Senate Bill S8773A

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8773A

SPONSOR: ORTT
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to providing a
partial exemption from real property taxes for special police officers

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to provide a partial real property tax
exemption for special police officers.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: The real property tax law is amended by adding a new section
466-1 to read as follows: § 466-1. Special police officers; certain
county. 1. Real property owned by a special police officer, as defined
by section one hundred fifty-eight of the town law, or such member and
spouse residing in any county, excluding any county wholly contained in
a city with a population of one million or more, shall be exempt from
taxation to the extent of ten percent of the assessed value of such
              

property for city, village, town, part town, special district, school
district, fire district or county purposes, exclusive of special assess-
ments, provided that the governing body of a city, village, town, school
district, fire district or county, after a public hearing, adopts a
local law, ordinance or resolution providing therefor. 2. Such exemption
shall not be granted to an enrolled special police officer residing in
such county unless:  (a) the applicant resides in the city, town or
village which is served by such special police. officer; (b) the proper-
ty is the primary residence of the applicant; (c) the property is used
exclusively for residential purposes; provided, however, that in the
event any portion of such property is not used exclusively for the
applicant's residence but is used for other purposes, such portion shall
be subject to taxation and the remaining portion only shall be entitled
to the exemption provided by this section; and (d) the applicant has
been certified by the authority having jurisdiction over the special
police officer and enrolled for at least two years. It shall be the duty
and responsibility of the municipality, school district and/or fire
district which adopts a local law, ordinance or resolution pursuant to
this section to determine the procedure for certification.  3. Any
special police officer who accrues more than twenty years of active
service and is so certified by the authority having jurisdiction over
the special police officer, shall be granted the ten percent exemption
as authorized by this section for the remainder of his or her life as
long as his or her primary residence is located within such county,
provided that the governing body of a city, village, town, school
district, fire district or county, after a public hearing, adopts a
local law, ordinance or resolution providing therefor. 4. Application
for such exemption shall be filed with the assessor or other agency,
department or office designated by the municipality, school district
and/or fire district offering such exemption on or before the taxable
status date on a form as prescribed by the commissioner. 5. No applicant
who is a special police officer who by reason of such status is receiv-
ing any benefit under the provisions of this article on the effective
date of this section shall suffer any diminution of such benefit because
of the provisions of this section.

Section 2: sets the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:

Volunteer peace officers provide a valuable service to their communi-
ties. These individuals receive no compensation for their service, yet
they commit themselves to helping their community during times of need.
Their volunteerism allows communities to maintain a level of excellent
safety while having cost-saving measures put in place.  They are like
police officers but not all peace officers are police officers. To
recruit and maintain the amount and quality of peace officers it is the
intent of this bill to provide an incentive for these individuals that
serve the community.

In Monroe Co. Peace Officers hold the title Special Police Officers.  To
attract more Special Police Officers this legislation is necessary to
provide them with some financial relief for their dedication and service
to the community.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
The act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to taxable
status dates occurring on or after such date.