S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  6643

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 21, 2010
                               ___________

Introduced by Sens. YOUNG, VOLKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and
  when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government

AN ACT to establish the "flood assessment relief act"

  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 "flood assessment relief act".
  S  2.  Definitions.  For the purposes of this act, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:
  1. "Eligible county, town or  village"  shall  mean  the  counties  of
Cattaraugus,  Chautauqua  and  Erie  and the towns of Cuba, West Almond,
Wirt, Birdsall, Friendship, Caneadea, Clarksville, New  Hudson  and  the
villages of Andover and Wellsville in the county of Allegany.
  2.  "Taxable  status date" shall mean the date established pursuant to
section 302 of the real property tax law.
  3. "Catastrophically impacted" shall mean a property 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 a town, city, or village assessor or board of
assessors in a county.
  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, town or village during the period beginning August
9, 2009 and ending August 10, 2009.
  8. "Correction" shall mean the process for the correction of a  "cler-
ical  error"  as defined in section 550 of the real property tax law and
as provided for in title 3 of article 5 of the real property tax law.
  S 3. Local option. An eligible county, town or  village  may  exercise
the  provisions of this act if the governing body of such eligible coun-
ty, town or village shall, by May 1, 2010, pass a  resolution  resolving
to  implement  the  provisions of this act. Prior to the passage of such

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

                                                           LBD15316-03-0

S. 6643                             2

resolution, the chief executive officer of an eligible county,  town  or
village (or the representative thereof) shall consult with those munici-
pal corporations as defined in subdivision 10 of section 102 of the real
property  tax  law    which  such  chief executive officer has reason to
believe had at least 10 properties  whose  value  was  diminished  as  a
result  of  the  weather  and  shall  secure the written consent of such
corporation to be included in scope and coverage of such resolution.
  S 4. Assessment relief for flood victims.  Notwithstanding  any  other
provision  of  law to the contrary, a taxpayer whose real property is in
an eligible  county,  town  or  village  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  valu-
ation  assigned to such real property or the improvements thereon pursu-
ant to the provisions of article 5 of the  real  property  tax  law.  An
assessor  shall  also  seek administrative review or correction of valu-
ations 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 board of assess-
ment review or other authorized body or officer, in making such determi-
nations as it is otherwise authorized to make pursuant to the provisions
of  the real property tax law, shall consider the taxable status date as
provided for in section 302 of the real property tax law, to be  Septem-
ber 1, 2009 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 board of assessment review, but such suggestion may be made
by  an assessor or board of assessors, even if such assessor or board of
assessors is not the party who has made the application  for  assessment
review.
  In the event the assessor seeks an administrative determination before
a  board  of assessment review of any property he or she is not an owner
of or otherwise entitled by law to seek an administrative  determination
from  such board, 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 board of assessment review filed pursuant to either  section  524
or  553  of  the real property tax law.  The failure of such assessor to
seek such a determination for all such catastrophically impacted proper-
ties shall not impair the effectiveness of any review sought by such  an
assessor  and  a  cause  of  action against such assessor for failing to
include any specific property or class of  properties  shall  not  exist
under  the laws of this state. The board of assessment review may accept
applications  for  administrative  review  of  the  assessment  of   any
catastrophically  impacted property up until and including May 22, 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 section 553, 554 or 556 of the real
property tax law, whichever is appropriate.
  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  as
provided for in sections 554 and 556 of the real property tax law and to

S. 6643                             3

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, town or village, 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 June 1, 2009.