NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A2279A
SPONSOR: Peoples-Stokes
 
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation
to establishing a senior citizen longtime resident exemption in certain
cities
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Authorizes cities having a population of between 250,000 and 300,000 to
establishing a senior citizen longtime resident real property tax
exemption
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill amends the real property tax law by adding a new
section 467-j.
Section 2 of the bill provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
When a neighborhood is determined to be gentrifying, a potential bypro-
duct is the displacement of long-time residents. Higher mortgages and
rents may be cited as a reason for that displacement.
Over the past few years, several major U.S. cities have initiated plans
to reduce or freeze property tax assessments for long-time homeowners in
certain gentrifying neighborhoods. In doing so, the cities aim to
protect low- and middle-income homeowners unable to afford an increase
in property taxes, and thereby slow the churning of these neighborhoods.
Last year, to assess the extent to which gentrification has reshaped
urban communities, Governing analyzed Census tract data for the nation's
50 largest cities. One of its findings from its examinations of these
neighborhoods concluded that nearly 20 percent of neighborhoods with
lower incomes and home values have experienced gentrification since
2000, compared to only 9 percent during the 1990s.*
Cities across the state of New York are experiencing resurgence in
recent years.The City of Buffalo is one example.The growth of the
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus has accelerated exponentially over the
last several years, with nine major institutions and more than 40 public
and private companies expanding in the city of Buffalo.
This expansion has facilitated the investment of over 750 million
dollars into a development covering over 120 acres and employing well
over 12,000 employees. With new development, come new residents. This
growth, however economically beneficial can have some negative conse-
quences upon the adjacent Fruit Belt community. This neighborhood is of
singular importance due to its rich history as one of the City's oldest
neighborhoods developed in the decades before the Civil War. As such,
some of the housing stock has been in families for generations.
The purpose of this legislation is to protect the some of the most
vulnerable of our New Yorkers, its seniors by establishing a longtime
resident real property tax exemption. This will allow senior residents
to enjoy the revitalization of their communities without taxing them out
of it.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.10570 of 2016
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately
* MACIAG, M. (2015, February). Gentrification in America Report.
Retrieved June 1, 2016, from
http://www.governing.com/govdata/census/gentrification-in- cities-go-
verning-report.html
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2279--A
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PEOPLES-STOKES -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Real Property Taxation -- reported and referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means -- reported and referred to the Committee
on Rules -- Rules Committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to establishing a
senior citizen longtime resident exemption in certain cities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The real property tax law is amended by adding a new
2 section 467-k to read as follows:
3 § 467-k. Senior citizen longtime resident exemption. 1. Establishment.
4 Any city with a population greater than two hundred fifty thousand and
5 less than three hundred thousand, as determined by the latest decennial
6 federal census, after conducting a public hearing, may adopt a local law
7 to grant a senior citizen longtime resident exemption pursuant to this
8 section. Once a city has enacted a local law adopting the provisions of
9 this section, the county government in which such city is located may
10 also enact a local law to provide an exemption in the same manner as
11 such city.
12 2. Eligibility. a. No exemption shall be granted pursuant to this
13 section unless:
14 (1) the property is a one-, two- or three-family residential property
15 located within a United States census tract that has a median income not
16 exceeding sixteen thousand fifty-six dollars according to the two thou-
17 sand ten decennial census. A city adopting the provisions of this
18 section may by local law further limit the exemption to specific areas
19 within such city experiencing an increase in property values due to new
20 development occurring therein, which put senior citizen longtime resi-
21 dents at risk of displacement;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD05536-03-7
A. 2279--A 2
1 (2) the property serves as the primary residence of one or more of the
2 owners;
3 (3) all of the owners are at least sixty-five years of age or older,
4 or in the case of property owned by husband and wife or by siblings, one
5 of the owners is at least sixty-five years of age, as of the taxable
6 status date. At the option of the city, which shall be specified in the
7 local law adopting the provisions of this section, any person otherwise
8 qualifying under this section shall not be denied the exemption under
9 this section if he or she becomes sixty-five years of age after the
10 appropriate taxable status date and on or before December thirty-first
11 of the same year;
12 (4) one or more of the owners has owned and resided in the property
13 for no fewer than twenty-five consecutive years; and
14 (5) the total household income does not exceed thirty thousand dollars
15 for the latest preceding income tax year prior to the date of applica-
16 tion for such exemption. The term "income" as used in this section shall
17 mean the "adjusted gross income" for federal income tax purposes as
18 reported on the applicant's federal or state income tax return for the
19 applicable income tax year, subject to any subsequent amendments or
20 revisions, reduced by distributions, to the extent included in federal
21 adjusted gross income, received from an individual retirement account
22 and an individual retirement annuity; provided that if no such return
23 was filed for the applicable income tax year, "income" shall mean the
24 adjusted gross income that would have been so reported if such a return
25 had been filed.
26 3. Calculation of exemption. a. Except as provided in paragraph b of
27 this subdivision, a senior citizen longtime resident shall be exempt
28 from taxation and special ad valorem levies for every year in which the
29 property's current assessment exceeds the "base assessment." For the
30 purposes of this section the "base assessment" shall be the assessment
31 that appeared on the assessment roll immediately preceding the first
32 year in which an exemption was granted pursuant to this section. The
33 assessor shall annually calculate the exemption by subtracting the "base
34 assessment" from the current year's assessment.
35 b. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision,
36 no exemption shall be allowed to the extent that the assessment
37 increased due to one or more of the following events:
38 (1) a physical improvement made to the property;
39 (2) a removal or reduction of an exemption on the eligible taxpayer's
40 primary residence, including a reduction of the STAR exempt amount
41 calculated pursuant to subdivision two of section four hundred twenty-
42 five of this title; or
43 (3) a revaluation that caused the assessment of the eligible taxpay-
44 er's primary residence to increase by a percentage that is less than or
45 equal to the applicable change in level of assessment. As used in this
46 section, the terms "revaluation" and "change in level of assessment"
47 shall have the same meanings as set forth in sections one hundred two
48 and twelve hundred twenty of this chapter, respectively.
49 4. Application for such exemption shall be made annually on a form
50 prescribed by the commissioner. Such application shall be made to the
51 city assessor on or before the taxable status date. No application for
52 such exemption shall be granted unless the eligibility criteria of
53 subdivision two of this section are met.
54 5. In the event that a property granted an exemption pursuant to this
55 section transfers ownership or otherwise ceases to meet the eligibility
56 requirements of the exemption in subdivision two of this section, the
A. 2279--A 3
1 exemption granted pursuant to this section shall be discontinued. Upon
2 determining that an exemption granted pursuant to this section should be
3 discontinued, the assessor shall mail a notice so stating to the owner
4 or owners thereof at the time and in the manner provided by section five
5 hundred ten of this chapter.
6 6. The city assessor shall, on or before December first, mail to each
7 person who was granted an exemption pursuant to this section for the
8 current city fiscal year, an application form for an exemption and a
9 notice that such application must be filed no later than the taxable
10 status date in order for the exemption to be granted or continued. Fail-
11 ure to mail any such application form or notice or the failure of such
12 person or persons to receive the same shall not prevent the levy,
13 collection and enforcement of the payment of the taxes on property owned
14 by such person or persons.
15 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.