Fix Nassau's assessment mistakes

When County Executive Bruce Blakeman was running for the position he now holds, he made clear what he wanted to do at the county Department of Assessment. 

"I would put together in a room some very, very smart people... to look under the hood and find out what was done... and make recommendations to fix it," Blakeman said during his endorsement interview with the editorial board. "My job is to identify [those] very, very smart people... It's broken. I'll fix it."

But since Blakeman took office, he hasn't done what he promised to do. He chose an acting assessor — Matthew Cronin — but never bothered to push for Cronin, or anyone else, to become the department's permanent head. And he never tried to overhaul the assessment system.

Now, Cronin is leaving Nassau. And it will be up to Blakeman to choose a qualified permanent assessor, one who can do exactly what he suggested nearly two years ago.

Under Cronin's watch, the cycle of mistakes and grievances that has plagued the system continued. In one instance, the county failed to apply an appropriate tax exemption on hundreds of properties. In another, it removed a tax exemption on a Catholic church valued in New Hyde Park at $16.7 million. And in a situation that dated back to the Curran administration but wasn't discovered for 15 months under Blakeman, the county failed to transfer $139 million in increased renovation-related valuations onto the 2023-2024 tax roll, although they had been accounted for on a previous roll.

In a statement, Cronin listed among his accomplishments efforts to modernize the department, cut red tape and streamline the existing system.

That's laudable, but streamlining a broken assessment system still leaves a broken assessment system. And so far it looks as if neither Blakeman nor Cronin ever really tried to "fix it." But with Cronin's departure, Blakeman has the opportunity to identify those "very, very smart people" who could lead the troubled system, to find a talented, experienced, knowledgeable leader who can surround himself or herself with an equally talented, experienced and knowledgeable staff. 

Perhaps the right assessor can finally stop the mistakes, "look under the hood and find out what was done," and, most importantly, get Nassau's assessment system back on track by producing a fair, accurate tax roll. 

That's no easy task. And a qualified assessor, especially one willing to take on Nassau's intractable assessment system, is hard to find. So, Blakeman is right to host a nationwide search, but it must be expeditious and apolitical  And once he finds someone, he must give that person the latitude to do the difficult job correctly.

Blakeman made it clear during his campaign that fixing the assessment system was a top priority. Now, a year and a half into his four-year term, he has the chance to turn the rhetoric of a campaign into the action of an executive.