For this column I have interviewed Nassau County Board of Assessor Chairman, 
Charles O'Shea.

BACKGROUND
Age 44; married with two children. Resident of North Merrick for 10 years and 
originally from North Bellmore. Law Degree from fordham University and an 
undergraduate degree in history from Duke University. Former 19th District 
Assemblyman for 11 years and Deputy County Attorney. Assessor since January 
1998.

TO PRESIDENT BUSH
I voted for you and your dad. I was proud to vote for members of the Bush 
household three times. AS long as you tell the truth and lead us, Americans 
will be proud to have you as our President.

ASSESSMENT
When people open up the envelope, the first thing they see is the proposed 
market value. The 1938 construction cost method to determine a home's value 
is outdated. The new assessed value for someone's home is one percent of the 
proposed market value. If the market value is incorrect, the taxes will be 
incorrect. There will be updating of all home values in Nassau for the next 
six years and it will be monitored by the State Supreme Court. The first tax 
bill that will be effected is the October 2003 school tax bill.

MESSAGE TO FORMER COUNTY EXECUTIVE GULOTTA
I thank you for being supportive of reassessment and not vetoing it. I 
enjoyed representing you and our Nassau residents in the 19th District. even 
though we agreed to disagree about a number of issues, I know that we will 
always be friends.

HOBBIES
Golf, reading biographies, watching Duke basketball and family. I just 
finished the Robert Caro book on Lyndon Johnson's years in the Senate.

TAX CERTS
Nassau pays back to its property owners over $100 million a year because of 
inaccurate assessments. 87 percent of that amount is for commercial 
inaccuracies. Even though then lawsuit dealt with residential properties, I 
added commercial to this project. Nassau needed to take this step to correct 
its problems. I very much appreciate that the Suozzi Administration allowed 
me to review the recent tax cert litigation that passed in Albany to empower 
the Assessment Review Commission. I believe that the improvements that I made 
in the Bill will help everyone in Nassau when it becomes law.

SUCCESSES AS AN ASSEMBLYMAN
Being a member of the Ways and Means Committee that put together the first 
STAR Program, serving as the ranking member of the Insurance Committee and 
getting more coverage for breast cancer survivors. One of my greatest 
memories was working with former State Senator Norm Levy. He was a great 
teacher and I will miss him.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS (as the Assessor)
There are four: (1) I led Nassau to the first reassessment in 64 years. (2) I 
implemented the STAR Programs since 1998 and have been able to administer the 
school tax saving to more than 275,000 residents. (3) Later this year, we 
will have computerized tax mapping (making it easier for people to read) and 
(4) Reimbursement of monies to Nassau's General Fund for sales figures that 
we share with New York State.

FINAL COMMENTS
It's been a full and enjoyable five years as Chairman. I'm looking forward to 
2003 and working to get my contract renewed with the people in Nassau. I also 
enjoy the South Shore beaches and hope to steal a couple of days with my 
family for vacation sometime before year end.