Nassau County Legislature Republicans pushed Thursday for a five-year freeze on property tax assessments, a plan met with resistance by Democrats.

With property taxes rising nearly every year, Minority Leader Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) said his plan "is a common-sense approach to provide some significant tax relief and stability to the residents of this county."

Schmitt and three GOP legislative candidates have signed a petition to force a public hearing on the proposal, which Democratic Majority Leader Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury) has thus far blocked. The petition requires 2,000 signatures, a plateau Schmitt claims he's reached.

Jacobs said an assessment freeze could push Nassau into a financial mess, one similar to what prompted state oversight earlier in the decade.

Nassau County Assessor Harvey Levinson claims a freeze "certainly wouldn't help. In fact, it could result in higher taxes. Freezing assessments does not freeze taxes."

Levinson said reducing government spending or adding new methods of revenue are the only ways to reduce taxes.