#94-year-old LI woman mistakenly declared dead and loses benefits

A 94-year-old woman was mistakenly declared dead in Nassau County and it ended up costing her a fortune.

Ann Mazze, of Levittown, said her taxes went through the roof after she was falsely deemed deceased by a county clerical worker, according to WABC.

When Mazze realized she lost her veteran tax and enhanced senior tax exemptions, her daughter called assessment officials, who said they assumed she was dead, the local station reported.

“Do I look dead to you?” Mazze reportedly said. “I’m very upset and very angry at all that’s happened.”

The elderly woman’s property taxes ballooned from $2,694 a year to $7,921, and her mortgage payment was upped to $800, according to the report.

“We said we’re paying a lot of additional monies every month to get this satisfied because it’s in our names and basically they didn’t care, they said, ‘Well, this is what we have to do,’” Lori Goldman, Mazze’s daughter reportedly said of her talks with county workers.

County Legislator John Ferretti Jr. held a press conference outside the overtaxed woman’s home Wednesday, after the family claimed top brass in Mineola ignored the issue, the station said.

Nassau County spokesperson Michael Fricchione told ABC 7 that a solution was already in the works, and Ferretti, a Republican, was using the elderly woman as a “political prop.”

“The taxpayer’s daughter was in contact with the Department of Assessment on April 22nd and corrections were made right away, along with a petition that will be approved by the legislature on Monday to refund the taxpayer,” Fricchione reportedly said.