Establishes assessment ceilings for local public utility mass real property

Summary of provisions

Section 1: amends subdivision 2 of Section 200-a of the real property tax law to provide that the State Board of Real Property Tax Services shall have the power to make the financial determination of an assessment ceiling when a complaint has been filed pursuant to 499-pppp of the real property tax law.

Section 2: amends article 4 of the real property tax law by adding a new title 5 entitled "Assessment Ceilings for Local Public Utility Mass Real Property" containing § 499-hhhh through 499-ssss. Title 5 creates a definition of "Public Utility Mass Real Property" and establishes a process for the determination and utilization of assessment ceilings to be used in the assessment of Telecommunication public utility mass properties.

* This legislation provides that the Department of Taxation and Finance shall annually established assessment ceilings for LPUMRP by applying a commonly accepted and recognized appraisal methodology to compute the reproduction cost while giving consideration to physical depreciation, and functional and economic obsolescence. Property owners of public utility mass real property would be required to play an annual free to Taxation and Finance to cover costs incurred in the establishment of such assessment ceilings.

* This legislation establishes the process to set tentative assessment ceilings, and to allow hearings and complaints filed by property owners and local assessing units to be considered. Challenges made to final assessment determinations would be subject to judicial review in Supreme Court pursuant to Article 7 of the Real, Property Tax Law, provided, however, that the proceeding must commence within sixty days of the issuance of the final assessment ceiling certificate and all questions of fact and law shall be determined de novo. Upon receipt of a certified assessment ceiling for LPUMRP, the assessor shall utilize the ceilings as determined by Taxation and Finance in the calculation of the assessments of such LPUMRP and reduce the assessment of such property so that the taxable assessed valuation does not exceed the certified assessment ceiling. Assessment ceilings in the first year of implementation would be calculated to be no less than 90% and not more than 110% of the assessment occurring in the second preceding calendar year from when this section takes effect.

* Owners of public utility mass real property are required to furnish annual reports to Taxation and Finance containing data and information from which assessment ceilings are determined. An owner of a property that fails to do so within the time specified by the commissioner shall be subject to a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00) fur each day until such report is filed.

Section 3: Requires that within two years of the effective date of this act, the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance, in consultation with the owners of LPUMRP shall report to the Governor, the Temporary President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the Assembly on whether public utility mass real property continues to constitute a "specialty" and make recommendations related to alternative valuation methodologies to compute the value of local public utility mass real property.

Section 4: Provides for an effective date and the repeal of such provisions four years after it takes effect.

Justification

Currently in New York, Telecommunication utility property located in the public way, known as special franchise property, is assessed by the State, while Telecommunication utility property located on private property is assessed by the local assessor. In almost every other state, the responsibility for assessing Telecommunication utility property, both in the public way and on private property, has been assigned to a state agency. This is due to the complexity of valuing such properties and the lack of technical training and required information that exists in many localities. Preliminary analysis of local data shows that assessments of Telecommunication transmission and distribution property by local assessors vary greatly, with little apparent pattern. This divergence of assessment practices places a heavy burden on Telecommunication companies that must deal with over 1,200 independent, individual assessing units. This bill addresses this issue by requiring the Taxation and Finance to establish annual assessment ceilings for each for Telecommunication's transmission and distribution property in each assessing unit thereby creating consistency throughout the state. Because Taxation and Finance already values similar proprieties located in the public way and conducts advisory appraisals of transmission and distribution property on private land for several hundred assessing units that are implementing reassessments each year,it already has a preexisting appraisal methodology to create assessment ceilings for Telecommunication public utility mass real property.

Legislative history

2012: S.6832-C Reported and Committed to Finance; A9733-C passed assembly

Fiscal implications

None

Local fiscal implications

Impact would vary throughout the state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first January of the second calendar

year commencing after this act shall have become law and shall apply to assessment rolls with taxable status dates on or after such date; provided, however, that this act shall expire and be deemed repealed four years after it takes effect; and provided, further, that no assessment of Telecommunication local public utility mass real property appearing on the municipal assessment roll with a taxable status date occurring in the first calendar year after this act shall have become law shall be less than ninety percent more than one hundred ten percent of the assessment of the same property on the date this act shall have become a law.