What's happening
This bill authorizes New York City to levy, administer, and enforce excise taxes on tobacco products other than cigarettes, and directs related revenues to the city's general fund.
Why it matters
Expands NYC’s taxation authority. The bill explicitly allows New York City to levy excise taxes on tobacco products other than cigarettes, giving the city more direct control over taxing a broader range of tobacco goods (like cigars, chewing tobacco, and e-cigarettes).
Strengthens local enforcement. It grants NYC the power to administer, collect, and enforce these new excise taxes—including issuing tax warrants and placing liens—making enforcement more robust and aligned with existing mechanisms used for cigarette taxes.
Revenue flexibility and budget impact. By directing the revenue from these excise taxes to NYC’s general fund (rather than restricting it to specific uses like housing subsidies), the bill provides the city with greater flexibility in how these funds are used, potentially influencing budget priorities or reducing reliance on other taxes.
Streamlines legal review processes. The bill allows NYC to set up local procedures for taxpayers to challenge tobacco excise tax assessments, mirroring the city’s established processes for cigarette tax disputes, which could make appeals more consistent and accessible for businesses and individuals.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Tax City Tobacco Sales
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Signed chap.631
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.274
- Substituted for A6369
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 46–16
- Ordered to third reading cal.1757
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Referred to housing, construction and community development
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.
Let Cities Tax Tobacco Sales
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Helene Weinstein
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2634
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 28, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development
AN ACT to amend the public housing law, in relation to the authority of certain municipalities to levy an excise tax on the sale of tobacco products other than cigarettes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 94 of the public housing law, as amended by chapter 540 of the laws of 1958, is amended to read as follows:
§ 94. Authorization to make subsidies. A municipality is authorized to make or contract to make capital or periodic subsidies to an authority operating within the territorial limits of such municipality, payable only with moneys locally appropriated therefor from the general or other funds available for current expenses of such municipality. Periodic subsidies shall not be contracted for a period longer than the life of the project assisted thereby, and in no event for more than fifty years. If the amount of any periodic subsidy shall be equal to or greater than the interest on and the amounts required annually for the payment of the indebtedness contracted by the authority on account of a project in any year, such contract shall constitute a guarantee of the principal of and the interest on such indebtedness, and such contract and the payments thereunder may be pledged by the authority as security in addition to all other security which the authority may give for such indebtedness.
A municipality may levy one or more of the taxes enumerated in section one hundred ten for the purpose of making municipal subsidies[, and the]. The revenues resulting from the imposition of such tax or taxes, other than the taxes described in subdivision (e) of section one hundred ten of this chapter in a city having a population of one million or more, notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law to the contrary, shall be deposited in the city treasury and credit-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08592-01-9
S. 2634 2
ed to a separate account. During each fiscal year of such municipality, an amount not in excess of the amount of the subsidies to be made by such municipality during such fiscal year shall be charged to such account and credited to the general fund for the reduction of taxation or into the general or other fund available for current expenses of such municipality. No other payment shall be charged to such account. The provisions of section one hundred eleven of this chapter shall be applicable to any tax or taxes imposed pursuant to this section.
In a city having a population of one million or more, the revenues from the taxes described in subdivision (e) of section one hundred ten of this chapter shall be deposited in the general fund and a payment of an equal amount shall be made, in the same fiscal year or as soon as practicable thereafter, for the purposes described in such section.
§ 2. Subdivision (e) of section 110 of the public housing law is amended to read as follows:
(e) (1) An excise tax on the sale of tobacco other than cigarettes sold for consumption within the territorial limits of such municipality. Such tax shall not be in excess of ten per centum of the purchase price of such tobacco. [Such] The local law imposing such tax may [further] provide that the amount of the tax shall be paid by the purchaser to the vendor and for and on account of the municipality, and the vendor shall be liable for the collection and the payment thereof[; and the]. The vendor shall have the same right in respect to collecting the tax from the purchaser or in respect to non-payment of the tax by the purchaser as if the tax were a part of the purchase price of the tobacco, and payable at the time of the sale.
(2) Any city having a population of one million or more imposing excise taxes on the sale of tobacco other than cigarettes pursuant to paragraph one of this subdivision is hereby authorized to adopt and amend local laws to administer, collect and enforce such taxes, including the issuance of tax warrants in a manner consistent with the issuance of warrants pursuant to chapter thirteen of title eleven of the administrative code of the city of New York. Such enforcement shall include but not be limited to the filing with the county clerk of a copy of such warrants, the entry in the judgment docket of the information specified in section 11-1314 of the administrative code of the city of New York, and the creation of a lien upon the title to and interest in real and personal property of the person against whom the warrant is issued.
§ 3. Section 111 of the public housing law, as amended by chapter 310 of the laws of 1962, is amended to read as follows:
§ 111. Review. (a) Any such tax may be reviewed by a proceeding under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules and any local law or ordinance imposing any such tax or taxes shall include provisions making such review available upon reasonable conditions including a requirement that application for review be made within thirty days after the determination of the amount of the tax or taxes, and that the amount of the tax or taxes, interest and penalties and security for costs, be first deposited.
(b) Any city having a population of one million or more is hereby authorized to adopt and amend local laws that provide for the review of any such tax in the same manner as the review of the tax on cigarettes imposed by such city, including the ability to seek conciliation concerning determinations of such tax as well as review of such tax in the agency or tribunal authorized to review the tax on cigarettes imposed by such city.
S. 2634 3
§ 4. Section 112 of the public housing law, as added by chapter 905 of the laws of 1960, is amended to read as follows:
§ 112. Disposition of proceeds of taxes. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law to the contrary, revenues heretofore or hereafter resulting from the imposition of taxes authorized by this article for either or both of the purposes referred to in section one hundred ten of this [chapter] article, other than the taxes described in subdivision (e) of such section in a city having a population of one million or more, shall be deposited in the city or village treasury and credited to a separate account. During each fiscal year of such city or village, an amount not in excess of the amount included in the annual budget or estimate for such fiscal year for the purpose or purposes for which such taxes were levied shall be charged to such account and credited to the general fund for the reduction of taxation or into the general or other fund available for current expenses of such city or village. No other payment shall be made from such an account or accounts. In a city having a population of one million or more, the revenues from the taxes described in subdivision (e) of section one hundred ten of this article shall be deposited in the general fund and a payment of an equal amount shall be made, in the same fiscal year or as soon as practicable thereafter for the purposes described in such section.
§ 5. 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 public housing law, in relation to the authority of certain municipalities to levy an excise tax on the sale of tobacco products other than cigarettes
Summary of specific provisions
The Public Housing Law authorizes municipalities to impose excise taxes on a number of products, including tobacco products other than ciga- rettes, and requires that any revenue collected from imposition of these taxes be used for public housing. In August 2017, pursuant to this authority, the New York City Council enacted a tax on other tobacco products ("OTP").
Sections one and four of this bill would amend sections 94 and 112 of the Public Housing Law respectively so that, for the revenue collected by the City from the tax on OTP, the accounting mechanism is aligned with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and with the requirement that the City's budget be balanced each fiscal year.
Read the full memo (652 words)
Section two would amend section 110 of the Public Housing Law to author- ize the City to enact legislation allowing the City to administer and enforce the tax on OTP in the same way that it administers and enforces the tax on cigarettes.
Section three would amend section 111 of the Public Housing Law to authorize the City to enact legislation providing for the same review process for a determination of a tax on OTP as the City provides for a determination of a tax on cigarettes.
Section five would provide that the bill take effect immediately.
Justification
This bill would amend the Public Housing Law to allow New York City to conform the review and collection procedures for its tax on OTP to those used for the review and,collection of all other New York City taxes, including the New York City cigarette tax. This bill would also amend the accounting mechanism set forth in the Public Housing Law to ensure that the revenue collected by the City from the OTP tax be deposited in the City's general fund and spent within the same fiscal year. Impor- tantly, this bill does not create any new authority for cities, includ- ing New York City, to impose an additional tax on OTP; rather, it only allows the City to use its current authority more effectively.
Subdivision (e) of section 110 of the Public Housing Law, which author- izes certain villages and cities to impose an OTP tax, was enacted in 1939 and has not been amended since that time. Similarly, section 111 of the Public Housing Law, which provides for review of local OTP tax determinations, was enacted in 1939, and with the exception of a conforming amendment to the CPLR in 1962, has not been otherwise amended. Accordingly, these enabling provisions were enacted well before tax collection through tax warrants and before the current procedures for reviewing tax determinations were put in place.
Sections 94 and 112 of the Public Housing Law, which set forth partic- ular procedures for depositing the revenue generated by the excise taxes authorized by section 110 of the Public Housing Law, were also enacted, before the establishment of current New York City budget practices.
This bill corrects these problems by allowing New York City to conform its OTP tax to the tax collection and review procedures used for all other New York City taxes, including the City cigarette tax, by specif- ically authorizing the use of tax warrants to collect the City OTP tax and the same review procedures as those used to review City cigarette tax determinations. The bill also provides for the dedication of reven- ues for the City OTP tax in a way that is entirely consistent with GAAP and with the requirement that the City's budget be balanced each fiscal year.
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Prior legislative history
2017-18: S.9117/A.11172 Weinstein - Ways & Means - Passed Assembly
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.