NY State Senate Bill S3965

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Introduced
In Committee
On Floor Calendar
- Passed Senate
- Passed Assembly
Delivered to Governor
Signed/Vetoed by Governor

Your Voice

Please enter your contact information

First Name *

Last Name *

Email Address *

A valid email address is required.

Home address search or enter your address manually *

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Leave this field blank

Actions

view actions (1)

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 01, 2021	referred to local government

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A2011
Current Committee:: Senate Local Government
Law Section:: Real Property Tax Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §420-a, RPT L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2017-2018: S8133, A3927
2019-2020: S4115, A1976

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits tax exemptions for properties in violation of zoning laws.

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

 
BILL NUMBER: S3965

SPONSOR: REICHLIN-MELNICK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to nonprofit
organizations mandatory class

 
PURPOSE:

The bill will prohibit properties which are in violation of a local
government's zoning laws from receiving a property tax exemption.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends § 420-a of the real property tax law to
prohibit properties that are in violation of a local government's zoning
laws from receiving a property tax exemption.

Section two of the bill relates to the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

There have been several court cases related to the issue of whether
zoning violations should prohibit a property owner from receiving a
property tax exemption.

State courts have held that § 420-a of the real property tax law does
not provide for a property to lose its tax-exempt status simply because
it is in violation of a local zoning law. Under the current interpreta-
tion of § 420-a, a zoning violation can lead to the denial or loss of a
property's tax-exempt status only if the violation relates to the
intended use of the property.

In order to receive a tax exemption benefit, a property should be
required to be in compliance with local zoning laws. Several court deci-
sions have narrowly focused on a property's use in determining eligibil-
ity for tax exempt status. In so doing, the courts have also ignored the
fact that the properties-at-issue in these cases were in clear violation
of local zoning laws. This bill would amend the law to explicitly state
that any violation of applicable local zoning laws will be grounds to
deny a property of tax-exempt status.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2019-20: S4115 - referred to Local Government

2017-18: S8133 - referred to Local Government

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3965
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 1, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. REICHLIN-MELNICK -- read twice and ordered printed,
   and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
 
 AN ACT to amend the real property tax  law,  in  relation  to  nonprofit
   organizations mandatory class
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 420-a of the real
 property tax law, as amended by chapter 919 of  the  laws  of  1981,  is
 amended to read as follows:
   (b)  Real property such as specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivi-
 sion shall not be exempt if any  officer,  member  or  employee  of  the
 owning corporation or association shall receive or may be lawfully enti-
 tled to receive any pecuniary profit from the operations thereof, except
 reasonable  compensation  for  services in effecting one or more of such
 purposes,  or  as  proper  beneficiaries  of  its  strictly   charitable
 purposes; or if the organization thereof for any such avowed purposes be
 a  guise or pretense for directly or indirectly making any other pecuni-
 ary profit for such corporation or association or for any of its members
 or employees; or if it be not  in  good  faith  organized  or  conducted
 exclusively  for  one  or  more  of such purposes; OR IF SUCH PURPOSE IN
 WHICH THE REAL PROPERTY IS BEING USED  IS  IN  VIOLATION  OF  APPLICABLE
 LOCAL ZONING LAWS.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD06068-01-1

Comments

Open Legislation comments facilitate discussion of New York State legislation. All comments are subject to moderation. Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity or hate speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday.

By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

The New York State Senate

senate Bill S3965

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Your Voice

Actions

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Details

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

senate Bill S3965

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Elijah Reichlin-Melnick

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Local Government Committee

Your Voice

Actions

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Details

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Summary

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

S3965 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments