Assembly Bill A10861

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

                                  10861

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                             April 27, 2010
                               ___________

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

AN  ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to extending the
  enhanced STAR rebate to domestic partners

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

  Section 1. Subparagraphs (i) and (iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision
4  of  section  425  of  the  real property tax law, subparagraph (i) as
amended by section 2 of part E of chapter 83 of the  laws  of  2002  and
subparagraph (iii) as added by section 4 of part A of chapter 405 of the
laws  of  1999, are amended and a new subparagraph (iv) is added to read
as follows:
  (i) All of the owners must be at least  sixty-five  years  of  age  or
older  as of the date specified herein, or in the case of property owned
by husband and wife, DOMESTIC PARTNERS or by siblings, one of the owners
must be at least sixty-five years of age as of that date and the proper-
ty must serve as the primary residence of that owner. For the two  thou-
sand--two  thousand one school year, eligibility for the exemption shall
be based upon age as of December thirty-first, two  thousand.  For  each
subsequent  school  year,  the  applicable date shall be advanced by one
year.
  (iii) In the case of property owned by husband and  wife  OR  DOMESTIC
PARTNERS, one of whom is sixty-five years of age or over, the exemption,
once  granted, shall not be rescinded solely because of the death of the
older spouse OR DOMESTIC PARTNER so long  as  the  surviving  spouse  OR
DOMESTIC PARTNER is at least sixty-two years of age as of the date spec-
ified in this paragraph.
  (IV)  FOR  PURPOSES  OF  THIS SECTION ONLY, "DOMESTIC PARTNER" MEANS A
PERSON WHO, WITH RESPECT TO ANOTHER PERSON:
  (A) IS FORMALLY A PARTY IN A DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP OR SIMILAR RELATION-
SHIP WITH THE OTHER PERSON, ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO  THE  LAWS  OF  THE
UNITED  STATES OR OF ANY STATE, LOCAL OR FOREIGN JURISDICTION, OR REGIS-
TERED AS THE DOMESTIC PARTNER OF THE  OTHER  PERSON  WITH  ANY  REGISTRY

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD16713-01-0
              

A. 10861                            2

MAINTAINED  BY  THE EMPLOYER OF EITHER PARTY OR ANY STATE, MUNICIPALITY,
OR FOREIGN JURISDICTION; OR
  (B)  IS  FORMALLY  RECOGNIZED AS A BENEFICIARY OR COVERED PERSON UNDER
THE OTHER PERSON'S EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS OR HEALTH INSURANCE; OR
  (C) IS DEPENDENT OR MUTUALLY INTERDEPENDENT ON THE  OTHER  PERSON  FOR
SUPPORT,  AS EVIDENCED BY THE TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES INDICATING A
MUTUAL INTENT TO BE DOMESTIC PARTNERS  INCLUDING  BUT  NOT  LIMITED  TO:
COMMON  OWNERSHIP  OR JOINT LEASING OF REAL OR PERSONAL PROPERTY; COMMON
HOUSEHOLDING, SHARED INCOME OR  SHARED  EXPENSES;  CHILDREN  IN  COMMON;
SIGNS  OF  INTENT  TO MARRY OR BECOME DOMESTIC PARTNERS UNDER THIS PARA-
GRAPH OR PARAGRAPH (B)  OF  THIS  SUBDIVISION;  OR  THE  LENGTH  OF  THE
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP OF THE PERSONS.
  (D) EACH PARTY TO A DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP SHALL BE CONSIDERED TO BE THE
DOMESTIC  PARTNER  OF  THE  OTHER  PARTY.  "DOMESTIC  PARTNER" SHALL NOT
INCLUDE A PERSON WHO IS RELATED TO THE OTHER PERSON BY BLOOD IN A MANNER
THAT WOULD BAR MARRIAGE TO THE OTHER PERSON IN NEW YORK STATE. "DOMESTIC
PARTNER" ALSO SHALL NOT INCLUDE ANY PERSON WHO  IS  LESS  THAN  EIGHTEEN
YEARS  OF  AGE OR WHO IS THE ADOPTED CHILD OF THE OTHER PERSON OR WHO IS
RELATED BY BLOOD IN A MANNER THAT WOULD BAR MARRIAGE IN NEW  YORK  STATE
TO A PERSON WHO IS THE LAWFUL SPOUSE OF THE OTHER PERSON.
  S  2.  The opening paragraph of subparagraph (i) and subparagraph (iv)
of paragraph (b) and paragraph (c) of subdivision 4,  paragraph  (a)  of
subdivision 4-a and paragraph (e) of subdivision 6 of section 425 of the
real  property  tax  law,  the opening paragraph of subparagraph (i) and
subparagraph (iv) of paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision  4  as  amended  by
section  3 of part E of chapter 83 of the laws of 2002, paragraph (c) of
subdivision 4 as added by section 4 of part A of chapter 405 of the laws
of 1999, paragraph (a) of subdivision 4-a as added by section 4 of  part
E  of  chapter 83 of the laws of 2002 and paragraph (e) of subdivision 6
as amended by chapter 531 of the laws of 2006, are amended  to  read  as
follows:
  The  combined  income of all of the owners, and of any owners' spouses
OR DOMESTIC PARTNERS residing on the premises, may not exceed the appli-
cable income standard specified herein.
  (iv) Effective with applications for the enhanced exemption  on  final
assessment  rolls to be completed in two thousand three, the application
form shall indicate that the owners of  the  property  and  any  owners'
spouses  OR DOMESTIC PARTNERS residing on the premises may authorize the
assessor to have their income eligibility verified  annually  thereafter
by  the  state department of taxation and finance, in lieu of furnishing
copies of the applicable income tax return or returns with the  applica-
tion.  If the owners of the property and any owners' spouses OR DOMESTIC
PARTNERS residing on the premises elect to participate in this  program,
which  shall be known as the STAR income verification program, they must
furnish their taxpayer identification numbers  in  order  to  facilitate
matching  with records of the department of taxation and finance. There-
after, their income eligibility shall be verified annually by the  state
department  of  taxation  and finance and the assessor shall not request
income documentation from  them,  unless  such  department  advises  the
assessor through the state board that they do not satisfy the applicable
income  eligibility  requirements,  or  that  it  is unable to determine
whether they satisfy those requirements.
  (c) Absence from residence. An exemption may be  granted  pursuant  to
this  subdivision  notwithstanding the fact that an owner is absent from
the residence while receiving health-related care as an inpatient  of  a
residential  health  care  facility,  as defined in section twenty-eight

A. 10861                            3

hundred one of the public health law, provided that during such confine-
ment such property is not occupied by  anyone  other  than  the  spouse,
DOMESTIC PARTNER or co-owner of such owner.
  (a)  Married couples OR DOMESTIC PARTNERS with two or more residences.
A husband and wife OR DOMESTIC PARTNERS may receive an exemption  pursu-
ant  to  this section on no more than one residence, unless living apart
due to legal separation.
  (e) Except in the city of New York, notwithstanding the provisions  of
paragraph (a) of this subdivision, an application for such exemption may
be filed with the assessor after the appropriate taxable status date but
not  later  than  the  last  date  on  which  a petition with respect to
complaints of assessment may be filed, where failure to  file  a  timely
application resulted from: (i) a death of the applicant's spouse, DOMES-
TIC PARTNER, child, parent, brother or sister; or (ii) an illness of the
applicant or of the applicant's spouse, DOMESTIC PARTNER, child, parent,
brother  or sister, which actually prevents the applicant from filing on
a timely basis, as certified by a licensed physician. The assessor shall
approve or deny such application as if it had been filed  on  or  before
the taxable status date.
  S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.