Big assessment jump puts young homeowner at risk

Newsday reports:

Doug Amante was trying to make room for his growing family when he struggled on his electrician's salary to add a second floor to his small 1950s ranch, living at times in the basement while using family and friends to help with the construction.

Now the young Massapequa father of three is afraid he could lose his home: His mortgage bank raised his monthly payments to $4,500 from $2,800 to cover soaring property taxes just as his ailing 12-week-old son, Justin, requires surgery to remove part of a kidney.

Although Amante has yet to finish his house, Nassau Assessor Harvey Levinson valued it more than $220,000 higher than nearly identical remodeled homes on his street for 2008.

"I don't know how long I can hang on," said Amante, who is 29 years old. "I can swing about three months of this."