The Village of Atlantic Beach had 1,700 residents counted in the 2020 census. Overall, Nassau County has 1.4 million people. So how could the finances of this small seaside burg — with the median listing price of homes at $1,750,000, according to Zillow — cause waves in Long Island’s greater political ecosphere?

The ripples stem from an action taken April 30 by village trustees to approve a 2025-26 budget that includes a property tax hike — an eye-popping, onetime 87%.

Some residents are naturally expressing surprise and dismay over the tax jump that would affect them next year. County Executive Bruce Blakeman happens to reside in Atlantic Beach. That isn’t the issue here, but property tax assessments are ripe for debate as he seeks reelection.

Twenty years ago, the county took over the assessment of properties from the village, which had its own assessor. After the April 30 vote, George Pappas, the mayor since 2014, told LIHerald.com: “Following months of research and consultation, we’ve determined that the procedures implemented when the village ceased being an assessing unit were materially incorrect.

“The inequalities caused by the incorrect procedures implemented by previous administrations were magnified over years as a result of Nassau County not maintaining stable levels of assessment, even though these calculations directly affect the distribution of village taxes.”

But assessing blame for this 87% shocker can be as complicated as assessing the properties themselves. On Wednesday, Blakeman’s office conveyed a response from the county’s assessor, Joseph Adamo.

“Unfortunately, it appears that the village did not bill commercial entities at the correct rate. Nassau County is not responsible for the Village of Atlantic Beach budget or tax levy, nor do we calculate, bill, collect or distribute village taxes,” Adamo said.

If there’s any potential for local election fallout from this unique fiasco, it might come next month. While Mayor Pappas doesn’t face reelection until next year, the seats of two trustees, Patricia Beaumont and Nathan Etrog, are on the June 17 ballot.

How much a government should tax and spend is always a multifaceted question. Before the recent vote, village officials worked to find ways to slash expenses. LIHerald.com quoted one trustee as saying they pared more than $240,000 to lower the expected tax increase below 100%. The village has reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a court dispute with Chabad Lubavitch of the Beaches over the Hasidic group’s efforts to open an outreach center.

Beyond the village’s borders, other spotlights are cast on the county’s deeply flawed property assessment system. In 2021, when Blakeman unseated predecessor Laura Curran, he blasted the long-overdue reassessment she carried out and promised to fix the system. Yet under his own tenure, assessments have remained frozen.

The status quo preserves an unofficial “system” by which a majority of homeowners file formal appeals of their assessments. Companies that handle these filings charge clients a hefty share of the eventual tax reduction. The firms contribute generously to the campaign committees of major incumbents.

Now it’s the turn of Legis. Seth Koslow, Blakeman’s Democratic challenger in November, to say how to do better. He supports eliminating the Department of Assessment and getting towns and cities to do a fairer job. That will be relevant fodder for the fall campaign.

Incumbents come and go, but tax grievances are forever. Put that in Latin — and the folks in Mineola could have it inscribed on Nassau County’s orange flag.

Columnist Dan Janison’s opinions are his own.