What's happening
This bill requires New York City's Department of Finance to collect supplemental information directly from condo owners or co-op shareholders to verify eligibility for property tax abatements.
Why it matters
Increases Accountability. By requiring individual condo owners and co-op shareholders to directly certify details like primary residence status, the bill aims to reduce fraud or errors in property tax abatement claims, ensuring only eligible residents receive the benefit.
Shifts Administrative Burden. The change places greater responsibility on individual residents, not just the managers or boards, to provide accurate information, which could mean more paperwork and interaction with the Department of Finance for property owners.
Potential for Stricter Oversight. With the Department of Finance mandated (not just permitted) to collect supplemental information, there may be more rigorous reviews and potential audits, possibly leading to increased denials or revocations of abatements for those who do not fully comply.
May Affect Abatement Timelines. The new verification process could introduce delays or complications in receiving tax relief, especially for owners who are slow to respond or unfamiliar with the requirements, impacting household finances in the short term.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Tax Breaks for NYC Condos
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
Senator · Senate District 26
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to local government
- Referred to rules
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6564
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KAVANAGH -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to a partial tax abatement for residential real property held in the cooperative or condominium form of ownership in the city of New York
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 467-a of the real property tax law, as amended by chapter 4 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
(a) "Applicant" means the board of managers of a condominium or the board of directors of a cooperative apartment corporation, provided that, in addition, the commissioner of finance [may] shall by rule designate the owner of a dwelling unit or shareholder of a unit as an applicant for the purposes of submitting supplemental information to verify the eligibility of the owner of the unit or shareholder of the unit for the abatement.
§ 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 3 of section 467-a of the real property tax law, as amended by chapter 4 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
(b) An application for an abatement pursuant to this section shall be submitted to the commissioner of finance by the board of managers of a condominium or the board of directors of a cooperative apartment corporation, provided that the commissioner of finance [may] shall by rule require the owner or shareholder of a dwelling unit to submit an application to supplement information contained in the application submitted by the board of managers of a condominium or the board of directors of a cooperative apartment corporation to certify as to that owner or shareholder's eligibility for the abatement including but not limited to primary residence status and may by rule apply and adjust, as appropriate, any provisions of this section that relate to applications submitted by such boards to applications submitted by such owners.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13417-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to a partial tax abatement for residential real property held in the cooperative or condominium form of ownership in the city of New York
Purpose
This bill would better ensure compliance with the requirement that only units being used as primary residences receive the Cooperative and Condominium Property Tax Abatement.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 467-a of the real property tax law to provide that the commissioner of finance shall by rule designate the owner or shareholder of a unit as an appli- cant for the purposes of submitting supplemental information to verify eligibility for the abatement.
Section two amends paragraph (b) of subdivision 3 of section 467-a of the real property tax law to provide that the commissioner of finance shall by rule require the unit owner or shareholder submit an applica- tion to supplement information contained in the application submitted by the board of managers of a condominium or the board of directors of a cooperative apartment corporation to certify as to that owner or share- holder's eligibility for the abatement including but not limited to primary residence status.
Section three sets forth the effective date.
Purpose and justification
In 2013, the State added a new provision to the coop-condo tax abatement program limiting eligibility to primary residences. To implement this new requirement, the City's Department of Finance (DOF) placed the obli- gation of primary residency verification on managing agents and boards. These parties, however, typically are not equipped to accurately attest to whether an individual owner or shareholder truly uses the unit as their primary residence. As a result, abatements may be awarded to units that are not actually the taxpayer's primary residence.
This bill would require that individual unit owners and shareholders, rather than managing agents and boards, verify with DOF that the unit is that taxpayer's primary residence. This will improve compliance with the abatement program.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None to the state.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.