Nassau seeks to dismiss challenge of tax map verification fee

Nassau County officials are seeking to dismiss a Jericho property owner's bid to hold the county in civil and criminal contempt for charging a reduced version of a real estate fee the courts had overturned.

Jeffrey Falk, of Jericho, challenged the $355 "tax map verification fee" after purchasing a home in 2016. His lawsuit alleged the fee for verifying a property's section, block and lot, was "excessive and not reasonably necessary to accomplish the county's responsibility to maintain the county’s property registry."

In 2020, State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Brown declared the fee an "unlawful and unconstitutional tax." A state appellate court in April upheld the ruling, writing that "The fees imposed … were excessive and improper, as they were exacted for general revenue purposes and not tied to the county’s obligation to maintain its property registry."

The County Legislature then lowered the fee to $270, and Falk filed a new legal motion.

The litigation has significant consequences for Nassau's finances. The fee generates $40 million in annual revenue for Nassau, which operates with a yearly budget of $4 billion.

In their motion to dismiss the latest challenge, county officials argued the courts had ruled only on the merits of the $355 fee. The county can continue to collect a lesser fee, the attorneys argued.

"The judgment does not prohibit or otherwise limit Nassau County's legislative authority to lessen the fee," according to a court filing by Nassau County Attorney Thomas Adams and Deputy County Attorney Robert F. Van der Waag. "The only relevant determination by the Court is that the $355 fee is excessive."

Lawyers for Falk said the county had incorrectly interpreted the rulings.

Jason Giaimo of McLaughlin & Stern, a Manhattan law firm, said in a court filing that Nassau lawyers "myopically argue that the judgment exclusively declared that the prior $355 fee was excessive and, as such, [Nassau was] free to charge any lesser sums they choose. Of course, the judgment and the short form order upon which it is based are not so limited."

Giaimo wrote that, according to the decision, the fee "was unlawful because [Nassau] used it as 'a source of general revenue as a whole' and it was 'unrelated to the specific costs associated with generating a'" tax map certification letter.

The County Legislature increased the fee to $355 in 2016. After it took effect in 2017, Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell called the fee "immoral."

In May, O'Connell said in an interview that her office relies on the Nassau County Land Index to verify the section, block and lot numbers for all filings.

"It is a redundancy, and that's why the court said it's an illegal fee," O'Connell said.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.