What's happening
This bill requires mortgage tax funds from the unincorporated area of Ossining to go into a separate unincorporated town fund.
Why it matters
Ensures mortgage tax revenue from Ossining’s unincorporated area is spent directly on that area’s needs. by placing these funds in a dedicated unincorporated town fund, the money cannot be used for general town-wide purposes, potentially leading to more targeted services or improvements for residents outside the incorporated village.
May increase transparency and accountability. in how mortgage tax money from the unincorporated area is used, since these funds will now be tracked and allocated separately rather than being mixed into a larger general fund.
Could impact budgets and priorities. for both the unincorporated area and the town as a whole, possibly leading to changes in service levels, infrastructure investment, or tax rates, depending on how much revenue is redirected and how the new fund is managed.
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Who cares
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Ossining Mortgage Tax Fund Change
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Signed chap.443
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Home rule request
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.227
- Substituted for A6886
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 59–2
- Ordered to third reading cal.1513
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
Show 1 earlier action
- Referred to investigations and government operations
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.
Direct Ossining Mortgage Tax Funds
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Sandy Galef
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6429
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 18, 2017
Introduced by Sen. CARLUCCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to the allocation of mortgage recording tax in the town of Ossining, county of Westchester
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 261 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 287 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
3. On or before the tenth day of each month the recording officer of each county shall pay over to the county treasurer of said county, and in the counties of New York, Kings, Queens, Richmond and Bronx to the commissioner of finance of the city of New York for credit to the general fund of such city, the balance of the moneys received during the preceding month upon account of taxes paid to him or her as herein prescribed, after deducting the necessary expenses of his or her office as provided in section two hundred sixty-two of this article, except taxes paid upon mortgages which under the provisions of section two hundred sixty of this article are first to be apportioned by the commissioner, which taxes and money shall be paid over by the commissioner of finance of the city of New York as provided by the determination of the commissioner. In each county not within the city of New York, the whole of the net amount of such balance, after the deduction by the county treasurer of the necessary expenses of his or her office provided in section two hundred sixty-two of this article, shall be held by him or her and shall be allocated to the tax districts of the county according to the location of the real property covered by the respective mortgages upon which the tax was collected. The recording officer and county treasurer shall prepare a joint semi-annual report on or before May fifteenth and on or before November fifteenth in each year showing the amounts to be credited to each tax district of the county of the moneys
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10478-01-7
S. 6429 2
collected under this article during the preceding periods of six months each which ended respectively on March thirty-first and September thirtieth. Such report shall be made in duplicate in accordance with the rules and regulations of the commissioner and filed with the clerk of the board of supervisors and the commissioner. The board of supervisors, on or before the fifteenth day of June and on or before the fifteenth day of December in each year, shall issue its warrant for the payment to the respective tax districts of the amounts so credited, provided, however, that in a county in which a town contains within its limits an incorporated village, or portion thereof, the board of supervisors shall apportion to such village so much of the share credited to the town as the assessed value of said village or portion thereof bears to twice the total assessed valuation of the town, and provided, further, that, at the option of the governing board of the county, the county may instead prepare and file such a joint report and make such payments on a monthly or quarterly basis. Where the county elects to make monthly payments, the recording officer and county treasurer shall prepare a joint report on or before the fifteenth day of each month showing the amounts to be credited to each tax district of the county and the moneys collected under this article for the month preceding the most recently concluded month, and the board of supervisors shall issue its warrant for payment on or before the fifteenth day of the following month. Where the county elects to make quarterly payments, the recording officer and county treasurer shall prepare such a joint report on or before the fifteenth day of May, August, November, and February, showing the amounts to be credited to each tax district of the county of moneys collected under this article for the preceding three-month period ending March thirtyfirst, June thirtieth, September thirtieth, and December thirty-first, respectively and the board of supervisors shall issue its warrant for payment on or before the fifteenth day of June, September, December, and March, respectively. The warrant shall direct payment to the city treasurer of the amount due the city, to the town supervisor of the amount due the town, and to the village treasurer of the amount to which the village shall be entitled. Mortgage tax moneys allotted to cities, towns and villages shall be applied to the payment of the general expenses thereof. The commissioner shall prescribe the method of adjustment and correction of errors heretofore or hereafter made in the distribution of moneys collected under this article. Provided, however that in the town of Ossining, county of Westchester, monies due to the unincorporated portion of the town shall be placed in the unincorporated town fund instead of into the general fund of such town.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to the allocation of mortgage recording tax in the town of Ossining, county of Westchester
Purpose or general idea of bill
The purpose of this legislation is to allocate mortgage recording taxes received in Ossining in a fair manner.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :;
Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 251 of the Tax Law is amended by adding the following language at the end: Provided, however that in the town of Ossining, county of Westchester, monies due to the unincorporated portion of the town shall be placed in the unincorporated town fund instead of into the General Fund of such town.
Section 2. Establishes the effective date.
Difference between original and amended version (if applicable)
This section is not applicable at this time.
Justification
When home buyers purchase a home, they pay a Mortgage Recording Tax. That money goes to the county, and then the County disburses the funds to the municipalities from where the houses are located. Based on a formula, the Village of Ossining receives their portion of the funds, the Village of Briarcliff receives their funds, and then the Town of Ossining receives their portion. The Town of Ossining then deposits those funds into the Town General Fund.
Section 261 of NYS Tax Law discusses the process by which the Mortgage Tax is recorded and distributed. It states, "....Mortgage tax moneys allotted to cities, towns and villages shall be applied to the payment of the general expenses thereof..."
Due to the above verbiage, the State Comptroller publishes an Opinion, 73-1053, where the language "general expenses" was interpreted to require the funds be placed into the town-wide General Fund. The state Comptroller's Office was contacted regarding their opinion on this mater, and they stated that there are other Special Acts granted for local governments in Article 11 (Tax Law), and they see no reason why legislation may not grant a special act for redistribution.
Constituents from the unincorporated section of town dispute this interpretation, and believe that the word "general" does not necessarily mean the General Fund. In addition, the Town of Ossining is unique. Unlike other neighboring Towns (such as Greenburgh, Mount Pleasant, Yorktown, Cortlandt, NewCastle) where the unincorporated with smaller villages and hamlets inside, the unincorporated section of town makes up the smallest portion of the entire Town of Ossining. The Village of Ossining is consists of approximately 25,000 residents. Therefor, when the villages receive their portion, and th Town of Ossining places its portion into the Town General Fund, the villages are in essence, double dipping, and the unincorporated town is not receiving its share, and is only nominally benefitted.
Due to the uniqueness of the Town of Ossining, it requests a special act to allow it to redistribute the portion of the mortgage recording
tax received for the Town of Ossining, into the "20" Fund, or the fund for the unincorporated section of town.
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
The fiscal implications ASSOCIATED with the passage of this legislation is unknown at this time, however, they are projected to be minimal to non-existing.
Effective date
This at shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.