STATE OF NEW YORK
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10649
IN ASSEMBLY
June 17, 2020
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Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Lavine) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Real Property Taxation
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to authorizing an
exemption for class one capital improvements to residential buildings
and certain new construction in a special assessing unit that is not a
city
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The section heading of section 421-f of the real property
2 tax law, as amended by chapter 590 of the laws of 1994, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 Exemption of capital improvements to residential buildings and certain
5 new construction.
6 § 2. Section 421-f of the real property tax law is amended by adding a
7 new subdivision 1-a to read as follows:
8 1-a. Buildings classified as class one property in section eighteen
9 hundred two of this chapter reconstructed, altered, improved, or newly
10 constructed in a special assessing unit that is not a city shall be
11 exempt from taxation and special ad valorem levies in the same manner
12 and to the same extent as county, town, special district and school
13 district taxes levied on the assessment roll prepared by such special
14 assessing unit. An application shall not be required to receive the
15 exemption.
16 § 3. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 421-f of the real property tax
17 law, as amended by chapter 590 of the laws of 1994, subparagraph (ii) of
18 paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 and subdivision 3 as further amended by
19 subdivision (b) of section 1 of part W of chapter 56 of the laws of
20 2010, are amended to read as follows:
21 2. (a) Such buildings shall be exempt for a period of one year to the
22 extent of one hundred per centum of the increase in assessed value ther-
23 eof attributable to such reconstruction, alteration or improvement, and
24 new construction pursuant to subdivision one-a of this section, and for
25 an additional period of seven years subject to the following:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16543-02-0
A. 10649 2
1 (i) The extent of such exemption shall be decreased by twelve and
2 one-half per centum of the "exemption base" each year during such addi-
3 tional period. The "exemption base" shall be the increase in assessed
4 value as determined in the initial year of the term of the exemption,
5 except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph.
6 (ii) In any year in which a change in level of assessment of fifteen
7 percent or more is certified for a final assessment roll pursuant to the
8 rules of the commissioner, the exemption base shall be multiplied by a
9 fraction, the numerator of which shall be the total assessed value of
10 the parcel on such final assessment roll (after accounting for any phys-
11 ical or quantity changes to the parcel since the immediately preceding
12 assessment roll), and the denominator of which shall be the total
13 assessed value of the parcel on the immediately preceding final assess-
14 ment roll. The result shall be the new exemption base. The exemption
15 shall thereupon be recomputed to take into account the new exemption
16 base, notwithstanding the fact that the assessor receives certification
17 of the change in level of assessment after the completion, verification
18 and filing of the final assessment roll. In the event the assessor does
19 not have custody of the roll when such certification is received, the
20 assessor shall certify the recomputed exemption to the local officers
21 having custody and control of the roll, and such local officers are
22 hereby directed and authorized to enter the recomputed exemption certi-
23 fied by the assessor on the roll. The assessor shall give written notice
24 of such recomputed exemption to the property owner, who may, if he or
25 she believes that the exemption was recomputed incorrectly, apply for a
26 correction in the manner provided by title three of article five of this
27 chapter for the correction of clerical errors.
28 (iii) [Such] Except in a special assessing unit that is not a city,
29 such exemption shall be limited to eighty thousand dollars in increased
30 market value, or such other sum less than eighty thousand dollars, but
31 not less than five thousand dollars as may be provided by the local law
32 or resolution, of the property attributable to such reconstruction,
33 alteration or improvement and any increase in market value greater than
34 such amount shall not be eligible for the exemption pursuant to this
35 section. In a special assessing unit that is not a city, the exemption
36 shall be limited to seven hundred fifty thousand dollars in increased
37 market value. For the purposes of this section, the market value of the
38 reconstruction, alteration or improvement, or new construction as
39 authorized by subdivision one-a of this section, shall be equal to the
40 increased assessed value attributable to such reconstruction, alteration
41 [or], improvement or new construction divided by the class [I] one ratio
42 in a special assessing unit or the most recently established state
43 equalization rate or special equalization rate in the remainder of the
44 state, except where the state equalization rate or special equalization
45 rate equals or exceeds ninety-five percent, in which case the increase
46 in assessed value attributable to such reconstruction, alteration or
47 improvement shall be deemed to equal the market value of such recon-
48 struction, alteration or improvement.
49 (b) [No] Except in a special assessing unit that is not a city, no
50 such exemption shall be granted for reconstruction, alterations or
51 improvements unless:
52 (i) such reconstruction, alteration or improvement was commenced
53 subsequent to the effective date of the local law or resolution adopted
54 pursuant to subdivision one of this section; and
55 (ii) the value of such reconstruction, alteration or improvement
56 exceeds three thousand dollars; and
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1 (iii) the greater portion, as so determined by square footage, of the
2 building reconstructed, altered or improved is at least five years old.
3 (c) For purposes of this section the terms reconstruction, alteration
4 and improvement shall not include ordinary maintenance and repairs.
5 3. [Such] Except in a special assessing unit that is not a city, such
6 exemption shall be granted only upon application by the owner of such
7 building on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The application shall
8 be filed with the assessor of the city, town, village or county having
9 the power to assess property for taxation on or before the appropriate
10 taxable status date of such city, town, village or county. In a special
11 assessing unit that is not a city, the exemption shall be applied based
12 upon that completion of reconstruction, alteration, improvement, or new
13 construction on or before the taxable status date of the special assess-
14 ing unit.
15 § 4. Subdivisions 5, 6 and 7 of section 421-f of the real property tax
16 law, as amended by chapter 590 of the laws of 1994, are amended to read
17 as follows:
18 5. For the purposes of this section, except in a special assessing
19 unit that is not a city, a residential building shall mean any building
20 or structure designed and occupied exclusively for residential purposes
21 by not more than two families.
22 6. In the event that a building granted an exemption pursuant to this
23 section ceases to be used primarily for residential purposes or is no
24 longer classified as class one property in a special assessing unit that
25 is not a city, title thereto is transferred to other than the heirs or
26 distributees of the owner, the exemption granted pursuant to this
27 section shall cease.
28 7. (a) [A] Except for a special assessing unit that is not a city, a
29 county, city, town or village may, by its local law, or school district,
30 by its resolution:
31 (i) reduce the per centum of exemption otherwise allowed pursuant to
32 this section;
33 (ii) limit eligibility for the exemption to those forms of recon-
34 struction, alterations or improvements as are prescribed in such local
35 law or resolution;
36 (iii) provide that the exemption shall be applicable only to those
37 improvements which would otherwise result in an increase in the assessed
38 valuation of the real property but which consist of an addition, remod-
39 eling or modernization to an existing residential structure to prevent
40 physical deterioration of the structure or to comply with applicable
41 building, sanitary, health and/or fire codes.
42 (b) No such local law or resolution shall reduce or repeal an
43 exemption granted pursuant to this section until the expiration of the
44 period for which such exemption was granted.
45 § 5. Applicability. This act shall be applicable beginning with the
46 two thousand twenty -- two thousand twenty-one assessment roll through
47 and including the two thousand twenty-two -- two thousand twenty-three
48 assessment roll.
49 § 6. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part
50 of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to
51 be invalid and after exhaustion of all further judicial review, the
52 judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder thereof,
53 but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, para-
54 graph, section or part of this act directly involved in the controversy
55 in which the judgment shall have been rendered.
56 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.