Bill Text: NY S04362 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes a real property tax exemption for persons sixty years of age or over with an annual household income not exceeding $100,000; directs the state to reimburse municipalities for lost revenues.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT [S04362 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S04362-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4362 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 3, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MARTUCCI -- 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, in relation to establishing a real property tax exemption for certain persons sixty years of age and 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 461 to read as follows: 3 § 461. Persons sixty years of age and over. 1. (a) Real property owned 4 by one or more persons, each of whom is sixty years of age or over, or 5 real property owned by husband and wife, one of whom is sixty years of 6 age or over with an annual household income not exceeding one hundred 7 thousand dollars, shall be exempt from taxation by any municipal corpo- 8 ration in which located to the extent provided pursuant to paragraph (b) 9 of this subdivision. 10 (b) The exemption provided by this section shall be one hundred 11 percent of the assessed valuation for assessment rolls prepared on the 12 basis of taxable status dates occurring during the year two thousand 13 twenty-one and thereafter. 14 (c) The real property tax exemption on real property owned by husband 15 and wife, one of whom is sixty years of age or over, once granted, shall 16 not be rescinded by any municipal corporation solely because of the 17 death of the older spouse so long as the surviving spouse is at least 18 sixty years of age. 19 2. Exemption from taxation for school purposes shall not be granted 20 in the case of real property where a child resides if such child attends 21 a public school of elementary or secondary education. 22 3. No exemption shall be granted: 23 (a) unless the owner shall have held an exemption under this section 24 for his or her previous residence or unless the title of the property EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06633-02-1S. 4362 2 1 shall have been vested in the owner or one of the owners of the property 2 for at least twelve consecutive months prior to the date of making 3 application for exemption, provided, however, that in the event of the 4 death of either a husband or wife in whose name title of the property 5 shall have been vested at the time of death and then becomes vested 6 solely in the survivor by virtue of devise by or descent from the 7 deceased husband or wife, the time of ownership of the property by the 8 deceased husband or wife shall be deemed also a time of ownership by the 9 survivor and such ownership shall be deemed continuous for the purposes 10 of computing such period of twelve consecutive months. In the event of a 11 transfer by either a husband or wife to the other spouse of all or part 12 of the title to the property, the time of ownership of the property by 13 the transferor spouse shall be deemed also a time of ownership by the 14 transferee spouse and such ownership shall be deemed continuous for the 15 purposes of computing such period of twelve consecutive months. Where 16 property of the owner or owners has been acquired to replace property 17 formerly owned by such owner or owners and taken by eminent domain or 18 other involuntary proceeding, except a tax sale, the period of ownership 19 of the former property shall be combined with the period of ownership of 20 the property for which application is made for exemption and such peri- 21 ods of ownership shall be deemed to be consecutive for purposes of this 22 section. Where a residence is sold and replaced with another within one 23 year and both residences are within the state, the period of ownership 24 of both properties shall be deemed consecutive for purposes of the 25 exemption from taxation by a municipality. Where the owner or owners 26 transfer title to property which as of the date of transfer was exempt 27 from taxation under the provisions of this section, the reacquisition of 28 title by such owner or owners within nine months of the date of transfer 29 shall be deemed to satisfy the requirement of this paragraph that the 30 title of the property shall have been vested in the owner or one of the 31 owners for such period of twelve consecutive months. Where, upon or 32 subsequent to the death of an owner or owners, title to property which 33 as of the date of such death was exempt from taxation under such 34 provisions, becomes vested, by virtue of devise or descent from the 35 deceased owner or owners, or by transfer by any other means within nine 36 months after such death, solely in a person or persons who, at the time 37 of such death, maintained such property as a primary residence, the 38 requirement of this paragraph that the title of the property shall have 39 been vested in the owner or one of the owners for such period of twelve 40 consecutive months shall be deemed satisfied; 41 (b) unless the property is used exclusively for residential purposes, 42 provided, however, that in the event any portion of such property is not 43 so used exclusively for residential purposes but is used for other 44 purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining 45 portion only shall be entitled to the exemption provided by this 46 section; 47 (c) unless the real property is the legal residence of and is occupied 48 in whole or in part by the owner or by all of the owners of the proper- 49 ty: except where, (i) an owner is absent from the residence while 50 receiving health-related care as an inpatient of a residential health 51 care facility, as defined in section twenty-eight hundred one of the 52 public health law, provided that any income accruing to that person 53 shall only be income only to the extent that it exceeds the amount paid 54 by such owner, spouse, or co-owner for care in the facility, and 55 provided further, that during such confinement such property is not 56 occupied by other than the spouse or co-owner of such owner; or, (ii)S. 4362 3 1 the real property is owned by a husband and/or wife, or an ex-husband 2 and/or an ex-wife, and either is absent from the residence due to 3 divorce, legal separation or abandonment and all other provisions of 4 this section are met provided that where an exemption was previously 5 granted when both resided on the property, then the person remaining on 6 the real property shall be seventy years of age or over. 7 4. (a) For the purposes of this section, title to that portion of real 8 property owned by a cooperative apartment corporation in which a 9 tenant-stockholder of such corporation resides and which is represented 10 by his share or shares of stock in such corporation as determined by its 11 or their proportional relationship to the total outstanding stock of the 12 corporation, including that owned by the corporation, shall be deemed to 13 be vested in such tenant-stockholder. 14 (b) That proportion of the assessment of such real property owned by a 15 cooperative apartment corporation determined by the relationship of such 16 real property vested in such tenant-stockholder to such entire parcel 17 and the buildings thereon owned by such cooperative apartment corpo- 18 ration in which such tenant-stockholder resides shall be subject to 19 exemption from taxation pursuant to this section and any exemption so 20 granted shall be credited by the appropriate taxing authority against 21 the assessed valuation of such real property; the reduction in real 22 property taxes realized thereby shall be credited by the cooperative 23 apartment corporation against the amount of such taxes otherwise payable 24 by or chargeable to such tenant-stockholder. 25 5. Every municipal corporation in which such real property is located 26 shall notify, or cause to be notified, each person owning residential 27 real property in such municipal corporation of the provisions of this 28 section. The provisions of this subdivision may be met by a notice or 29 legend sent on or with each tax bill to such persons reading "You may be 30 eligible for tax exemptions for persons sixty years of age and over. 31 Such persons have until month.........., day......., year......, to 32 apply for such exemptions. For information please call or write....", 33 followed by the name, telephone number and/or address of a person or 34 department selected by the municipal corporation to explain the 35 provisions of this section. Each cooperative apartment corporation shall 36 notify each tenant-stockholder thereof in residence of such provisions 37 as set forth in this subdivision. Failure to notify, or cause to be 38 notified any person who is in fact, eligible to receive the exemption 39 provided by this section or the failure of such person to receive the 40 same shall not prevent the levy, collection and enforcement of the 41 payment of the taxes on property owned by such person. 42 6. Application for such exemption shall be made by the owner, or all 43 of the owners of the property, on forms prescribed by the commission to 44 be furnished by the appropriate assessing authority and shall furnish 45 the information and be executed in the manner required or prescribed in 46 such forms, and shall be filed in such assessor's office on or before 47 the appropriate taxable status date. Notwithstanding any other provision 48 of law, any person otherwise qualifying under this section shall not be 49 denied the exemption under this section if he or she becomes sixty years 50 of age after the appropriate taxable status date and on or before Decem- 51 ber thirty-first of the same year. 52 7. An application for such exemption may be filed with the assessor 53 after the appropriate taxable status date but not later than the last 54 date on which a petition with respect to complaints of assessment may be 55 filed, where failure to file a timely application resulted from: (a) a 56 death of the applicant's spouse, child, parent, brother or sister; orS. 4362 4 1 (b) an illness of the applicant or of the applicant's spouse, child, 2 parent, brother or sister, which actually prevents the applicant from 3 filing on a timely basis, as certified by a licensed physician. The 4 assessor shall approve or deny such application as if it had been filed 5 on or before the taxable status date. 6 8. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other 7 provision of law, a county with an annual taxable status date of January 8 first or January second and with a population of one million or more, 9 may, at its option and by amendment or adoption of a local law or ordi- 10 nance, authorize its assessor to accept applications for the exemption 11 from real property taxes authorized pursuant to this section on a date 12 later than such county's statutory deadline date for receiving applica- 13 tions for such exemption. Any application filed later than such statuto- 14 ry deadline date which is in compliance with such local law or ordinance 15 amended or adopted pursuant to this subdivision and which meets all 16 other necessary requirements for granting the exemption authorized by 17 this section shall be deemed to have been timely filed prior to such 18 statutory deadline date, and any individual or individuals for whom such 19 an application has been filed shall be granted such exemption and shall 20 receive such exemption on the assessment rolls prepared for such county 21 on the basis of the taxable status date immediately preceding the date 22 such application was filed. 23 9. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other 24 provision of law, in a city having a population of one million or more, 25 applications for the exemption authorized pursuant to this section shall 26 be considered timely filed if they are filed on or before the fifteenth 27 day of March of the appropriate year. 28 10. (a) The exemption granted pursuant to this section shall remain in 29 effect until discontinued in the manner provided in this section. 30 (b) The assessor shall discontinue any exemption granted pursuant to 31 this section if it appears that: (i) the property may not be the primary 32 residence of the owner or owners who applied for the exemption, (ii) 33 title to the property has been transferred to a new owner or owners, 34 (iii) the owners fail to satisfy the income limitations, or (iv) the 35 property otherwise may no longer be eligible for the exemption. 36 (c) Upon determining that an exemption granted pursuant to this 37 section should be discontinued, the assessor shall mail a notice so 38 stating to the owner or owners thereof at the time and in the manner 39 provided by section five hundred ten of this chapter. Such owner or 40 owners shall be entitled to seek administrative and judicial review of 41 such action in the manner provided by law, provided, that the burden 42 shall be on such owner or owners to establish eligibility for the 43 exemption. 44 11. Any conviction of having made any wilful false statement in the 45 application for such exemption, shall be punishable by a fine of not 46 more than one hundred dollars and shall disqualify the applicant or 47 applicants from further exemption for a period of five years. 48 12. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 49 provisions of this section shall apply to real property in which a 50 person or persons hold a legal life estate or which is held in trust 51 solely for the benefit of a person or persons if such person or persons 52 would otherwise be eligible for a real property tax exemption, pursuant 53 to subdivision one of this section, were such person or persons the 54 owner or owners of such real property. 55 § 2. The state shall reimburse municipalities for all revenue lost as 56 a result of real property tax exemptions granted pursuant to section 461S. 4362 5 1 of the real property tax law as added by this act. The comptroller shall 2 provide an application procedure and promulgate rules and regulations 3 for the processing of claims by municipalities. 4 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.