Oceanside and Long Beach Baldwin pays $1,278 more than Oceanside and $2,908 more than Long Beach! Tax Rate $667 Tax Rate $525 Tax Rate $360 Long Beach $3,320

9. 9 Westbury and Carle Place Westbury pays $2,036 more! Tax Rate $673 Tax Rate $466

10. 10 Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence Hewlett-Woodmere pays $6,625 more! Tax Rate $667 Tax Rate $382

11. 11 Roslyn, Port Washington & Manhasset Roslyn pays $3,555 more than Port Washington and $6,517 more than Manhasset! Tax Rate $558 Tax Rate $421 Tax Rate $307

12. 12 Suffolk County – Town of Huntington School and Library Tax (includes Basic STAR) Average Home Value $577,000

13. 13 School District Income Tax Proposal

14. 14 School District Income Tax Proposal (cont.)

15. 15 Advantages of a Residential School District Income Tax END