He recently wrote, "A recent New York Times profile reported that across the country local governments are coming up financially short as falling real estate values are sparking a downward spiral of property assessments with a resulting drop in property tax revenue.  IRE member Cliff Sondock says that in Nassau County that's old news, with the county's precarious condition over a broken tax certiorari system a grim lesson for municipalities nationwide.

Mr. Sondock writes, “What makes matters worse for properties in Nassau County is the extraordinary reliance of tax revenue derived from commercial property due to the tax classification system unique to Nassau County.

"The excessively high property taxes in Nassau County substantially increase the breakeven points for both occupancy and rents. A 10% to 20% drop in occupancy and/or rents could throw commercial properties into foreclosure due to fixed tax rates well above $8 per square foot and as high as $20 per square foot for some smaller retail properties.

"The real estate community must confront the tax classification system which could destroy the real estate's role as an economic engine because some foreclosed commercial properties may fall to enormous tax liens causing substantial short falls in taxes delinquent from foreclosed commercial property.

"As the New York Times looks out at the horizon from their vantage point in Manhattan to report this story they need only gaze eastward to see the canary in the coal mine: Nassau County."