STATE OF NEW YORK
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5254--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 18, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sens. BRESLIN, MAY -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to the residen-
tial-commercial urban exemption program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 485-a of the real property tax law, as amended by
2 chapter 632 of the laws of 2004, subdivision 5 as further amended by
3 subdivision (b) of section 1 of part W of chapter 56 of the laws of
4 2010, is amended to read as follows:
5 § 485-a. Residential-commercial urban exemption program. 1. Defi-
6 nitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the
7 following meanings:
8 (a) "Municipality" means any town, city or village except for a city
9 having more than one million inhabitants.
10 (b) "Applicant" means any person obligated to pay real property taxes
11 on the property for which an exemption from real property taxes under
12 this section is sought.
13 (c) "Commercial construction work" means the modernization, rehabili-
14 tation, expansion or other improvement of the portion of mixed-use prop-
15 erty to be used for commercial purposes.
16 (d) "Commercial purpose or use" means the buying, selling or otherwise
17 providing of goods or services directly to the public, including hotel
18 services, [or other lawful business or commercial activities permitted
19 in mixed-use property] retail stores, office space, restaurants, bars,
20 gyms, theaters, and cafes.
21 (e) "Mixed-use property" means property on which will exist, after
22 completion of residential construction work or a combination of residen-
23 tial construction work and commercial construction work, a building or
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06087-02-9
S. 5254--A 2
1 structure used for both residential and commercial purposes of which,
2 at least fifty percent of the building or structure's square footage is
3 devoted to residential purposes or use and at least fifteen percent of
4 the building or structure's square footage is devoted to commercial
5 purposes or use. Only square footage existing in a story above grade
6 shall be used in the determination of the building's percentage of resi-
7 dential purposes or use and commercial purposes or use.
8 (f) "Person" means an individual, corporation, limited liability
9 company, partnership, association, agency, trust, estate, foreign or
10 domestic government or subdivision thereof, or other entity.
11 (g) "Residential construction work" means the creation, modernization,
12 rehabilitation, expansion or other improvement of dwelling units, other
13 than dwelling units in a hotel, in the portion of mixed-use property to
14 be used for residential purposes.
15 (h) "Floor area" means the horizontal areas of the several floors or
16 any portion thereof of a mixed-use property measured from the exterior
17 faces of exterior walls or from the center line of party walls, exclu-
18 sive of any area existing below-grade.
19 (i) "Story above grade" means any story having its finished floor
20 surface entirely above grade.
21 (j) "Grade" shall mean the finished ground level adjoining the build-
22 ing at all exterior walls.
23 2. Any municipality may, by local law, provide for the exemption of
24 real property from taxation as provided in this section. Upon the
25 adoption of such a local law, the county in which such municipality is
26 located may, by local law, and any school district, all or part of which
27 is located in such municipality, may, by resolution, exempt such proper-
28 ty from its taxation in the same manner and to the same extent as such
29 municipality has done.
30 3. Upon the adoption of such a local law, non-residential real proper-
31 ty, upon conversion to mixed-use property, shall be exempt from taxation
32 and special ad valorem levies as provided for in subdivision four of
33 this section. Land which was vacant prior to the residential or commer-
34 cial construction work for which a tax exemption is sought, shall not be
35 eligible to receive benefits pursuant to this section.
36 4. (a) (i) For a period of twelve years from the approval of an appli-
37 cation, the increase in assessed value of such property attributable to
38 such conversion shall be exempt as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this
39 paragraph. Such exemption shall be computed with respect to the
40 "exemption base". The exemption base shall be determined for each year
41 in which there is an increase in assessed value so attributable from
42 that of the previous year's assessed value.
43 (ii) The following table shall illustrate the computation of the tax
44 exemption:
45 Year of exemption Percentage of exemption
46 1 through 8 100% of exemption base
47 9 80% of exemption base
48 10 60% of exemption base
49 11 40% of exemption base
50 12 20% of exemption base
51 (b) No such exemption shall be granted unless
52 (i) such conversion was commenced subsequent to the date on which the
53 municipality's local law took effect; [and]
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1 (ii) the cost of such conversion exceeds the sum of ten thousand
2 dollars or such greater amount as may be specified by local law[.];
3 (iii) at least seventy-five percent of the floor area of the mixed-use
4 property consists of the pre-existing building or structure;
5 (iv) the portion of the building used for commercial purposes is
6 currently, as demonstrated by documentation submitted by the applicant,
7 used as such or is in good faith contemplated.
8 (c) For purposes of this section the term conversion shall not include
9 ordinary maintenance and repairs.
10 (d) No such exemption shall be granted concurrent with or subsequent
11 to any other real property tax exemption granted to the same improve-
12 ments to real property, except, where during the period of such previous
13 exemption, payments in lieu of taxes or other payments were made to the
14 local government in an amount that would have been equal to or greater
15 than the amount of real property taxes that would have been paid on such
16 improvements had such property been granted an exemption pursuant to
17 this section. In such case, an exemption shall be granted for a number
18 of years equal to the twelve year exemption granted pursuant to this
19 section less the number of years the property would have been previously
20 exempt from real property taxes.
21 5. Such exemption shall be granted only upon application by the owner
22 of such real property on a form prescribed by the commissioner. Such
23 application shall be filed with the assessor of the municipality or
24 county having the power to assess property for taxation on or before the
25 appropriate taxable status date of such municipality or county.
26 6. If the assessor is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to an
27 exemption pursuant to this section, he or she shall approve the applica-
28 tion and such real property shall [thereafter] be exempt from taxation
29 and special ad valorem levies as in this section provided [commencing
30 with the assessment roll prepared after the taxable status date referred
31 to in subdivision five of this section]. The assessed value of any
32 exemption granted pursuant to this section shall be entered by the
33 assessor on the assessment roll with the taxable property, with the
34 amount of the exemption shown in a separate column.
35 7. (a) During the period of exemption pursuant to this section, the
36 owner shall submit an annual certification to the assessor attesting
37 that the property complies with the provisions or requirements of this
38 section and any additional provisions or requirements as may be provided
39 by local law. Failure to submit such certification shall result in revo-
40 cation of benefits. Such certification shall include at a minimum the
41 following:
42 (i) the types of residential use and the total above-grade square
43 footage of such use;
44 (ii) the types of commercial use and the total above-grade square
45 footage of such use;
46 (iii) attestation that the portion of the building used for commercial
47 purposes is currently, as demonstrated by documentation submitted by the
48 applicant, used as such or is in good faith contemplated; and
49 (iv) all such other information required by the municipality.
50 (b) If the assessor is satisfied that the applicant continues to be
51 entitled to the exemption pursuant to this section, the assessor shall
52 approve the certification and the real property shall remain exempt from
53 taxation and special ad valorem levies for another year as provided in
54 this section.
55 8. (a) The benefits of this section shall be revoked upon a finding by
56 the assessor that:
S. 5254--A 4
1 (i) the application for benefits hereunder or the annual certification
2 required hereunder contains a false statement or false information as to
3 a material matter or omits a material matter; or
4 (ii) the eligible real property fails to comply with one or more of
5 the provisions or requirements of this section or any provisions or
6 requirements provided by local law.
7 (b) Such revocation shall require the repayment of any benefits previ-
8 ously granted pursuant to this section.
9 9. If the assessor determines that there was a material misstatement
10 in an application filed by or on behalf of the owners for an exemption
11 pursuant to this section and that such misstatement provided the basis
12 for the granting of such exemption, the municipality shall proceed to
13 impose a penalty on the applicant of one thousand dollars in addition to
14 recovering the amount of any prior exemption granted.
15 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
16 have become a law and shall apply to properties for which the initial
17 application for exemption are received on and after such date.