Bill Text: NY S04751 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes the enactment of local laws requiring residency in cities with a population of one million or more for members of the police force appointed to such positions; provides increased salaries for certain police officers who are residents of certain cities; provides additional credits on competitive exams for original appointment of police officers, tax credits, real property tax credits and student loan forgiveness based upon residency in certain cities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS [S04751 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S04751-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4751 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 10, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sens. PARKER, BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Government Operations AN ACT to amend the public officers law, the general municipal law and the civil service law, in relation to residency requirements, salary, and civil service exam credits for police officers in certain cities; to amend the tax law and the real property tax law, in relation to establishing certain tax credits for resident police officers; and to amend the education law, in relation to the police officer loan forgiveness program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 3 of the public officers law is amended by adding a 2 new subdivision 71 to read as follows: 3 71. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision two of this section, 4 a city with a population of one million or more shall have the authority 5 to enact a local law subsequent to the effective date of this subdivi- 6 sion requiring any person who is appointed as a member of the police 7 force of such city to be a resident of such a city during his or her 8 employment as a police officer; provided however, that nothing in this 9 subdivision shall authorize such local law to affect any person who 10 entered such city service as a police officer prior to thirty days 11 subsequent to the date of enactment of the local law. 12 § 2. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section 13 207-r to read as follows: 14 § 207-r. Salaries of police officers who are residents of certain 15 cities. A city with a population of one hundred thousand or more is 16 hereby authorized to adopt a local law to provide that the salary of a 17 police officer of such city who is a resident thereof shall be increased 18 by an amount of five percent or more of such officer's base salary. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09215-01-1S. 4751 2 1 § 3. Section 58 of the civil service law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 7 to read as follows: 3 7. (a) A city with a population of one hundred thousand or more is 4 authorized to adopt a local law which would grant residents of such city 5 additional credits in competitive examinations for original appointment 6 as a police officer pursuant to this section. 7 (b) In the event of the enactment of a local law pursuant to paragraph 8 (a) of this subdivision, on an eligible list resulting from a compet- 9 itive examination for original appointment as a police officer, the 10 names of eligibles shall be entered in the order of their respective 11 final earned ratings on examination, with the name of the eligible with 12 the highest final earned rating at the head of such list, provided 13 however, that for the purposes of determining final earned ratings, a 14 person who is a resident of such city shall be entitled to receive five 15 points additional credit. Such additional credit shall be added to the 16 final earned rating after such person has qualified in the competitive 17 examination and shall be granted only at the time of establishment of 18 the resulting eligible list. 19 (c) Any candidate who believes that he or she is entitled to addi- 20 tional credit as provided herein, may make an application for such addi- 21 tional credit at any time between the date of application for the exam- 22 ination and the date of the establishment of the eligible list. Such 23 candidate shall provide appropriate documentary proof of residency as 24 required by such city of residency. 25 (d) The additional credit provided by this section shall be in addi- 26 tion to any additional credit that may be granted pursuant to any gener- 27 al, special or local law. 28 (e) Any local law adopted pursuant to this section shall be applicable 29 only to competitive examinations for original appointment as a police 30 officer of such city which are held at least thirty days after the 31 adoption of such local law. 32 § 4. Section 1310 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection 33 (g) to read as follows: 34 (g) Resident police officer credit. (1) Notwithstanding any other 35 provision of law to the contrary, any city imposing a tax under this 36 article is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend local laws 37 for any taxable year beginning after two thousand twenty-one, as speci- 38 fied in such local laws, providing for a resident police officer credit 39 to be allowed as provided for in paragraphs two and three of this 40 subsection. 41 (2) The credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to 42 the authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits 43 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced, 44 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a 45 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without 46 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer. 47 (3) The credit shall be equal to five hundred dollars multiplied by a 48 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa- 49 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a city 50 resident and the denominator of which is the number of days in such 51 taxable year. 52 § 5. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 1330-a to read as 53 follows: 54 § 1330-a. Resident police officer credit. (a) Notwithstanding any 55 other provision of law to the contrary, any city imposing a tax under 56 this article is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend localS. 4751 3 1 laws for any taxable year beginning after two thousand twenty-one, as 2 specified in such local laws, providing for a resident police officer 3 credit to be allowed as provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of this 4 section. 5 (b) The credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to 6 the authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits 7 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced, 8 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a 9 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without 10 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer. 11 (c) The credit shall be equal to one hundred dollars multiplied by a 12 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa- 13 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a city 14 resident and the denominator of which is the number of days in such 15 taxable year. 16 § 6. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection 17 (p-1) to read as follows: 18 (p-1) Resident police officer credit. (1) A resident police officer 19 credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to the 20 authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits 21 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced, 22 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a 23 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without 24 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer. 25 (2) The credit shall be equal to five hundred dollars multiplied by a 26 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa- 27 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a resi- 28 dent of a city which, if authorized to, is providing a real property tax 29 exemption pursuant to section four hundred sixty-six-k of the real prop- 30 erty tax law and which, if authorized by this chapter to impose a tax 31 upon the personal income of residents, is providing a tax credit pursu- 32 ant to subsection (g) of section thirteen hundred ten of this chapter or 33 section thirteen hundred thirty-a of this chapter and the denominator of 34 which is the number of days in such taxable year. 35 § 7. The real property tax law is amended by adding a new section 36 466-k to read as follows: 37 § 466-k. Resident police officer credit. 1. Real property, in a city 38 with a population of over one hundred thousand, owned by a resident 39 police officer or such officer and spouse shall be exempt from taxation 40 for city purposes to the extent of ten thousand dollars multiplied by 41 the latest state equalization rate for the assessing unit in which such 42 real property is located; provided that the governing body of such city, 43 after a public hearing, adopts a local law, ordinance or resolution 44 providing therefor. 45 2. Such exemption shall not be granted unless: 46 (a) the applicant resides in the city where he or she serves as a 47 police officer; (b) the property is the primary residence of the appli- 48 cant; (c) the property is used exclusively for residential purposes; 49 provided however, that in the event any portion of such property is not 50 used exclusively for the applicant's residence but is used for other 51 purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining 52 portion only shall be entitled to the exemption provided by this 53 section; and (d) the applicant has been certified by such city as a 54 police officer.S. 4751 4 1 3. Application for such exemption shall be filed with the assessor on 2 or before the taxable status date on a form as prescribed by the commis- 3 sioner. 4 4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any city with a 5 population of one million or more. 6 § 8. The education law is amended by adding a new section 677-b to 7 read as follows: 8 § 677-b. Police officer loan forgiveness program. 1. Certification. 9 Police officer loan forgiveness awards shall be awarded each year. Such 10 awards shall be allocated as provided in this section to eligible police 11 officers as certified to the commissioner by the president. 12 2. Eligibility. A police officer shall be eligible for an award under 13 this section provided that (i) such person resides in a city with a 14 population of one hundred thousand or more which has enacted a local law 15 providing for such police officer loan forgiveness program, (ii) such 16 police officer is employed in such city as a police officer, and (iii) 17 such police officer incurred student loan expense while attending either 18 the city or state university of the state of New York. 19 3. Duration. Each award shall entitle the recipient to an annual award 20 and a recipient shall be eligible for no more than a total of two thou- 21 sand dollars a year for a maximum of six years. 22 4. Calculation of award amounts. The commissioner shall be responsible 23 for calculating the dollar amount of each award that eligible candidates 24 may receive from this program. 25 5. Student loan expense. Student loan expense shall mean the cumula- 26 tive total of the annual student loans covering the cost of attendance 27 at either the city or state university of the state of New York which 28 are outstanding when application for such program is made pursuant to 29 subdivision six of this section. Interest paid or due on such student 30 loans that an applicant has taken out for use in paying for such educa- 31 tion shall be considered eligible for reimbursement under this program. 32 6. Application. Application shall be made to the commissioner in a 33 manner prescribed by the commissioner. 34 7. Award disbursement. Annual award disbursements shall be the respon- 35 sibility of the commissioner. The commissioner shall forward approved 36 applications to the president no later than ninety days after receipt of 37 such applications. Within forty-five days, the president shall verify 38 the approved applicants' eligibility and total student loan expense. 39 8. Notification. The president shall notify the commissioner of the 40 award entitlement for each approved applicant pursuant to the verifica- 41 tion performed in subdivision seven of this section. 42 § 9. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that section 43 seven of this act shall take effect on the first of January next 44 succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply 45 to taxable status dates occurring on or after such date.
