Bill Text: NY S00716 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides real property tax relief during the COVID-19 state of emergency by waiving interest and penalties for unpaid property taxes where an owner has suffered economic hardship during such emergency.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT [S00716 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S00716-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 716 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 6, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government AN ACT to amend the real property tax law and the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to enacting the coronavirus property tax relief act The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known as the "coronavirus property tax 2 relief act". 3 § 2. For the purposes of this act, "economic hardship due to COVID-19" 4 shall mean any hardship determined by the commissioner of finance of the 5 city of New York to be related to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus 6 COVID-19, including but not limited to a loss of rental income, death or 7 illness due to COVID-19 of an immediate family member or a fellow prop- 8 erty owner which has caused a hardship, loss of employment income due to 9 the place of employment's compliance with government ordered 10 restrictions due to COVID-19, loss of investment income due to the 11 economic contraction caused by COVID-19, or any other qualifying event 12 the commissioner determines to be related to COVID-19. 13 § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 925-a of the real property tax law, as 14 amended by chapter 522 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as 15 follows: 16 2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, during a 17 state disaster emergency as defined by section twenty of the executive 18 law, the governor may, by executive order issued upon the request of the 19 chief executive officer of a county, city, town, village or school 20 district in the affected area, extend by up to twenty-one days the final 21 date for paying taxes without interest or penalty in such county, city, 22 town, village or school district. If such an extension is granted, and 23 any taxes are not paid by the final date so provided, those taxes shall EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD03213-01-1S. 716 2 1 be subject to the same interest and penalties that would have applied if 2 no extension had been granted. Notwithstanding the provisions of this 3 subdivision, the chief executive officer of each locality granted an 4 extension in executive order 202.22 of the year two thousand twenty may 5 choose to waive such interest and penalties if such taxes are not paid 6 by the final date. 7 § 4. Subdivision f of section 11-224 of the administrative code of the 8 city of New York is amended to read as follows: 9 f. If any tax on real estate which shall become due and payable at any 10 time on or after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine, shall remain 11 unpaid in whole or in part on the fifteenth day following the date on 12 which the same shall become due and payable, or if any tax on real 13 estate which became due and payable prior to July first, nineteen 14 hundred seventy-nine shall remain unpaid on that date, the commissioner 15 of finance shall charge, receive and collect interest upon the amount of 16 such tax or such part thereof remaining unpaid, to be calculated, in the 17 case of any tax which shall become due and payable on or after July 18 first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine, from the day on which such tax or 19 such part thereof became due and payable, and in the case of any tax 20 which became due and payable prior to July first, nineteen hundred 21 seventy-nine, from July first, nineteen hundred seventy-nine, to the 22 date of payment at the rate of seven per centum per annum if the annual 23 tax on a parcel is two thousand seven hundred fifty dollars or less, and 24 at the rate of fifteen per centum per annum if the annual tax on a 25 parcel is more than two thousand seven hundred fifty dollars or, irre- 26 spective of the annual tax, if a parcel consists of vacant or unimproved 27 land. Any interest accrued prior to July first, nineteen hundred seven- 28 ty-nine, pursuant to the preceding subdivisions of this section shall be 29 unaffected by the provisions of this subdivision. 30 Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the commissioner of 31 finance shall charge no interest on the tax which remains unpaid, in 32 whole or in part, on the fifteenth day following the date on which the 33 same shall become due and payable, if the owner of the parcel has 34 suffered an economic hardship due to COVID-19, as such term is defined 35 by the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one which amended this 36 subdivision. 37 § 5. Section 11-224.1 of the administrative code of the city of New 38 York is amended by adding a new subdivision (h) to read as follows: 39 (h) The interest described by this section shall not be imposed on any 40 unpaid real property tax if the owner of such property has suffered an 41 economic hardship due to COVID-19, as such term is defined by the chap- 42 ter of the laws of two thousand twenty-one which added this subdivision. 43 § 6. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 44 have become a law. Effective immediately, the commissioner of finance of 45 the city of New York is authorized and directed to promulgate any rule 46 or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on or before 47 such effective date. Any penalty or interest which accrued prior to the 48 effective date of this act which is waived or prohibited pursuant to 49 this act shall be refunded to the property owner.
