NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7136
SPONSOR: Pretlow TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to excluding
environmental contamination from consideration as a factor for assess-
ment
PURPOSE:
Excludes environmental contamination from consideration as a factor for
assessment.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 706 of the real property tax law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 3. For the purpose of assessment, environmental contam-
ination shall be excluded from consideration.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, through omission, the New York State Peal Property Tax allows
Environmental Contamination to be considered as a legitimate factor in
the assessment of real property. By :.his omission in the Law, the party
responsible for or aware of the contamination may be rewarded through
the certiorari process.
Further, through the certiorari process, the polluters are able to shift
at least part of mandated environmental cleanup costs onto the backs of
the unsuspecting public whom, through their taxes, make up tax differen-
tial. In addition, the polluters are able to subvert the public policy
requiring that all remediation costs be borne by the polluting property
owners and their successors in title.
Due to this omission in the Law, in ?OGG, the City of Yonkers was forced
to reduce the property value of a particular parcel of land, and also
forced to pay the contaminator/property owner a tax certiorari refund
payment of almost $700,000 covering the period 1993 to 1997.
In 1996, the New York State Supreme Court of Appeals (88 N.Y. 2d. 724;
673 N.E. 2d. 127; 1996 N.Y.) negated a municipality's contention that by
offering the owner of a contaminated property a reduction in assessment
through the certiorari process, they would be allowing the polluters to
shift at least part of the mandated cleanup cost to the unsuspecting
Public.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7136
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Real Property Taxation
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to excluding
environmental contamination from consideration as a factor for assess-
ment
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 706 of the real property tax law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
3 3. For the purposes of assessment, environmental contamination shall
4 be excluded from consideration.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to real
6 property with a taxable status date on or after such date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10122-01-5
