I like to refer to Mark Lewis as the highest paid non-elected official we have in Nassau County because he is not shy about saying how many millions of dollars he has made, Clark said. But Lewis said tax lawyers provide a needed service because they have a rapport with the judges and know how to present the case correctly. If a private person goes in there, they're basically yelling about their taxes because the taxes are high even if they're correct, he said. Despite the money the assessment system has brought Fred Perry, a leading residential tax certiorari lawyer, he looks forward to seeing the system fixed. From a business point of view, it's been a good ride, he said.
Residential lawyers take up to half of the first year's refund.
But the lawyers didn't obtain homeowners bigger refunds. Regardless of whether the property owner used a lawyer, residential assessments were lowered an average of 12 percent and homeowners generally waited a year to receive a check even after the refund was granted, a Newsday analysis reveals. In the short term, Nassau's reassessment might generate a flurry of new challenges and force the county to relent on pending cases. So the county would likely have to pay out refunds for every year in which the tax challenge had been pending. In fact, after Southampton officials reassessed properties in 1992, the town had to cave in on many outstanding tax challenges, said Ed Deyermond, the town's assessor.