Bill Text: NY S02969 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Enacts the "STAR credit bill of rights"; establishes the office of STAR ombudsman.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-03-15 - referred to ways and means [S02969 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S02969-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2969--A 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 26, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HARCKHAM, HINCHEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Budget and Reven- ue -- recommitted to the Committee on Budget and Revenue in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to enacting the "STAR credit bill of rights" and establishing the office of STAR ombudsman 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 and may be cited as the "STAR cred- 2 it bill of rights". 3 § 2. Subclauses (I), (II) and (III) of clause (i) of subparagraph (B) 4 of paragraph 10 of subsection (eee) of section 606 of the tax law, as 5 amended by section 2 of part TT of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, are 6 amended to read as follows: 7 (I) If the school district tax roll is filed with the commissioner on 8 or before July first, the determination of eligibility shall be made by 9 July fifteenth, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, and the advance 10 payment shall be issued by July thirtieth, or as soon thereafter as is 11 practicable. For each residential taxpayer in such school district that 12 the commissioner determines to be ineligible for a reason other than 13 failing to meet the income and residency requirements for such credit, 14 the commissioner shall notify, in writing, such taxpayer of his or her 15 ineligibility. Such notice mailed to residential taxpayers who are inel- 16 igible for the credit allowed pursuant to this subsection because the 17 primary residence of such a taxpayer received a STAR exemption for the 18 associated fiscal year as set forth in clause (i) of subparagraph (A) of 19 paragraph one of this subsection shall include information on how to 20 switch to the credit program. Such notice shall be mailed to the resi- 21 dential taxpayer and postmarked no later than three days before the 22 date set forth in this subclause. Such notice along with an appeal form EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04359-02-2S. 2969--A 2 1 and a list of all supporting documentation that may be required for such 2 appeal shall be mailed to a residential taxpayer found ineligible for 3 any other reason and postmarked no later than three days before the date 4 set forth in this subclause. 5 (II) If the school district tax roll is filed with the commissioner 6 after July first and on or before September first, the determination of 7 eligibility shall be made by September fifteenth, or as soon thereafter 8 as is practicable, and the advance payment shall be issued by September 9 thirtieth, or as soon thereafter as is practicable. For each residen- 10 tial taxpayer in such school district that the commissioner determines 11 to be ineligible for a reason other than failing to meet the income and 12 residency requirements for such credit, the commissioner shall notify, 13 in writing, such taxpayer of his or her ineligibility. Such notice 14 mailed to residential taxpayers who are ineligible for the credit 15 allowed pursuant to this subsection because the primary residence of 16 such a taxpayer received a STAR exemption for the associated fiscal year 17 as set forth in clause (i) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph one of this 18 subsection shall include information on how to switch to the credit 19 program. Such notice shall be mailed to the residential taxpayer and 20 postmarked no later than three days before the date set forth in this 21 subclause. Such notice along with an appeal form and a list of all 22 supporting documentation that may be required for such appeal shall be 23 mailed to a residential taxpayer found ineligible for any other reason 24 and postmarked no later than three days before the date set forth in 25 this subclause. 26 (III) If the school district tax roll is filed with the commissioner 27 after September first, the determination of eligibility shall be made by 28 the fifteenth day after such filing, or as soon thereafter as is practi- 29 cable, and the advance payment shall be issued by the thirtieth day 30 after such filing, or as soon thereafter as is practicable. For each 31 residential taxpayer in such school district that the commissioner 32 determines to be ineligible for a reason other than failing to meet the 33 income and residency requirements for such credit, the commissioner 34 shall notify, in writing, such taxpayer of his or her ineligibility. 35 Such notice mailed to residential taxpayers who are ineligible for the 36 credit allowed pursuant to this subsection because the primary residence 37 of such a taxpayer received a STAR exemption for the associated fiscal 38 year as set forth in clause (i) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph one of 39 this subsection shall include information on how to switch to the credit 40 program. Such notice shall be mailed to the residential taxpayer and 41 postmarked no later than three days before the date set forth in this 42 subclause. Such notice along with an appeal form and a list of all 43 supporting documentation that may be required for such appeal shall be 44 mailed to a residential taxpayer found ineligible for any other reason 45 and postmarked no later than three days before the date set forth in 46 this subclause. 47 § 3. Subparagraph (B) of paragraph 10 of subsection (eee) of section 48 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new clause (iii) to read as 49 follows: 50 (iii) Any residential taxpayer who receives a notice of ineligibility 51 pursuant to subclause (I), (II) or (III) of clause (i) of this subpara- 52 graph may appeal the determination made by the commissioner that he or 53 she is ineligible to receive such credit. Such appeal shall be in writ- 54 ing, mailed to the commissioner and postmarked no later than thirty days 55 after such taxpayer receives such notice of ineligibility. Such appeal 56 shall be made in a form to be determined by the commissioner, and mayS. 2969--A 3 1 include any supporting documentation the residential taxpayer deems 2 appropriate. Upon receipt of an appeal, the commissioner shall have 3 fifteen days to make a final determination regarding the residential 4 taxpayer's eligibility. Such taxpayer shall be notified of the final 5 determination by the commissioner within three days after such final 6 determination is made. For those residential taxpayers whom the commis- 7 sioner has determined to be eligible for such credit pursuant to such 8 appeal, the commissioner shall advance a payment in the amount specified 9 in paragraph three, four or six of this subsection, whichever is appli- 10 cable. Such payment after appeal shall be subject to interest at the 11 rate prescribed by subparagraph (A) of paragraph two of subsection (j) 12 of section six hundred ninety-seven of this article. 13 § 4. Subsection (eee) of section 606 of the tax law is amended by 14 adding a new paragraph 14 to read as follows: 15 (14) (A) There is hereby established in the department the office of 16 STAR ombudsman. The commissioner shall appoint the director of the 17 office of STAR ombudsman. The director shall report to the commissioner. 18 Persons employed by the office of the ombudsman to act as "ombudsmen" 19 shall be attorneys or shall have expertise in the areas of tax and real 20 estate tax, as evidenced by experience in the field, or by academic 21 background, the level and sufficiency of which shall be determined by 22 the director. 23 (B) The office of STAR ombudsman shall have the following duties: 24 (i) to confirm to taxpayers, receipt of taxpayer inquiries or other 25 communications regarding the credit allowed pursuant to this subsection 26 within twenty-four hours of when such inquiry or communication was 27 received by the department; 28 (ii) to respond to taxpayer inquiries made regarding delays in the 29 processing of advance payments or determinations of eligibility pursuant 30 to this subsection; 31 (iii) to confirm to taxpayers that a department employee is working on 32 his or her inquiry or case regarding the credit allowed pursuant to this 33 subsection; and 34 (iv) to establish a tracking system and utilize case numbers for 35 taxpayer inquiries and cases regarding the credit allowed pursuant to 36 this subsection. Such tracking system shall be made available to the 37 public via the department's website. 38 § 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. Effective immediately, 39 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces- 40 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 41 authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.
