Presiding Officer Rich Nicolello and other Republican members of the Nassau Legislature are demanding County Executive Laura Curran provide more transparency for her executive order that they say will lead to “ruinous tax increases.”

Curran recently signed an executive order changing the way in which properties in the county are assessed. The move is designed to make the county's tax rolls more accurate, but is expected to lead to significant swings in property taxes.

Many will see their property taxes go up while others may see a decrease. The Curran administration is set to mail a statement to residents detailing how the changes will impact their individual properties. 

Republican county legislators say while that document will display market values and percentages, it won't include real property tax estimates. Nicolello calls it "misleading."

“Tens of thousands of Nassau County residents will see large increases in their taxes, and that is what the administration wants to hide,” says Nicolello.

Last week, the Legislature's rules committee voted unanimously in favor of a bill that would force the county to provide estimates to taxpayers and conduct community meetings to explain the changes. 

“The bureaucrats and elected officials in this administration do not want to answer for their decisions, so we are going to force them,” says Nicolello.

The presiding officer told News 12 that the push for the transparency bill is not politically motivated, noting that county lawmakers are not up for re-election this year.

The county executive's press secretary, Karen Contino, told News 12 that the Curran administration's No. 1 priority is transparency, and that it will provide "accurate and complete" information to taxpayers. She says the Legislature has resorted to "scare tactics and misinformation."

The full Legislature is scheduled to vote on the bill next week.