Valley Stream District 30 pledges to monitor tax grievance cases

Valley Stream School District 30 has pledged to monitor tax grievance cases and the proceedings of local industrial development agencies in the wake of tax breaks granted to the Green Acres Mall, documents show.

The district’s ideas were included in a corrective action plan, dated Tuesday, to the state comptroller’s office following an audit into the district and the Hempstead Town IDA over furor from the mall’s tax breaks.

Auditors in State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office found last year that the IDA acted within its authority when it approved tax breaks for the mall and an adjacent shopping center, the Green Acres Commons. Elected officials and residents had blamed the IDA for tax hikes up to 14.24 percent in their October 2016 school tax bills but the comptroller’s office blamed District 30 for part of the increase.

The auditors said District 30 had underestimated how much money it would get from the tax breaks by about $1.8 million, which the district returned to taxpayers through a reduced 2017-2018 tax levy.

The IDA and District 30 had to file corrective action plans after the audit was released in December. The IDA filed its report with the state on Feb. 1.

The IDA promised in the plan to work more closely with the three unusual elementary and central high school districts in the town — Valley Stream, Sewanhaka and Bellmore-Merrick.

District 30’s report stated that it has implemented a system to monitor proposed projects before the Hempstead Town and Nassau County IDAs.

The district also plans to monitor tax grievance cases that are filed for properties that have IDA tax incentives “and take legal action when and if necessary.”