Relates to establishing ground rent rebates for eligible homeowners and renters in the Battery Park project area; provides for a rebate program; provides for a process for application and certification.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1462
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 10, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. KAVANAGH -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities
and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to establishing
ground rent rebates for eligible homeowners and renters in the Battery
Park project area
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1974-b of the public authorities law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
3 3. (a) For purposes of this subdivision: (i) "eligible homeowner"
4 shall mean an owner of a residence located in the Battery Park project
5 area who occupies such residence as the homeowner's primary residence
6 and whose annual household income does not exceed one hundred fifty
7 percent of the area median income defined and calculated by the United
8 States department of housing and urban development for the New York city
9 region, adjusted for household size; (ii) "eligible renter" shall mean a
10 person whose primary residence is located in the Battery Park project
11 area and is designated a quasi-rent stabilized unit or has restrictions
12 on annual rent increases pursuant to a regulatory agreement between the
13 authority and the landlord, and whose annual household income does not
14 exceed one hundred fifty percent of the area median income defined and
15 calculated by the United States department of housing and urban develop-
16 ment for the New York city region; (iii) "rebate base year" shall mean
17 the year two thousand twenty-four for any homeowner who is an eligible
18 homeowner or any renter who is an eligible renter based upon their annu-
19 al household income for the year two thousand twenty-five, or the year
20 preceding the year in which a homeowner first becomes an eligible home-
21 owner or a renter first becomes an eligible renter; in the event a
22 previously eligible homeowner or a previously eligible renter becomes
23 ineligible because the homeowner's or renter's household income exceeds
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04155-01-5
S. 1462 2
1 one hundred fifty percent of the area median income for two consecutive
2 years, the rebate base year shall be reset to be the year preceding any
3 subsequent year in which the homeowner or renter again becomes eligible;
4 (iv) "homeowner's ground rent" shall mean the portion of a homeowner's
5 building's ground rent attributable to the homeowner's occupancy of the
6 homeowner's primary residence and paid by the homeowner to the authority
7 under the building's residential sublease to the lease between the city
8 of New York and the authority, dated November twenty-four, nineteen
9 hundred sixty-nine and recorded December twenty-six, nineteen hundred
10 sixty-nine on page one of reel one hundred sixty-one, and any subsequent
11 amendments; and (v) "renter's ground rent" shall mean the portion of a
12 renter's rent payment attributable to the ground rent based on the
13 renter's occupancy of their primary residence and paid by the landlord
14 to the authority under the building's residential sublease to the lease
15 between the city of New York and the authority, dated November twenty-
16 four, nineteen hundred sixty-nine and recorded December twenty-six,
17 nineteen hundred sixty-nine on page one of reel one hundred sixty-one,
18 and any subsequent amendments.
19 (b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the authori-
20 ty shall offer to each eligible homeowner and eligible renter a rebate
21 of the portion of such homeowner's or renter's ground rent equal to the
22 difference between the amount of such homeowner's or renter's ground
23 rent due in the rebate base year and the amount of the homeowner's or
24 renter's ground rent due and paid in the year for which the eligible
25 homeowner or eligible renter applies for the rebate. If the authority
26 determines a homeowner to be an eligible homeowner or a renter to be an
27 eligible renter for a given year, the authority shall permit such eligi-
28 ble homeowner or eligible renter to certify that they expect to meet the
29 eligibility criteria in the next succeeding year; upon reviewing such
30 certification and finding that such homeowner or renter is likely to be
31 an eligible homeowner or eligible renter in such next succeeding year,
32 the authority shall, to the extent practicable, offer a proportional
33 share of the expected annual rebate in the form of a periodic rebate or
34 discount during the year for which the homeowner or renter is expected
35 to be eligible.
36 (c) Within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of this
37 subdivision, the authority shall promulgate procedures for applying for
38 such rebate, and set standards for reviewing applications and certif-
39 ications, assessing the accuracy of any information necessary to deter-
40 mine eligibility, and making payments to applicants found to be eligible
41 and those expected to be eligible in the next succeeding year.
42 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
