STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4733--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 24, 2017
___________
Introduced by Sens. MURPHY, AKSHAR, BROOKS, CARLUCCI, FUNKE, GALLIVAN,
GIANARIS, HELMING, JACOBS, KENNEDY, MARCHIONE, ORTT, PHILLIPS,
RITCHIE, SERINO, SEWARD, STEWART-COUSINS -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local
Government -- recommitted to the Committee on Local Government in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law and the tax law, in relation
to removing references to the school tax relief credit; and to repeal
certain provisions of such laws relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 6 of section 425 of the real
2 property tax law, as amended by section 1 of part A of chapter 60 of the
3 laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) Generally. All owners of the property who primarily reside thereon
5 [and who are not subject to the provisions of subdivision sixteen of
6 this section] must jointly file an application for exemption with the
7 assessor on or before the appropriate taxable status date. Such applica-
8 tion may be filed by mail if it is enclosed in a postpaid envelope prop-
9 erly addressed to the appropriate assessor, deposited in a post office
10 or official depository under the exclusive care of the United States
11 postal service, and postmarked by the United States postal service on or
12 before the applicable taxable status date. Each such application shall
13 be made on a form prescribed by the commissioner, which shall require
14 the applicant or applicants to agree to notify the assessor if their
15 primary residence changes while their property is receiving the
16 exemption. The assessor may request that proof of residency be submitted
17 with the application. If the applicant requests a receipt from the
18 assessor as proof of submission of the application, the assessor shall
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09835-07-8
S. 4733--A 2
1 provide such receipt. If such request is made by other than personal
2 request, the applicant shall provide the assessor with a self-addressed
3 postpaid envelope in which to mail the receipt.
4 § 2. Subdivision 16 of section 425 of the real property tax law is
5 REPEALED.
6 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 496 of the real property tax law, as
7 amended by section 3 of part A of chapter 60 of the laws of 2016, is
8 amended to read as follows:
9 2. An application to renounce an exemption shall be made on a form
10 prescribed by the commissioner and shall be filed with the county direc-
11 tor of real property tax services no later than ten years after the levy
12 of taxes upon the assessment roll on which the renounced exemption
13 appears. The county director, after consulting with the assessor as
14 appropriate, shall compute the total amount owed on account of the
15 renounced exemption as follows:
16 (a) For each assessment roll on which the renounced exemption appears,
17 the assessed value that was exempted shall be multiplied by the tax rate
18 or rates that were applied to that assessment roll. Interest shall then
19 be added to each such product at the rate prescribed by section nine
20 hundred twenty-four-a of this chapter or such other law as may be appli-
21 cable for each month or portion thereon since the levy of taxes upon
22 such assessment roll.
23 (b) The sum of the calculations made pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
24 subdivision with respect to all of the assessment rolls in question
25 shall be determined.
26 (c) A processing fee of five hundred dollars shall be added to the sum
27 determined pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision[, unless the
28 provisions of paragraph (d) of this subdivision are applicable.
29 (d) If the applicant is renouncing a STAR exemption in order to quali-
30 fy for the personal income tax credit authorized by subsection (eee) of
31 section six hundred six of the tax law, and no other exemptions are
32 being renounced on the same application, no processing fee shall be
33 applicable].
34 § 4. Subdivision 6 of section 1306-a of the real property tax law is
35 REPEALED.
36 § 5. Subparagraph (A) of paragraph 3 of subsection (eee) of section
37 606 of the tax law, as amended by section 8 of part A of chapter 73 of
38 the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
39 (A) [Beginning with] For the taxable [years after] years two thousand
40 [fifteen] sixteen and two thousand seventeen, a basic STAR credit shall
41 be available to a qualified taxpayer if the affiliated income of the
42 parcel that serves as the taxpayer's primary residence is less than or
43 equal to five hundred thousand dollars.
44 § 6. The opening paragraph of subparagraph (A) of paragraph 4 of
45 subsection (eee) of section 606 of the tax law, as amended by section 8
46 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as
47 follows:
48 [Beginning with] For the taxable [years after] years two thousand
49 [fifteen] sixteen and two thousand seventeen, an enhanced STAR credit
50 shall be available to a qualified taxpayer where both of the following
51 conditions are satisfied:
52 § 7. Clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph 10 of subsection
53 (eee) of section 606 of the tax law is REPEALED.
54 § 8. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 11 of section 425 of the real prop-
55 erty tax law, as amended by section 3 of part A of chapter 73 of the
56 laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
S. 4733--A 3
1 (c) Transfers of title. When the assessor has received a report pursu-
2 ant to section five hundred seventy-four of this chapter of a transfer
3 of title to real property which is exempt pursuant to this section, the
4 assessor shall [discontinue the exemption as required by subdivision
5 sixteen of this section] send the new owner or owners as shown thereon
6 an application for the exemption authorized by this section. The asses-
7 sor shall not implement the provisions of section five hundred twenty of
8 this chapter upon such a transfer, except to the extent that the proper-
9 ty may also be receiving one or more other exemptions.
10 § 9. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 6 of section 425 of the real proper-
11 ty tax law, as amended by section 4 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws
12 of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
13 (c) Senior citizens exemption. When property is eligible for the
14 senior citizens exemption authorized by section four hundred sixty-seven
15 of this [article] title, it shall also be deemed to be eligible for the
16 enhanced exemption authorized by this section for certain senior citi-
17 zens, provided, where applicable, that the age requirement established
18 by a municipal corporation pursuant to subdivision five of section four
19 hundred sixty-seven of this [article] title is satisfied, and no sepa-
20 rate application need be filed therefor. [Provided, however, that the
21 provisions of this paragraph shall only apply where at least one of the
22 applicants held title to the property on the taxable status date of the
23 assessment roll that was used to levy school district taxes for the two
24 thousand fifteen--two thousand sixteen school year and the property was
25 granted an exemption pursuant to this section on such assessment roll.]
26 § 10. Implementation for the 2018--2019 school year. The commissioner
27 of taxation and finance shall assist localities in notifying the public
28 of the provisions of this act and any action required by taxpayers to
29 receive a STAR exemption for the 2018--2019 school year. Notwithstand-
30 ing subdivision 6 of section 425 of the real property tax law, for
31 assessment rolls used to levy school district taxes for the 2018--2019
32 school year, an application for an exemption under section 425 of the
33 real property tax law shall be filed with the local assessor by the last
34 date on which a petition with respect to complaints of assessment may be
35 filed or not later than the sixtieth day after the effective date of
36 this act, whichever is later. The assessor shall approve or deny such
37 application as if it had been filed on or before the taxable status
38 date. If the assessor determines that the property is eligible for the
39 exemption, the assessor shall thereupon be authorized and directed to
40 correct the assessment roll accordingly, or, if another person has
41 custody or control of the assessment roll, to direct that person to make
42 the appropriate corrections. If the correction is not made before school
43 taxes are levied, the failure to take the exemption into account in the
44 computation of the tax shall be deemed a "clerical error" for purposes
45 of title 3 of article 5 of the real property tax law, or any comparable
46 laws governing the correction of administrative errors on assessment
47 rolls and tax rolls, and shall be corrected accordingly.
48 Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
49 commissioner of taxation and finance shall immediately notify local
50 assessors of the name and address of any taxpayer within their assessing
51 unit who qualified for the school tax relief (STAR) credit pursuant to
52 subsection (eee) of section 606 of the tax law for taxable year 2017, or
53 has applied for a credit for taxable year 2018 and any additional infor-
54 mation available that would assist the assessor in accurately determin-
55 ing the property's eligibility for the STAR exemption pursuant to
56 section 425 of the real property tax law. To the extent possible, the
S. 4733--A 4
1 local assessor shall determine the eligibility of the property for the
2 2018--2019 school year using information provided by the commissioner of
3 taxation and finance. Taxpayers who applied with the department of
4 taxation and finance for the STAR credit for the 2018--2019 school year
5 or received the STAR credit for the 2017--2018 school year, shall not be
6 required to file an application for an exemption in order to receive an
7 exemption on the same property for the 2018--2019 school year; however,
8 if a property's eligibility cannot be determined by using information
9 supplied by the department of taxation and finance, the assessor may
10 seek additional documentation from the taxpayer to prove his or her
11 eligibility. Such taxpayer shall have until the last date on which a
12 petition, with respect to complaints of assessment may be filed, to
13 supply proof of eligibility, or thirty days of such request, whichever
14 is later. The assessor shall mail notice of his or her determination to
15 such owner. If the assessor determines that the property is eligible for
16 the exemption, the assessor shall thereupon be authorized and directed
17 to correct the assessment roll accordingly, or, if another person has
18 custody or control of the assessment roll, to direct that person to make
19 the appropriate corrections. If the correction is not made before school
20 taxes are levied, the failure to take the exemption into account in the
21 computation of the tax shall be deemed a "clerical error" for purposes
22 of title 3 of article 5 of the real property tax law, or any comparable
23 laws governing the correction of administrative errors on assessment
24 rolls and tax rolls, and shall be corrected accordingly. Nothing within
25 this act shall preclude a taxpayer from seeking administrative and judi-
26 cial review of an assessor's denial of the exemption.
27 § 11. This act shall take effect immediately.
