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A06794 Summary:

BILL NOA06794
 
SAME ASSAME AS S03128
 
SPONSORButtenschon
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd 467, RPT L
 
Shifts the conducting of the income verification process for the purposes of the senior citizen tax exemption from municipalities to the department of taxation and finance.
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A06794 Actions:

BILL NOA06794
 
05/08/2023referred to aging
01/03/2024referred to aging
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A06794 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6794
 
SPONSOR: Buttenschon
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to requiring the state to handle the income verification process for the purposes of the senior citizen tax exemption   PURPOSE: The purpose of this bill is to require the state to handle all income verification necessary to receive the senior citizen tax exemption.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section 1 of this bill would amend the Real Property Tax Law to allow income eligibility of applicants to be verified annually by the depart- ment, and the assessing authority will not need to request income documentation. At the commissioner's discretion, and with the appropri- ate assessing authority, extensions of the enrollment period can be granted on an individual basis for the Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption. Any information or documentation submitted by an applicant will be considered confidential and can only be disclosed to other necessary individuals for the performance of duties related to the Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption. Section 2 of this bill provides that the effective date shall take effect immediately.   JUSTIFICATION: Currently, senior citizens in New York State who qualify for the tax exemption must visit their local town assessor to apply. With income verification falling on the local assessors rather than the state tax department, it can often become an unnecessarily egregious and difficult process for the applicant. The town assessors do not have the authority or access to the information that the state tax department has so it falls to the applicant to have to prove their low-income status. This legislation takes inspiration from the Enhanced STAR program and lessens the burden of low-income senior citizens to prove their income to local assessors and leaves verification to the state.   LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2021-22: S.8812 (Marmion) - Referred to Aging.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
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A06794 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          6794
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                       May 8, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Aging
 
        AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to requiring  the
          state  to  handle  the income verification process for the purposes of
          the senior citizen tax exemption

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1. Subdivision 5 of section 467 of the real property tax law,
     2  as amended by section 1 of part B of chapter 686 of the laws of 2022, is
     3  amended to read as follows:
     4    5. (a) Application for such exemption must be made by  the  owner,  or
     5  all  of  the  owners of the property, on forms prescribed by the commis-
     6  sioner to be furnished by the appropriate assessing authority and  shall
     7  furnish  the  information  and  be  executed  in  the manner required or
     8  prescribed in such forms, and shall be filed in such  assessor's  office
     9  on  or  before  the appropriate taxable status date. Notwithstanding any
    10  other provision of law, at the option of the municipal corporation,  any
    11  person  otherwise  qualifying under this section shall not be denied the
    12  exemption under this section if he becomes sixty-five years of age after
    13  the appropriate taxable status date and on or  before  December  thirty-
    14  first of the same year.
    15    (b)  Effective  with  applications for such exemption, the application
    16  form shall indicate that all owners of  the  property  and  any  owners'
    17  spouses  residing  on  the  premises  must have their income eligibility
    18  verified annually by the department  and  must  furnish  their  taxpayer
    19  identification  numbers  in order to facilitate matching with records of
    20  the department.  The income eligibility of such persons shall  be  veri-
    21  fied  annually  by the department, and the assessing authority shall not
    22  request  income  documentation  from  them.  All  applicants  for   such
    23  exemption and all assessing authorities shall be required to participate
    24  in  this  program,  known  as  the senior citizen property tax exemption
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05280-01-3

        A. 6794                             2
 
     1  income verification  program.  The  commissioner  may,  in  his  or  her
     2  discretion  and in conjunction with the appropriate assessing authority,
     3  extend on an individual basis and as necessary the enrollment period  of
     4  the  senior  citizen  property tax exemption income verification program
     5  for property owners who failed  to  enroll  in  sufficient  time.  Where
     6  appropriate,  the  commissioner,  in  conjunction  with  the appropriate
     7  assessing authority, is further authorized to remit directly to  such  a
     8  property  owner  a  payment in an amount equal to the difference between
     9  the tax bill that the property owner actually received and the tax  bill
    10  that  the property owner would have received had he or she enrolled in a
    11  timely manner.
    12    (c) Any information or documentation  submitted  by  an  applicant  in
    13  connection  with  applications for or renewal of an exemption authorized
    14  under paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section to verify income,
    15  shall be deemed confidential, and the assessor, any municipal officer or
    16  municipal employees shall be prohibited from disclosing any such  infor-
    17  mation,  except for any disclosure necessary in the performance of their
    18  official duties.
    19    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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