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S8143Senate2015-2016 SessionSame asA10551

Relates to a residential reassessment exemption for the town of Greenburgh in the county of Westchester

Sponsor Andrea Stewart-CousinsSD-35
Status
Senate Floor Calendar
Impact
Pending
Outcome
Companion signed

Bill progress

Signed via A10551

What's happening

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Who cares

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Sponsors

Primary sponsor
Andrea Stewart-Cousins

Senator · Senate District 35

No co-sponsors yet.

History

  1. Substituted by A10551A
  2. Ordered to third reading cal.1860
  3. Referred to rules

Companion bill

The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.

A10551Assembly

Relates to a residential reassessment exemption for the town of Greenburgh in the county of Westchester

Signed by Governor · Sponsor Thomas Abinanti

Signed into law

Full text

The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.

Sponsor's memo

Title of bill

An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to a residential reassessment exemption in a town with a population of not less than eighty-five thousand persons and not more than ninety-five thousand persons located in a county of not less than nine hundred thirty thousand persons and not more than one million two hundred thousand persons, based upon the latest U.S. census

Purpose or general idea of bill

The purpose of this legislation is to help mitigate the effects of the town-wide revaluation in the Town of Greenburgh, Westchester County by authorizing the Town to adopt a two-year phase-in of assessment increases for certain residential properties.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 of the bill adds a new section § 485-s to the Real Property Tax Law to provide that a town with a population of not less than 85,000 persons and not more than 95,000 persons located in a county of not less than 930,000 persons and not more than 1,200,000 persons, based upon the latest U.S. census, may adopt by local law, after a public hearing, a residential reassessment exemption. If the town adopts the reassessment exemption, the exemption would also apply in the same manner and to the same extent to each village, county, special district or school district that levies taxes on the assessment roll prepared by the town.

Read the full memo (730 words)

The bill further provides that to qualify for the exemption a property must (1) be a one, two, or three family residential property, provided that in an approved assessing unit dwelling units held in condominium form of ownership that are classified in the homestead tax class would also be eligible; (2) be eligible to receive the STAR exemption or the owner or owners must be eligible to receive the personal income tax school tax relief (STAR) credit for the property; (3) have a Certificate of Occupancy or a temporary Certificate of Occupancy; and (4) not have any delinquent taxes.

The town may also require that the property not have any building code violations, and may limit the exemption to properties that experience an increase in assessed value that exceeds a set value threshold.

The exemption would be for a period of two years to the extent of 66% of the increase in the equalized assessed value in the first year of the reassessment, and 44% of the increase in the equalized assessed value of the property in the second year. The exemption would not apply to any increase in the assessed value of a property due to physical improvements or the removal or reduction of an exemption on the property. The exemption would be granted only upon application by the owner or owners of the property. In the event that the property transfers ownership or otherwise ceases to meet the eligibility requirements, the exemption would be discontinued.

Section 2 establishes special provisions for the 2016 assessment roll due to the fact that the Town will need to implement the exemption later in the assessment cycle than is authorized by State and local law.

Section 3 is the effective date.

Justification

New York State does not require assessing units to conduct cyclical reassessments. As a result, reassessment activity is inconsistence across the State. In many instances assessments are out of date and do not accurately reflect the actual value of properties, causing some taxpayers to pay too much in taxes and others to pay too little.

The Town of Greenburgh, in an effort to bring current the value of properties in the Town, recently completed a town-wide reassessment of its properties. The properties in the Town had not been reassessed for over 50 years. Updating this out of date assessment roll caused some property owners to experience a large increase in property taxes. Although these increases may be in the interest of fairness, they can be jarring, especially for residential homeowners and create significant financial hardship. This legislation will help mitigate the impacts of these increases by allowing the Town to adopt a local law, after a public hearing, to phase-in the increased assessments that some residents will experience. This legislation will allow these homeowners to prepare financially for their increased tax liabilities.

Prior legislative history

New Bill

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.

Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.