Requires multiple liens on farm property to be paid in chronological order, with the earliest lien being paid off first and the most recent being paid last

10 Co-sponsors

• John J. Bonacic
• Patrick M. Gallivan
• William J. Larkin Jr.
• George D. Maziarz
• Roy J. McDonald
• Thomas F. O'Mara
• Michael H. Ranzenhofer
• Patty Ritchie
• James L. Seward
• David J. Valesky

BILL NUMBER:S4514

Title of bill

An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to the redemption of multiple liens on farm property

Purpose or general idea of bill

To allow farm property tax liens to be paid in chronological order

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 amends subdivision 1 and 2 of section 1112 of the real property tax law, as amended by chapter 532 of the laws of 1994, to require liens on a parcel that is not farm property to be redeemed in reverse chronological order. Section b requires that a tax lien on a parcel that is farm property to be redeemed in chronological order, so that the lien with the earliest lien date is redeemed first, and the lien with the most recent lien date is redeemed last.

Section 2 ensures that unpaid tax liens on farm property are held under the same provisions for enforcement as parcels of non-farm property.

Justification

Enshrined in the New York State Constitution, as well as in the Agriculture and Markets Law, is the directive that the State should utilize all of its powers to protect and preserve one of our state's greatest resources - New York's 7 million acres of farmland.

One of the challenges that farmers face in producing food in New York is our increasingly higher cost of doing business. Farmers are price takers, not price makers. And while farmers produce food in New York State with higher tax rates, higher energy and labor costs, and higher regulatory burdens, the food that is sold and the price the farmer receives is based upon global factors and global commodity prices.

This puts farmers in a uniquely difficult position financially, especially during cyclical times of very low prices. Farmers caught in a financial bind at times face tax liens on their land, but unlike most other businesses farmers must by necessity hold a substantial amount of land upon which to produce food.

In order to help the farm community avoid foreclosures, and thus preserve and protect New York's critical agricultural land, changing the process by which the liens are redeemed would be a substantial aid to the farmer who is caught in a cyclical price downturn.

Allowing a farmer to redeem the earliest tax lien first helps avoid the additional accrual of interest and a potential foreclosure process spurred by factors that may largely be out of the farmer's control.

This bill takes a step forward in helping our State's farm families and maintaining the state's crucial farm land.

Prior legislative history

None.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.