NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A5369
SPONSOR: Paulin (MS)
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to extending the period during
which the city of White Plains is authorized to impose an additional
sales and compensating use tax
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to extend, for an additional two years,
White Plains's authority to impose its current tax rate of sales and
compensating use tax.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 extends the authorization of the City of White Plains to have
its current rate of sales and compensating use tax.
Section 2 governs the effectiveness of a sales tax extension adopted by
the local government of White Plains and sets rules for the filing of
the local law, ordinance or resolution adopting the extension.
Section 3 sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Since 1993, the State has authorized the city of White Plains to impose
an additional one-half of one percent rate of sales tax to replace
revenue lost through local preemption. Since 2008, the State has
approved an additional one-quarter of one percent rate of sales tax
bringing the city of White Plains sales tax rate to two and a quarter
percent. In 2010, in response to the City's fiscal condition and after
its receiving a "negative outlook" from Moody's Investor Services, for
unsatisfactory levels held in reserves, the City asked the State to
enact legislation to permit the city of White Plains to impose an addi-
tional one-quarter of one percent rate of sales tax and to require the
city to pay the proceeds of this 2010 rate increase into a Contingency
and Tax Stabilization Reserve fund under section 6-e of the general
municipal law. The law was created in 2010 and has been continued to
this date. Such negative outlook was removed from Moody's in 2013.Since
that time, the City's budget has been stable with the balance in the
reserve fund growing by nearly ten times compare to the 2008 levels.
Therefore, the deposit of the one-quarter of one percent portion of the
tax level is no longer required to be deposited into the Contingency and
Tax Stabilization reserve fund.
Furthermore, the current sales tax rate of 8.375% in White Plains, of
which 2.5% goes to the City, is equal to that of every municipality in
Westchester County except for the City of Yonkers which has a higher
sales tax rate. However, the City knows of no other municipality in
Westchester County with this restriction on part of their respective
sales tax revenues. As this 2010 request originated from the City and
the City now feels it is no longer necessary, the City of White Plains
is requesting that current funds remain in the Contingency and Tax
Stabilization Reserve fund, however, starting on July 1, 2023, the
restriction be removed from this portion (0.25%) of its sales tax
collections and that it be treated the same as the other municipalities
in the County.
This bill will permit the city of White Plains to continue to impose
each of these additional tax rates through August 31, 2025 while termi-
nating the requirement that the city pay the proceeds from the one-quar-
ter of one percent tax increase first authorized by chapter seventy-four
of the laws of 2010 into the contingency and tax stabilization reserve
fund.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021: A. 4588 (Paulin) S. 3501 (Mayer) Chapter 109 of 2021
2019: A. 5246 (Buchwald) S. 2669 (Mayer) Chapter 33 of 2019
2017: A. 2930 (Buchwald) S. 2961 (Latimer) Chapter 28 of 2017
2015: A. 222 (Buchwald) S. 723 (Latimer)
2013: A 3883 (Buchwald) S. 3406 (Latimer)
2011 A. 6105 (Paulin) S. 3796 (Oppenheimer)
2009 A. 9965A (Paulin) S. 6868-A (Oppenheimer)
2009 A. 3129 (Bradley) S. 1087 (Oppenheimer)
 
FISCAL IMPLICATION:
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5369
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, BURDICK -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to extending the period during
which the city of White Plains is authorized to impose an additional
sales and compensating use tax
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Clause 3 of subparagraph (ii) of the opening paragraph of
2 section 1210 of the tax law, as amended by chapter 109 of the laws of
3 2021, is amended to read as follows:
4 (3) the city of White Plains is hereby further authorized and
5 empowered to adopt and amend local laws, ordinances or resolutions
6 imposing such taxes at a rate which is: (i) one-half of one percent
7 additional to the three percent rate authorized above in this paragraph
8 for such city for the period beginning September first, nineteen hundred
9 ninety-three and ending August thirty-first, two thousand [twenty-three]
10 twenty-five; and (ii) an additional one-quarter of one percent in addi-
11 tion to the other rates authorized in this paragraph for such city for
12 the period beginning March first, two thousand eight and ending August
13 thirty-first, two thousand [twenty-three] twenty-five; and (iii) an
14 additional one-quarter of one percent in addition to the other rates
15 authorized in this paragraph for such city for the period beginning June
16 first, two thousand ten and ending August thirty-first, two thousand
17 [twenty-three] twenty-five;
18 § 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (d) of section 1210
19 of the tax law or any other provision of law, local law, rule or regu-
20 lation to the contrary, a local law, ordinance or resolution enacted or
21 amended pursuant to the authority of this act, imposing an additional
22 rate of tax in the city of White Plains, shall become effective in
23 accordance with the provisions of subdivision (d) of section 1210 of the
24 tax law, except that the certified copy of such local law, ordinance or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09990-02-3
A. 5369 2
1 resolution which must be mailed by certified or registered mail to the
2 commissioner of taxation and finance at the commissioner's office in
3 Albany must be so mailed at least twenty-one days prior to the date on
4 which such local law, ordinance or resolution is to take effect.
5 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.