STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5109
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 1, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sen. FUNKE -- 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 and the education law, in
relation to payment of state aid for school tax relief within ninety
days after application to the commissioner of taxation and finance
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 3 of section 1306-a of the
2 real property tax law, as amended by section 60 of part C of chapter 58
3 of the laws of 1998 and as further amended by subdivision (b) of section
4 1 of part W of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as
5 follows:
6 (c) Upon approving an application for state aid pursuant to this
7 section, the commissioner shall compute and certify to the commissioner
8 of education the amounts payable to the school district. Such state aid
9 shall be payable upon the audit and warrant of the state comptroller
10 from vouchers certified and approved by the commissioner of education,
11 as provided by section thirty-six hundred nine-e of the education law,
12 as applicable. Such state aid shall be paid within ninety days of
13 receipt of the application by the commissioner.
14 § 2. Section 3609-e of the education law, as added by section 46 of
15 part C of chapter 58 of the laws of 1998, paragraph a of subdivision 1
16 as amended and paragraph e of subdivision 1 as added by section 34 of
17 part B of chapter 57 of the laws of 2007, paragraph b of subdivision 1
18 as amended by section 46-a of part L of chapter 405 of the laws of 1999,
19 and subdivision 2 as amended by section 26 of part B of chapter 57 of
20 the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
21 § 3609-e. School tax relief aid, when and how payable [commencing July
22 first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight]. Notwithstanding any other
23 provisions of this article, school tax relief aid shall be paid pursuant
24 to this section.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10499-02-5
S. 5109 2
1 1. Definitions. As used in this section the following terms shall be
2 defined as follows:
3 a. "Amount of tax levy" shall mean the amount of property taxes levied
4 for school purposes in the current year pursuant to subdivision one of
5 section thirteen hundred six of the real property tax law, except that
6 for a city school district of a city with one hundred twenty-five thou-
7 sand inhabitants or more "amount of tax levy" shall mean an amount equal
8 to the product of the tax rate computed pursuant to paragraph [e] d of
9 this subdivision for aids payable in the current year multiplied by such
10 district's actual valuation as defined in subdivision one of section
11 thirty-six hundred two of this article.
12 b. ["Phase-in factor" shall mean: (i) for aid payable in the two thou-
13 sand--two thousand one school year, seventy-five percent and (ii) for
14 aid payable in the two thousand one--two thousand two school year and
15 thereafter, one hundred percent.
16 c.] "STAR portion of the tax levy" shall mean the quotient of the
17 school tax relief aid payable in the current year divided by the amount
18 of tax levy expressed as a decimal to four places without rounding.
19 [d.] c. The definitions of "school tax relief aid," "current year" and
20 "base year" as set forth in subdivision one of section thirty-six
21 hundred two of this article shall apply to this section.
22 [e.] d. "Tax rate" shall mean the amount computed by dividing a school
23 district's total revenues from real property and non-property tax levies
24 for the base year levied for school purposes exclusive of library
25 purposes plus any payments in lieu of taxes received pursuant to section
26 four hundred eighty-five of the real property tax law and exclusive of
27 any balances in excess of six percent of general fund expense remaining
28 in the general fund of the district at the end of the base year, by such
29 district's actual valuation as defined in subdivision one of section
30 thirty-six hundred two of this article including any actual valuation
31 equivalent of payments in lieu of taxes determined pursuant to section
32 four hundred eighty-five of the real property tax law, provided, howev-
33 er, that in the instance of a fiscally dependent city school district,
34 the tax rate shall be computed by dividing (i) such district's total
35 general fund expenditures, plus inter-fund transfers outgoing from the
36 general fund, and plus general fund reserve expenditures, less any and
37 all general fund non-tax revenue of such city school district which has
38 been paid and identified by an original payer as being specifically on
39 behalf of such city school district, and less any and all non-tax reven-
40 ue of the city upon which such city school district is fiscally depend-
41 ent which has been paid and identified by an original payer as being
42 specifically on behalf of such city school district but which has not
43 been identified as revenue of such city school district, and less any
44 and all other general fund revenues of such city school district which
45 are determined by the commissioner to be non-tax revenue of the city
46 upon which such city school district is fiscally dependent, by (ii) such
47 district's actual valuation as defined in subdivision one of such
48 section thirty-six hundred two. Revenues raised by a school district in
49 support of a central high school district shall be included in the
50 revenue of the district raising such revenue, and no local revenue shall
51 be attributed to such central high school districts. Such tax rate shall
52 be computed to five decimals without rounding and shall be multiplied by
53 one thousand to be expressed in mills.
54 2. [Prescribed payments. a. October payment for aids payable in the
55 nineteen hundred ninety-eight--ninety-nine through two thousand two--two
56 thousand three school years and the two thousand four--two thousand five
S. 5109 3
1 through two thousand eight--two thousand nine school years. On or before
2 October fifteenth, a portion of the school tax relief aid payable to the
3 school district for the current year shall be paid equal to the product
4 of the total school tax relief aid for the current school year adjusted
5 to reflect adjustments to payments for prior years and thirty-five one-
6 hundredths.
7 b. October payment for aids payable in the two thousand three--two
8 thousand four school year, and the two thousand nine--two thousand ten
9 school year and thereafter. On or before October fifteenth, a portion of
10 the school tax relief aid payable to the school district for the current
11 year adjusted to reflect adjustments to payments for prior years, not to
12 exceed one hundred percent of such aid payable, shall be paid equal to
13 the product of the amount of tax levy and the positive difference, if
14 any, of the STAR portion of the tax levy minus the product of twenty-
15 five one-hundredths and the phase-in factor.
16 c. November payment for the aids payable in the nineteen hundred nine-
17 ty-eight--ninety-nine through two thousand two--two thousand three
18 school years and the two thousand four--two thousand five through two
19 thousand eight--two thousand nine school years. On or before November
20 fifteenth, a portion of the school tax relief aid payable to the school
21 district for the current year shall be paid equal to the product of the
22 total school tax relief aid for the current school year adjusted to
23 reflect adjustments to payments for prior years and seventy-one
24 hundredths less any payments made pursuant to paragraph a of this subdi-
25 vision.
26 d. November payment for aids payable in the two thousand three--two
27 thousand four school year, and the two thousand nine--two thousand ten
28 school year and thereafter. On or before November fifteenth, a portion
29 of the school tax relief aid payable to the school district for the
30 current year adjusted to reflect adjustments to payments for prior
31 years, not to exceed one hundred percent of such aid payable, shall be
32 paid equal to: (i) the product of the amount of tax levy and the posi-
33 tive difference, if any, of the STAR portion of the tax levy minus the
34 product of twenty one hundredths and the phase-in factor less (ii) any
35 payments made pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision.
36 e. December payment for aids payable in the nineteen hundred ninety-
37 eight--ninety-nine through two thousand two--two thousand three school
38 years and the two thousand four--two thousand five through two thousand
39 eight--two thousand nine school years. On or before December fifteenth,
40 a portion of the school tax relief aid payable to the school district
41 for the current year shall be paid equal to the product of the total
42 school tax relief aid for the current school year adjusted to reflect
43 adjustments to payments for prior years and eighty one-hundredths less
44 any payments made pursuant to paragraphs a and c of this subdivision.
45 f. December payment for aids payable in the two thousand three--two
46 thousand four school year, and the two thousand nine--two thousand ten
47 school year and thereafter. On or before December fifteenth, a portion
48 of the school tax relief aid payable to the school district for the
49 current year adjusted to reflect adjustments to payments for prior
50 years, not to exceed one hundred percent of such aid payable, shall be
51 paid equal to: (i) the product of the amount of tax levy and the posi-
52 tive difference, if any, of the STAR portion of the tax levy minus the
53 product of fifteen one-hundredths and the phase-in factor less (ii) any
54 payments made pursuant to paragraphs b and d of this subdivision.
55 g. January payment. On or before the first business day of January, a
56 portion of the school tax relief aid payable to the school district for
S. 5109 4
1 the current year shall be paid equal to one hundred percent of such
2 total school tax relief aid payable for the current school year adjusted
3 to reflect adjustments to payments for prior years less any payments
4 made pursuant to paragraph a, b, c, d, e or f of this subdivision.
5 h. On or before March thirty-first a portion of the school tax relief
6 aid payable to the school district for the current year shall be paid
7 equal to one hundred percent of any increase in such aid over the total
8 of such aids paid through the first business day of January, adjusted to
9 reflect adjustments to payments for prior years, as certified to the
10 commissioner by the office of real property services on or before March
11 first] Payment of state aid. Beginning with the two thousand fifteen--
12 two thousand sixteen school year, all payments for school tax relief aid
13 shall be made within ninety days of receipt by the commissioner of taxa-
14 tion and finance of the application for state aid made pursuant to
15 section thirteen hundred six-a of the real property tax law.
16 3. a. Such moneys shall be payable to the treasurer of each city
17 school district, and the treasurer of each union free school district
18 and of each central school district and of each other school district,
19 if there be a treasurer, otherwise to the collector or other disbursing
20 officer of such district, who shall apply for and receive the same as
21 soon as payable.
22 b. In the case of city school districts of the cities with one hundred
23 twenty-five thousand inhabitants or more, any payments which pursuant to
24 this section is required to be made to the treasurer of the city school
25 district, shall be made to the city treasurer or chamberlain.
26 4. Any payment to a school district pursuant to this section shall be
27 general receipts of the district and may be used for any lawful purpose
28 of the district.
29 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
30 have become a law.