Assembly Bill A10579

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  10579

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                              April 8, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced  by  M.  of  A. HYER-SPENCER -- read once and referred to the
  Committee on Real Property Taxation

AN ACT to establish the "storm assessment  relief  act"  for  Kings  and
  Richmond counties

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may  be  cited  as
the "storm assessment relief act".
  S  2.  Definitions.  For the purposes of this act, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
  1. "Eligible county" shall mean the counties of Kings and Richmond  in
the city of New York.
  2.  "Taxable  status date" shall mean the date established pursuant to
section 1507 of the charter of the city of New York.
  3. "Catastrophically impacted" shall mean a property  where  there  is
cause to believe the value of which was diminished by 50 percent or more
as a result of the weather.
  4.  "Taxpayer"  shall  mean  the  owner  of  real  property  which was
catastrophically impacted in a county.
  5. "Assessor" shall mean the assessors under direction of the  commis-
sioner of finance pursuant to section 1506 of the charter of the city of
New York.
  6.  "Property  owner"  shall  mean  the  owner of real property who is
responsible for payment of real property taxes on such property.
  7. "Weather" shall mean the storms, rains, or floods which occurred in
an eligible county during the period beginning March 12, 2010 and ending
March 14, 2010.
  8. "Correction" shall mean the process for correcting an "excessive or
otherwise erroneous" tax as authorized in section 11-225 of the adminis-
trative code of the city of New York and chapter 7 of the charter of the
city of New York.
  S 3. Local option. The council of the city of New  York  may  exercise
the  provisions  of  this  act  by  passing  a resolution by May 1, 2010
resolving to implement the provisions of this act.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD16597-02-0

A. 10579                            2

  S 4. Assessment relief for storm victims.  Notwithstanding  any  other
provision  of  law to the contrary, a taxpayer whose real property is in
an eligible county and whose property has been catastrophically impacted
as a result of weather occurring in the  state  of  New  York  may  seek
administrative  review  or  correction of the valuation assigned to such
real property or the improvements thereon pursuant to the provisions  of
chapter 7 of the charter of the city of New York. An assessor shall also
seek  administrative  review or correction of valuations on any property
he or she believes was catastrophically impacted as  a  result  of  such
weather.
  In  the event such review or correction is sought, the tax commission,
in making such determinations as it  is  otherwise  authorized  to  make
pursuant to the provisions of the charter and administrative code of the
city of New York, shall consider the taxable status date as provided for
in  section  1507 of the charter of the city of New York, to be April 1,
2010 instead of the taxable status date otherwise provided for  in  such
section or any other provision of law.
  Any  complaint by a taxpayer who is also the property owner and who is
seeking a lower valuation, shall not be required to suggest  such  valu-
ation  to  the  tax  commission,  but  such suggestion may be made by an
assessor, even if such assessor is not the party who has made the appli-
cation for assessment review.
  In the event the assessor seeks an administrative determination before
the tax commission of any property he or she  is  not  an  owner  of  or
otherwise  entitled  by law to seek an administrative determination from
such commission, such assessor shall also seek an administrative  deter-
mination and a lower valuation of all such properties he or she believes
were catastrophically impacted by weather within such jurisdiction. Such
determination  may  be  sought in a class application by the assessor to
the tax commission.  The failure of such assessor to seek such a  deter-
mination  for  all  such  catastrophically impacted properties shall not
impair the effectiveness of any review sought by a taxpayer against such
an assessor and a cause of action against such assessor for  failing  to
include  any  specific property or class of properties in the assessor's
class application. The tax commission may accept applications for admin-
istrative review of the  assessment  of  any  catastrophically  impacted
property  up  until and including May 28, 2010; provided that where such
an application has not been submitted by  that  date,  the  assessor  or
taxpayer may nonetheless seek correction of the assessment in the manner
provided by chapter 7 of the charter of the city of New York.
  The  rights  contained  in  this  act shall not otherwise diminish any
other legally available right of any property owner  or  party  who  may
otherwise  lawfully  challenge  the  valuation or assessment of any real
property or improvements thereon. All remaining rights,  including,  but
not  limited  to,  the right to seek correction of the assessment and to
judicially challenge such assessment  or  valuation  hereby  remain  and
shall  be  available to the party to whom such rights would otherwise be
available notwithstanding this act.
  S 5. School districts held harmless. Each school district  located  in
an eligible county, as defined in subdivision one of section two of this
act,  shall be held harmless by the state for any reduction in state aid
that would have been paid as tax savings pursuant to section  1306-a  of
the real property tax law incurred due to the provisions of this act.
  S  6.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to
have been in full force and effect on and after July 1, 2009.