Requires a revenue distribution agreement for equitable allocation within the county of Suffolk for public safety purposes of sales and compensating use taxes

BILL NUMBER:S2638

Title of bill

An act to amend the tax law, in relation to requiring a revenue distribution agreement for equitable allocation within the county of Suffolk for public safety purposes of sales and compensating use tax

Purpose

This bill would allow the County of Suffolk to allocate a portion of the net collection of sales and compensating use taxes for equitable distribution county-wide for purposes of public safety and property tax stabilization and relief.

Summary of provisions

Amends Subdivision c of Section 1262-j of the Tax Law, as amended by Chapter 684 of the Laws of 2007. This bill would require Suffolk County to deposit any monies from the one percent tax increase to be deposited into a special and separate fund, codified in the County Charter. If any monies are allocated from such special fund for property tax stabilization and relief to the Suffolk County Police District, then the county shall allocate monies to the towns and villages which are not part of the Suffolk County Police District in order to ensure equitable distribution county-wide.

The allocations from the special fund created pursuant to this section shall be subject to a revenue distribution agreement. The revenue distribution agreement shall be codified in the county charter and remain in effect as long as such sales and compensating use tax component is in effect, or any successor component, for such public safety purposes.

One of two methods for determining the reduction of Suffolk County police district taxes to the towns and villages which are not part of the Suffolk County police district shall be used: (1) the basis of the respective populations of the several towns and villages in Suffolk County, determined in accordance with the latest federal census or special population census taken pursuant to section twenty of the general municipal law, completed and published prior to the end of the quarter for which the allocation is made, which special population must include the entire area of the county; or (2) the basis of the nineteen hundred ninety-four amounts allocated and uniformly increasing in proportionality across Suffolk County and taking into account any successor component for the sales and compensating use tax, notwithstanding any year of inequitable distribution by the county of Suffolk to towns and villages outside of the Suffolk county police district.

If the County allocates monies from such special fund directly to the general fund to reduce the tax levy for county-wide public safety purposes, the corresponding property tax relief is provided on a

county-wide basis and on the basis of full valuation of real property and no further revenue distribution agreement is required.

Justification

Under current New York State Law, no less than one-eighth and no more than three-eighths of the net collections received by Suffolk County as a result of the one per cent tax increase shall be dedicated for public safety purposes; the balance to be deposited in the Suffolk County General Fund.

This legislation is intended to create a equitable distribution of the funds rather than permitting Suffolk County to impose the tax on all county residents, and providing disproportionate shares to any special assessment district.

Legislative history

2009-10: S.2272/A.4789

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately with allocation and distributions of new collections to be proposed within the 2011 budget of the County of Suffolk.