S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                  4733--A
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 24, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens. MURPHY, AKSHAR, BROOKS, CARLUCCI, FUNKE, GALLIVAN,
   GIANARIS,  HELMING,  JACOBS,  KENNEDY,  MARCHIONE,   ORTT,   PHILLIPS,
   RITCHIE,  SERINO,  SEWARD,  STEWART-COUSINS  -- read twice and ordered
   printed, and when printed to be committed to the  Committee  on  Local
   Government  --  recommitted  to  the  Committee on Local Government in
   accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --  committee  discharged,  bill
   amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
   tee
 
 AN ACT to amend the real property tax law and the tax law,  in  relation
   to  removing references to the school tax relief credit; and to repeal
   certain provisions of such laws relating thereto
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Paragraph (a) of subdivision 6 of section 425 of the real
 property tax law, as amended by section 1 of part A of chapter 60 of the
 laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   (a) Generally. All owners of the property who primarily reside thereon
 [and who are not subject to the provisions  of  subdivision  sixteen  of
 this  section]  must  jointly file an application for exemption with the
 assessor on or before the appropriate taxable status date. Such applica-
 tion may be filed by mail if it is enclosed in a postpaid envelope prop-
 erly addressed to the appropriate assessor, deposited in a  post  office
 or  official  depository  under  the exclusive care of the United States
 postal service, and postmarked by the United States postal service on or
 before the applicable taxable status date. Each such  application  shall
 be  made  on  a form prescribed by the commissioner, which shall require
 the applicant or applicants to agree to notify  the  assessor  if  their
 primary   residence  changes  while  their  property  is  receiving  the
 exemption. The assessor may request that proof of residency be submitted
 with the application. If the  applicant  requests  a  receipt  from  the
 assessor  as  proof of submission of the application, the assessor shall
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD09835-07-8

 S. 4733--A                          2
 
 provide such receipt. If such request is made  by  other  than  personal
 request,  the applicant shall provide the assessor with a self-addressed
 postpaid envelope in which to mail the receipt.
   §  2.  Subdivision  16  of section 425 of the real property tax law is
 REPEALED.
   § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 496 of the real  property  tax  law,  as
 amended  by  section  3  of part A of chapter 60 of the laws of 2016, is
 amended to read as follows:
   2. An application to renounce an exemption shall be  made  on  a  form
 prescribed by the commissioner and shall be filed with the county direc-
 tor of real property tax services no later than ten years after the levy
 of  taxes  upon  the  assessment  roll  on which the renounced exemption
 appears. The county director, after  consulting  with  the  assessor  as
 appropriate,  shall  compute  the  total  amount  owed on account of the
 renounced exemption as follows:
   (a) For each assessment roll on which the renounced exemption appears,
 the assessed value that was exempted shall be multiplied by the tax rate
 or rates that were applied to that assessment roll. Interest shall  then
 be  added  to  each  such product at the rate prescribed by section nine
 hundred twenty-four-a of this chapter or such other law as may be appli-
 cable for each month or portion thereon since the  levy  of  taxes  upon
 such assessment roll.
   (b) The sum of the calculations made pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
 subdivision  with  respect  to  all  of the assessment rolls in question
 shall be determined.
   (c) A processing fee of five hundred dollars shall be added to the sum
 determined pursuant to paragraph (b) of this  subdivision[,  unless  the
 provisions of paragraph (d) of this subdivision are applicable.
   (d) If the applicant is renouncing a STAR exemption in order to quali-
 fy  for the personal income tax credit authorized by subsection (eee) of
 section six hundred six of the tax law,  and  no  other  exemptions  are
 being  renounced  on  the  same  application, no processing fee shall be
 applicable].
   § 4. Subdivision 6 of section 1306-a of the real property tax  law  is
 REPEALED.
   §  5.  Subparagraph  (A) of paragraph 3 of subsection (eee) of section
 606 of the tax law, as amended by section 8 of part A of chapter  73  of
 the laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   (A)  [Beginning with] FOR THE taxable [years after] YEARS two thousand
 [fifteen] SIXTEEN AND TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN, a basic STAR credit  shall
 be  available  to  a  qualified taxpayer if the affiliated income of the
 parcel that serves as the taxpayer's primary residence is less  than  or
 equal to five hundred thousand dollars.
   §  6.  The  opening  paragraph  of  subparagraph (A) of paragraph 4 of
 subsection (eee) of section 606 of the tax law, as amended by section  8
 of  part  A  of  chapter  73  of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as
 follows:
   [Beginning with] FOR THE taxable  [years  after]  YEARS  two  thousand
 [fifteen]  SIXTEEN  AND  TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN, an enhanced STAR credit
 shall be available to a qualified taxpayer where both of  the  following
 conditions are satisfied:
   §  7.  Clause  (iii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph 10 of subsection
 (eee) of section 606 of the tax law is REPEALED.
   § 8. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 11 of section 425 of the real  prop-
 erty  tax  law,  as  amended by section 3 of part A of chapter 73 of the
 laws of 2016, is amended to read as follows:

 S. 4733--A                          3
 
   (c) Transfers of title. When the assessor has received a report pursu-
 ant to section five hundred seventy-four of this chapter of  a  transfer
 of  title to real property which is exempt pursuant to this section, the
 assessor shall [discontinue the exemption  as  required  by  subdivision
 sixteen  of  this section] SEND THE NEW OWNER OR OWNERS AS SHOWN THEREON
 AN APPLICATION FOR THE EXEMPTION AUTHORIZED BY THIS SECTION. The  asses-
 sor shall not implement the provisions of section five hundred twenty of
 this chapter upon such a transfer, except to the extent that the proper-
 ty may also be receiving one or more other exemptions.
   § 9. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 6 of section 425 of the real proper-
 ty  tax law, as amended by section 4 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws
 of 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   (c) Senior citizens exemption.  When  property  is  eligible  for  the
 senior citizens exemption authorized by section four hundred sixty-seven
 of  this [article] TITLE, it shall also be deemed to be eligible for the
 enhanced exemption authorized by this section for certain  senior  citi-
 zens,  provided,  where applicable, that the age requirement established
 by a municipal corporation pursuant to subdivision five of section  four
 hundred  sixty-seven  of this [article] TITLE is satisfied, and no sepa-
 rate application need be filed therefor. [Provided,  however,  that  the
 provisions  of this paragraph shall only apply where at least one of the
 applicants held title to the property on the taxable status date of  the
 assessment  roll that was used to levy school district taxes for the two
 thousand fifteen--two thousand sixteen school year and the property  was
 granted an exemption pursuant to this section on such assessment roll.]
   § 10. Implementation for the 2018--2019 school year.  The commissioner
 of  taxation and finance shall assist localities in notifying the public
 of the provisions of this act and any action required  by  taxpayers  to
 receive  a STAR exemption for the 2018--2019 school year.  Notwithstand-
 ing subdivision 6 of section 425 of  the  real  property  tax  law,  for
 assessment  rolls  used to levy school district taxes for the 2018--2019
 school year, an application for an exemption under section  425  of  the
 real property tax law shall be filed with the local assessor by the last
 date on which a petition with respect to complaints of assessment may be
 filed  or  not  later  than the sixtieth day after the effective date of
 this act, whichever is later.  The assessor shall approve or  deny  such
 application  as  if  it  had  been filed on or before the taxable status
 date.  If the assessor determines that the property is eligible for  the
 exemption,  the  assessor  shall thereupon be authorized and directed to
 correct the assessment roll  accordingly,  or,  if  another  person  has
 custody or control of the assessment roll, to direct that person to make
 the appropriate corrections. If the correction is not made before school
 taxes  are levied, the failure to take the exemption into account in the
 computation of the tax shall be deemed a "clerical error"  for  purposes
 of  title 3 of article 5 of the real property tax law, or any comparable
 laws governing the correction of  administrative  errors  on  assessment
 rolls and tax rolls, and shall be corrected accordingly.
   Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  law  to  the contrary, the
 commissioner of taxation and  finance  shall  immediately  notify  local
 assessors of the name and address of any taxpayer within their assessing
 unit  who  qualified for the school tax relief (STAR) credit pursuant to
 subsection (eee) of section 606 of the tax law for taxable year 2017, or
 has applied for a credit for taxable year 2018 and any additional infor-
 mation available that would assist the assessor in accurately  determin-
 ing  the  property's  eligibility  for  the  STAR  exemption pursuant to
 section 425 of the real property tax law. To the  extent  possible,  the

 S. 4733--A                          4
 
 local  assessor  shall determine the eligibility of the property for the
 2018--2019 school year using information provided by the commissioner of
 taxation and finance.   Taxpayers who applied  with  the  department  of
 taxation  and finance for the STAR credit for the 2018--2019 school year
 or received the STAR credit for the 2017--2018 school year, shall not be
 required to file an application for an exemption in order to receive  an
 exemption  on the same property for the 2018--2019 school year; however,
 if a property's eligibility cannot be determined  by  using  information
 supplied  by  the  department  of taxation and finance, the assessor may
 seek additional documentation from the taxpayer  to  prove  his  or  her
 eligibility.  Such  taxpayer  shall  have until the last date on which a
 petition, with respect to complaints of  assessment  may  be  filed,  to
 supply  proof  of eligibility, or thirty days of such request, whichever
 is later. The assessor shall mail notice of his or her determination  to
 such owner. If the assessor determines that the property is eligible for
 the  exemption,  the assessor shall thereupon be authorized and directed
 to correct the assessment roll accordingly, or, if  another  person  has
 custody or control of the assessment roll, to direct that person to make
 the appropriate corrections. If the correction is not made before school
 taxes  are levied, the failure to take the exemption into account in the
 computation of the tax shall be deemed a "clerical error"  for  purposes
 of  title 3 of article 5 of the real property tax law, or any comparable
 laws governing the correction of  administrative  errors  on  assessment
 rolls  and tax rolls, and shall be corrected accordingly. Nothing within
 this act shall preclude a taxpayer from seeking administrative and judi-
 cial review of an assessor's denial of the exemption.
   § 11. This act shall take effect immediately.