Bill Text: NY A04091 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes a real property tax exemption for reservists.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to real property taxation [A04091 Detail]
Download: New_York-2017-A04091-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4091 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 1, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ -- read once and referred to the Committee on Real Property Taxation AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to establishing an exemption for reservists 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 458-c to read as follows: 3 § 458-c. Reservist exemption. 1. The following terms whenever used or 4 referred to in this section shall have the following meanings unless a 5 different meaning clearly appears in the context: 6 (a) "Reservist" means any member of the federal reserve force of the 7 United States military. 8 (b) "Period of war" means the Spanish-American war; the Mexican border 9 period; World War I; World War II; the hostilities, known as the Korean 10 war, which commenced June twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred fifty and 11 terminated on January thirty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-five; the 12 hostilities, known as the Vietnam war, which commenced February twenty- 13 eighth, nineteen hundred sixty-one and terminated on May seventh, nine- 14 teen hundred seventy-five; and the hostilities, known as the Persian 15 Gulf conflict, which commenced August second, nineteen hundred ninety. 16 (c) "Service connected" means, with respect to disability or death, 17 that such disability was incurred or aggravated, or that the death 18 resulted from a disability incurred or aggravated, in line of duty in 19 the active military, naval or air service. 20 (d) "Qualified owner" means a reservist, the spouse of a reservist or 21 the unremarried surviving spouse of a reservist. Where property is owned 22 by more than one qualified owner, the exemption to which each is enti- 23 tled may be combined. Where a reservist is also the unremarried surviv- 24 ing spouse of a reservist or veteran, such person may also receive any 25 exemption to which the deceased spouse was entitled. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08957-01-7A. 4091 2 1 (e) "Qualifying residential real property" means property owned by a 2 qualified owner which is used exclusively for residential purposes; 3 provided however, that in the event any portion of such property is not 4 so used exclusively for residential purposes but is used for other 5 purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining 6 portion only shall be entitled to the exemption provided by this 7 section. Such property must be the primary residence of the reservist or 8 unremarried surviving spouse of the reservist, unless the reservist or 9 unremarried surviving spouse is absent from the property due to medical 10 reasons or institutionalization. In the event the reservist dies and 11 there is no unremarried surviving spouse, "qualifying residential real 12 property" shall mean the primary residence owned by a qualified owner 13 prior to death, provided that the title to the property becomes vested 14 in the dependent father or mother or dependent child or children under 15 twenty-one years of age of a reservist by virtue of devise by or descent 16 from the deceased qualified owner, provided that the property is the 17 primary residence of one or all of the devisees. 18 (f) "Latest state equalization rate" means the latest final state 19 equalization rate or special equalization rate established by the 20 commissioner pursuant to article twelve of this chapter. The commission- 21 er shall establish a special equalization rate if it finds that there 22 has been a material change in the level of assessment since the estab- 23 lishment of the latest state equalization rate, but in no event shall 24 such special equalization rate exceed one hundred. In the event that 25 the state equalization rate exceeds one hundred, then the state equal- 26 ization rate shall be one hundred for the purposes of this section. 27 Where a special equalization rate is established for purposes of this 28 section, the assessor is directed and authorized to recompute the reser- 29 vist exemption on the assessment roll by applying such special equaliza- 30 tion rate instead of the latest state equalization rate applied in the 31 previous year and to make the appropriate corrections on the assessment 32 roll, notwithstanding the fact that such assessor may receive the 33 special equalization rate after the completion, verification and filing 34 of such final assessment roll. In the event that the assessor does not 35 have custody of the roll when such recomputation is accomplished, the 36 assessor shall certify such recomputation to the local officers having 37 custody and control of such roll, and such local officers are hereby 38 directed and authorized to enter the recomputed reservist exemption 39 certified by the assessor on such roll. 40 (g) "Latest class ratio" means the latest final class ratio estab- 41 lished by the commissioner pursuant to title one of article twelve of 42 this chapter for use in a special assessing unit as defined in section 43 eighteen hundred one of this chapter. 44 2. (a) Qualifying residential real property shall be exempt from taxa- 45 tion to the extent of fifteen percent of the assessed value of such 46 property; provided, however, that such exemption shall not exceed twelve 47 thousand dollars or the product of twelve thousand dollars multiplied by 48 the latest state equalization rate for the assessing unit, or in the 49 case of a special assessing unit, the latest class ratio, whichever is 50 less. 51 (b) In addition to the exemption provided by paragraph (a) of this 52 subdivision, where the reservist served in a combat theatre or combat 53 zone of operations, as documented by the award of a United States 54 campaign ribbon or service medal, or the armed forces expeditionary 55 medal, or global war on terrorism expeditionary medal, qualifying resi- 56 dential real property also shall be exempt from taxation to the extentA. 4091 3 1 of ten percent of the assessed value of such property; provided, howev- 2 er, that such exemption shall not exceed eight thousand dollars or the 3 product of eight thousand dollars multiplied by the latest state equal- 4 ization rate for the assessing unit, or in the case of a special assess- 5 ing unit, the class ratio, whichever is less. 6 (c) In addition to the exemptions provided by paragraphs (a) and (b) 7 of this subdivision, where the reservist received a compensation rating 8 from the United States veteran's administration or from the United 9 States department of defense because of a service connected disability, 10 qualifying residential real property shall be exempt from taxation to 11 the extent of the product of the assessed value of such property multi- 12 plied by fifty percent of the reservist's disability rating; provided, 13 however, that such exemption shall not exceed forty thousand dollars or 14 the product of forty thousand dollars multiplied by the latest state 15 equalization rate for the assessing unit, or in the case of a special 16 assessing unit, the latest class ratio, whichever is less. For purposes 17 of this paragraph, where a person who served in the active military, 18 naval or air service during a period of war died in service of a service 19 connected disability, such person shall be deemed to have been assigned 20 a compensation rating of one hundred percent. 21 (d) (i) The exemption from taxation provided by this subdivision shall 22 be applicable to county, city, town and village taxation, but shall not 23 be applicable to taxes levied for school purposes. 24 (ii) Each county, city, town or village may adopt a local law to 25 reduce the maximum exemption allowable in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of 26 this subdivision to nine thousand dollars, six thousand dollars and 27 thirty thousand dollars, respectively, or six thousand dollars, four 28 thousand dollars and twenty thousand dollars, respectively. Each county, 29 city, town, or village is also authorized to adopt a local law to 30 increase the maximum exemption allowable in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) 31 of this subdivision to fifteen thousand dollars, ten thousand dollars 32 and fifty thousand dollars, respectively; eighteen thousand dollars, 33 twelve thousand dollars and sixty thousand dollars, respectively; twen- 34 ty-one thousand dollars, fourteen thousand dollars, and seventy thousand 35 dollars, respectively; twenty-four thousand dollars, sixteen thousand 36 dollars, and eighty thousand dollars, respectively; twenty-seven thou- 37 sand dollars, eighteen thousand dollars, and ninety thousand dollars, 38 respectively; thirty thousand dollars, twenty thousand dollars, and one 39 hundred thousand dollars, respectively; thirty-three thousand dollars, 40 twenty-two thousand dollars, and one hundred ten thousand dollars, 41 respectively; thirty-six thousand dollars, twenty-four thousand dollars, 42 and one hundred twenty thousand dollars, respectively. In addition, a 43 county, city, town or village which is a "high-appreciation munici- 44 pality" as defined in this subparagraph is authorized to adopt a local 45 law to increase the maximum exemption allowable in paragraphs (a), (b) 46 and (c) of this subdivision to thirty-nine thousand dollars, twenty-six 47 thousand dollars, and one hundred thirty thousand dollars, respectively; 48 forty-two thousand dollars, twenty-eight thousand dollars, and one 49 hundred forty thousand dollars, respectively; forty-five thousand 50 dollars, thirty thousand dollars and one hundred fifty thousand dollars, 51 respectively; forty-eight thousand dollars, thirty-two thousand dollars 52 and one hundred sixty thousand dollars, respectively; fifty-one thousand 53 dollars, thirty-four thousand dollars and one hundred seventy thousand 54 dollars, respectively; fifty-four thousand dollars, thirty-six thousand 55 dollars and one hundred eighty thousand dollars, respectively. For 56 purposes of this subparagraph, a "high-appreciation municipality" means:A. 4091 4 1 (A) a special assessing unit that is a city, (B) a county for which the 2 commissioner has established a sales price differential factor for 3 purposes of the STAR exemption authorized by section four hundred twen- 4 ty-five of this title in three consecutive years, and (C) a city, town 5 or village which is wholly or partly located within such a county. 6 3. Application for exemption must be made by the owner, or all of the 7 owners, of the property on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The 8 owner or owners shall file the completed form in the assessor's office 9 on or before the appropriate taxable status date. The exemption shall 10 continue in full force and effect for all appropriate subsequent tax 11 years and the owner or owners of the property shall not be required to 12 refile each year. Applicants shall be required to refile on or before 13 the appropriate taxable status date if the percentage of disability 14 percentage increases or decreases or may refile if other changes have 15 occurred which affect qualification for an increased or decreased amount 16 of exemption. Any applicant convicted of making any willful false state- 17 ment in the application for such exemption shall be subject to the 18 penalties prescribed in the penal law. 19 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other 20 provision of law, in a city having a population of one million or more, 21 applications for the exemption authorized pursuant to this section shall 22 be considered timely filed if they are filed on or before the fifteenth 23 day of March of the appropriate year. 24 5. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, no later 25 than ninety days before the taxable status date next occurring on or 26 after the thirty-first day of December nineteen hundred eighty-four, the 27 governing board of any county, city, town or village may adopt a local 28 law to provide that no exemption shall be granted pursuant to this 29 section for the purposes of taxes levied for such county, city, town or 30 village. For the purposes of a county which is not an assessing unit, 31 the taxable status date next occurring on or after December thirty- 32 first, nineteen hundred eighty-four shall mean the first such taxable 33 status date of any city or town within such county upon the assessment 34 roll of which the county levies taxes. A local law adopted pursuant to 35 this subdivision may be repealed by the governing board of the applica- 36 ble county, city, town or village. Such repeal must occur at least nine- 37 ty days prior to the taxable status date of such county, city, town or 38 village. 39 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 40 provisions of this section shall apply to any real property held in 41 trust solely for the benefit of a person or persons who would otherwise 42 be eligible for a real property tax exemption, pursuant to this section, 43 were such person or persons the owner or owners of such real property. 44 7. (a) For the purposes of this section, title to that portion of real 45 property owned by a cooperative apartment corporation in which a 46 tenant-stockholder of such corporation resides and which is represented 47 by his or her share or shares of stock in such corporation as determined 48 by its or their proportional relationship to the total outstanding stock 49 of the corporation, including that owned by the corporation, shall be 50 deemed to be vested in such tenant-stockholder. 51 (b) Provided that all other eligibility criteria of this section are 52 met, that proportion of the assessment of such real property owned by a 53 cooperative apartment corporation determined by the relationship of such 54 real property vested in such tenant-stockholder to such real property 55 owned by such cooperative apartment corporation in which such tenant- 56 stockholder resides shall be subject to exemption from taxation pursuantA. 4091 5 1 to this section and any exemption so granted shall be credited by the 2 appropriate taxing authority against the assessed valuation of such real 3 property; the reduction in real property taxes realized thereby shall be 4 credited by the cooperative apartment corporation against the amount of 5 such taxes otherwise payable by or chargeable to such tenant-stockhold- 6 er. 7 (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this subdivision, a tenant-stock- 8 holder who resides in a dwelling that is subject to the provisions of 9 either article two, four, five or eleven of the private housing finance 10 law shall not be eligible for an exemption pursuant to this section. 11 (d) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this subdivision, real property 12 owned by a cooperative corporation may be exempt from taxation pursuant 13 to this section by a municipality in which such property is located only 14 if the governing body of such municipality, after public hearing, adopts 15 a local law, ordinance or resolution providing therefor. 16 8. (a) As used in this subdivision, "Gold Star Parent" shall mean the 17 parent of a child who died in the line of duty while serving in the 18 United States armed forces during a period of war. 19 (b) A county, city, town, or village may adopt a local law to include 20 a Gold Star Parent within the definition of "qualified owner", as 21 provided in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of this section, and to 22 include property owned by a Gold Star Parent within the definition of 23 "qualifying residential real property" as provided in paragraph (e) of 24 subdivision one of this section, provided that such property shall be 25 the primary residence of the Gold Star Parent. 26 (c) The additional exemption provided for in paragraph (c) of subdivi- 27 sion two of this section shall not apply to real property owned by a 28 Gold Star Parent. 29 9. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (c) of subdivision two 30 of this section and subdivision three of this section, the governing 31 body of any municipality may, after public hearing, adopt a local law, 32 ordinance or resolution providing that where a reservist, the spouse of 33 the reservist or unremarried surviving spouse already receiving an 34 exemption pursuant to this section sells the property receiving the 35 exemption and purchases property within the same city, town or village, 36 the assessor shall transfer and prorate, for the remainder of the fiscal 37 year, the exemption received. The prorated exemption shall be based upon 38 the date the reservist, the spouse of the reservist or unremarried 39 surviving spouse obtains title to the new property and shall be calcu- 40 lated by multiplying the tax rate or rates for each municipal corpo- 41 ration which levied taxes, or for which taxes were levied, on the appro- 42 priate tax roll used for the fiscal year or years during which the 43 transfer occurred times the previously granted exempt amount times the 44 fraction of each fiscal year or years remaining subsequent to the trans- 45 fer of title. Nothing in this section shall be construed to remove the 46 requirement that any such reservist, the spouse of the reservist or 47 unremarried surviving spouse transferring an exemption pursuant to this 48 subdivision shall reapply for the exemption authorized pursuant to this 49 section on or before the following taxable status date, in the event 50 such reservist, the spouse of the reservist or unremarried surviving 51 spouse wishes to receive the exemption in future fiscal years. 52 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 53 ing the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to 54 assessment rolls prepared on the basis of taxable status dates occurring 55 on or after such date.
