Establishes a petition to start the process to change the elective office of assessors

'PETITION TO CHANGE THE ELECTIVE OFFICE OF ASSESSORS'

§ 797-a: Defines the terms 'qualified elector' and 'participating municipality'.

§ 797-b: Petition to start the process must have signatures from qualified voters of the participating municipality; equal to at least 10% of the electors qualified to vote in the last general election. The signatures must also be from those qualified to vote in the participating municipality at the time the petition is filed with the municipal clerk. A signature will be considered invalid if it is signed upon the petition more than 180 days before the petition is filed with the municipal clerk, unless the governing board passes a resolution giving additional time to collect signatures. This section ends with a detailed description of what the form is to look like.

§ 797-c: Process to change the elective office of assessors upon petitions. First, the process starts in a participating municipality once a petition from the qualified electors is filed with the municipal clerk and certified by such clerk as meeting the requirements of this article. Secondly, upon certification of the clerk, the municipality shall conduct a referendum on the question to change the office of the assessor. Thirdly, a certificate of the election shall be filed with the Secretary of State, with the clerk of the municipality, and with the clerk of each county in which any part of the participating municipality is located. Fourthly, if the majority of the votes are in the affirmative, then within 30 days of the referendum, the municipality shall adopt a resolution, and notify the assessor that they shall serve their remaining term, and then the position will be appointed by the referendum shall fail and the petition process may not be initiated within two years of the date of such referendum.

Section 2. Establishes the effective date.

Justification

Local government costs contribute to the unsustainable local property burden that all state residents bear. Political and governmental leaders on all levels recognize the significance of the problem and have sought to address it. For example, recent reports issued by the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief, the Citizens Budget Commission as well as Governor Paterson's 2009 Budget included recommendations that local governments consolidate, share and/or eliminate services to cut costs. One such function that was found to be redundant in an extraordinary number of instances was tax assessing. For example, there is often a village assessor and town

assessor; and the village assessor is assessing parcels in the geographic area covered by the town assessor.

Current law requires that the assessor is elected in many, although not all, jurisdictions. In those municipalities where the assessor is elected, the assessing function cannot be consolidated or shared within or between those municipalities. The sole mechanism to revert this elective office to an office that is appointed in those municipalities is through a ballot referendum.

Local legislatures have legal authority to place a referendum on the ballot to be voted upon by the voters within those municipalities. They regularly put bond referenda on the ballot to fund major capital projects. It is rare that municipal boards put referenda on the ballot asking voters whether certain elective offices should be appointive, although there have been a few exceptions.

For example, the Cortlandt Town Board placed a referendum on the ballot asking voters whether the elective position of superintendent of high-ways should be reverted to an appointed one. This referendum did pass. There is, however, no straight-forward method by which citizens can place such a referendum on their local ballot.

This legislation would enable citizens to initiate a petition process and consign the question of changing the assessor elective office to an appointive one to a referendum on the ballot. With upward spiraling government expenses, citizens need additional opportunities to make decisions regarding local government services. Having the ability to place a referendum on the ballot would be a crucial one.

Legislative history

A. 1541 of 2013/2014 A. 442-A of 2011/2012 A. 9524 of 2009/2010

Fiscal implications

When signed into law, the fiscal implications are minimal as the referenda may be put on the ballot during a general election.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.