Town of North Hempstead Receiver of Taxes
Description:
Candidates (choose 1):
Charles Berman
Party: DEM, WFP, IND
Biographical Info:
Campaign Phone: (516) 253-6611
Campaign Web Site: https://votecharlesberman.com
Campaign Email: voteberman@gmail.com
City/Town of Residence: Roslyn Heights, NY
Prior Civic Service: North Hempstead Receiver of Taxes, 2010-Present. Assistant to Nassau County Assessor, 2004-2009. Oyster Bay Deputy Town Clerk, 2000-2003.
Questions:
Q: What, if anything, would you do to improve the convenience and efficiency of the payment of taxes in the Town of North Hempstead?
A: I am dedicated to making the tax-payment process as convenient as possible and providing our residents with exceptional services. I brought the Tax Office online with the Town’s 311 call system so we can document, research, and answer more than 25,000 telephone calls per year. I overhauled the tax department website and we have the most complete catalogue of property tax exemptions in the county. I have online bill pay with a low rate for credit card payers, informational brochures, email notifications, community tax collection sites, and extended hours. And most importantly, I help residents understand how they might lower their property taxes through my community outreach programs.
Q: What is the most pressing issue facing the Office of the Receiver of Taxes and how would you address it?
A: I am committed to making sure that our residents, including our veterans and seniors, get all of the exemptions they are entitled to under the law. In my exemptions seminar I explain the exemptions and how to apply and renew them. By concentrating on teaching seniors about the Enhanced Star we have increased the number of seniors with the exemption from 5,000 to over 7,000. Each resident who gets this exemption saves an average of $2,000. The greatest number of inquiries I get are about the extremely confusing assessment system we have in Nassau County. My property assessment grievance seminar explains to the public not only how to file, but what’s going on behind the scenes at the Assessment Review Commission.
Ron Rochester
Party: REP, CON
Biographical Info:
Campaign Web Site: https://www.RonRochester.com
Campaign Email: RonRochester2019@gmail.com
City/Town of Residence: Port Washington
Questions:
Q: What, if anything, would you do to improve the convenience and efficiency of the payment of taxes in the Town of North Hempstead?
A: Fix the current antiquated North Hempstead online property tax payment system that is very difficult for homeowners to navigate through, and just as hard to access their tax bills and process payments. Taxpayers should have the ability to have their school and general taxes bills paid through online stored payment methods including an Autopay feature. Taxpayers should be offered a state of the art environmentally friendly e-Billing system that would deliver paperless property tax bills to residents through computers, tablets or mobile devices and offer an array of convenient payment options. I would call for and help automate the exemption program process. I would partner with local villages on joint tax collections to increase efficiency and reduce costs for taxpayers. During tax collection periods I would also offer extended hours, mobile and satellite collections offices and an “E-Z-Pay” Drive-Thru payment option at the North Hempstead Receiver’s Office.
Q: What is the most pressing issue facing the Office of the Receiver of Taxes and how would you address it?
A: The rising taxes in the Town of North Hempstead and how the Nassau County Executive’s error-riddled and unfair property tax reassessment project that is a “back-door” tax hike for tens of thousands of North Hempstead taxpayers has exacerbated the problem. I would put the taxpayers of North Hempstead first. I would be an advocate for taxpayers helping residents reduce their property tax burden. Expand taxpayer forums to help homeowners reduce their taxes through tax challenges and exemption programs, assisting in getting every property tax exemption for which they are eligible, as well as analyzing the reassessment of their properties to determine if their property taxes have been increased improperly and then advocating for those taxpayers to get those taxes reduced.
