Bill Text: NY A00230 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Grants a total exemption from real property taxation for school tax purposes for certain persons seventy-five years of age or over.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to aging [A00230 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A00230-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 230 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 6, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ZEBROWSKI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Aging AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to granting a total exemption from real property taxation for school tax purposes for certain persons seventy-five years of age or over 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-l to read as follows: 3 § 467-l. Persons seventy-five years of age or over. 1. Notwithstand- 4 ing any inconsistent provision of section four hundred sixty-seven of 5 this title or any other provision of law, real property owned by one or 6 more persons each of whom is seventy-five years of age or over, or real 7 property owned by husband and wife or siblings, one of whom is seventy- 8 five years of age or over and the youngest owner is at least sixty-five 9 years of age; such persons have resided in the school district for at 10 least thirty years and do not have any children enrolled in such school 11 district shall be exempt from taxation by any municipal corporation for 12 school purposes, in which located, to the total extent of the assessed 13 valuation thereof provided the governing board of such municipality, 14 after public hearing, adopts a local law, ordinance or resolution 15 providing therefor. 16 2. All of the provisions of section four hundred sixty-seven of this 17 title applicable to the granting of exemptions for general, county, 18 city, town, village, or school purposes insofar as such provisions are 19 not inconsistent with the provisions of this section shall be applicable 20 to the effectuating of the exemption provided in this section. 21 3. (a) To qualify for exemption pursuant to this section, the property 22 must be a one, two or three family residence, a farm dwelling or resi- 23 dential property held in condominium or cooperative form of ownership. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03976-01-1A. 230 2 1 If the property is not an eligible type of property, but a portion of 2 the property is partially used by the owner as a primary residence, that 3 portion which is so used shall be entitled to the exemption provided by 4 this section; provided that in no event shall the exemption exceed the 5 assessed value attributable to that portion. 6 (b) Primary residence. The property must serve as the primary resi- 7 dence of one or more of the owners thereof. 8 (c) Trusts. If legal title to the property is held by one or more 9 trustees, the beneficial owner or owners shall be deemed to own the 10 property for purposes of this subdivision. 11 (d) Farm dwellings not owned by the resident. (i) If legal title to 12 the farm dwelling is held by an S-corporation or by a C-corporation, the 13 exemption shall be granted if the property serves as the primary resi- 14 dence of a shareholder of such corporation. 15 (ii) If the legal title to the farm dwelling is held by a partnership, 16 the exemption shall be granted if the property serves as the primary 17 residence of one or more of the partners. 18 (iii) Any information deemed necessary to establish shareholder or 19 partner status for eligibility purposes shall be considered confidential 20 and exempt from the freedom of information law. 21 4. (a) The combined income of all of the owners, and of any owners' 22 spouses residing on the premises, may not exceed the applicable income 23 standard specified herein. 24 (i) For final assessment rolls to be completed prior to two thousand 25 twenty-one, eligibility for the exemption shall be based upon income for 26 the income tax year immediately preceding the date of making application 27 for the exemption, and the income standard shall be sixty thousand 28 dollars. 29 (ii) For final assessment rolls to be completed in two thousand twen- 30 ty-one, eligibility for the exemption shall be based upon income for the 31 income tax year ending in two thousand nineteen, and the income standard 32 shall be the previously-applicable income standard of sixty thousand 33 dollars increased by the cost-of-living-adjustment percentage for two 34 thousand nineteen. For purposes of this computation, the cost-of-liv- 35 ing-adjustment percentage for two thousand nineteen shall be equal to 36 the "applicable increase percentage" used by the United States commis- 37 sioner of social security to determine monthly social security benefits 38 payable in two thousand nineteen to individuals, as provided by 39 subsection (i) of section four hundred fifteen of title forty-two of the 40 United States code. 41 (iii) For final assessment rolls to be completed in each ensuing year, 42 the applicable income tax year, cost-of-living-adjustment percentage and 43 applicable increase percentage shall all be advanced by one year, and 44 the income standard shall be the previously-applicable income standard 45 increased by the new cost-of-living-adjustment percentage. If there 46 should be a year for which there is no applicable increase percentage 47 due to a general benefit increase as defined by subdivision three of 48 subsection (i) of section four hundred fifteen of title forty-two of the 49 United States code, the applicable increase percentage for purposes of 50 this computation shall be deemed to be the percentage which would have 51 yielded that general benefit increase. 52 (iv) In no case shall an income standard be decreased from one assess- 53 ment roll to the next. 54 (v) If the income standard initially computed for an assessment roll 55 is not exactly equal to a multiple of fifty dollars, it shall be rounded 56 up to the next higher multiple of fifty dollars.A. 230 3 1 (vi) It shall be the responsibility of the commissioner to annually 2 determine all income standards pursuant to this subdivision beginning 3 with final assessment rolls to be completed in two thousand twenty-one, 4 to cause notice thereof to be published in the state register, to 5 disseminate notice thereof to assessors, county directors of real prop- 6 erty tax services, and such other parties as it may deem appropriate, 7 and to post notice thereof on its website. 8 (b) The term "income" as used herein shall mean the "adjusted gross 9 income" for federal income tax purposes as reported on the applicant's 10 federal or state income tax return for the applicable income tax year, 11 subject to any subsequent amendments or revisions, reduced by distrib- 12 utions, to the extent included in federal adjusted gross income, 13 received from an individual retirement account and an individual retire- 14 ment annuity; provided that if no such return was filed for the applica- 15 ble income tax year, "income" shall mean the adjusted gross income that 16 would have been so reported if such a return had been filed. 17 (c) Any information or documentation submitted by the applicant in 18 connection with applications for or renewal of the exemption authorized 19 under this section to verify income, shall be deemed confidential, and 20 the assessor, any municipal officer or municipal employees are prohibit- 21 ed from disclosing any such information, except for any disclosure 22 necessary in the performance of their official duties, and except as 23 authorized by paragraph (e) of this subdivision. Any unauthorized 24 disclosure of such information shall be deemed a violation of section 25 eight hundred five-a of the general municipal law. 26 (d) Effective with applications for the enhanced exemption on final 27 assessment rolls to be completed in two thousand twenty-one, the appli- 28 cation form shall indicate that the owners of the property and any 29 owners' spouses residing on the premises may authorize the assessor to 30 have their income eligibility verified annually thereafter by the state 31 department of taxation and finance, in lieu of furnishing copies of the 32 applicable income tax return or returns with the application. If the 33 owners of the property and any owners' spouses residing on the premises 34 elect to participate in this program, which shall be known as the STAR 35 income verification program, they must furnish their taxpayer identifi- 36 cation numbers in order to facilitate matching with records of the 37 department of taxation and finance. Thereafter, their income eligibility 38 shall be verified annually by the state department of taxation and 39 finance and the assessor shall not request income documentation from 40 them, unless such department advises the assessor through the commis- 41 sioner that they do not satisfy the applicable income eligibility 42 requirements, or that it is unable to determine whether they satisfy 43 those requirements. 44 (e) The assessor shall forward to the commissioner, in the time and 45 manner required by the commissioner, information identifying the persons 46 who have elected to participate in the STAR income verification program. 47 The commissioner shall forward such information to the department of 48 taxation and finance in the manner provided by the agreement executed 49 pursuant to section one hundred seventy-one-k of the tax law, and shall 50 notify the assessor of the response or responses he or she receives from 51 such department pursuant to such agreement. After receiving such 52 response or responses, the assessing authority shall cause notices to be 53 mailed to participants. Information obtained by the commissioner identi- 54 fying such persons, and responses obtained from such department shall be 55 confidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under article six of 56 the public officers law.A. 230 4 1 (f) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (d) and (e) of this 2 subdivision, which establish a STAR income verification program, income 3 documentation must be submitted to the assessor in connection with each 4 of the following: 5 (i) Initial applications for the enhanced STAR exemption; 6 (ii) Renewal applications submitted by a person or persons who have 7 not elected to participate in the STAR income verification program; 8 (iii) Applications that would allow an enhanced exemption to resume 9 after having been discontinued; 10 (iv) Applications submitted by a person or persons who had previously 11 qualified for the enhanced exemption but not in the assessing unit in 12 question; and 13 (v) Applications with respect to which the department of taxation and 14 finance has advised the assessor through the commissioner that it is 15 unable to determine whether a participant or participants in the STAR 16 income verification program satisfy the income eligibility requirements. 17 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to assess- 18 ment rolls prepared on the basis of taxable status dates occurring on or 19 after the first of January next succeeding the date on which this act 20 shall have become a law.
