Provides for the taxation of state owned land for all purposes, exclusive of improvements and in accordance with any payment in lieu of taxes agreement.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3854
SPONSOR: Williams TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to taxation of
state owned land
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this legislation is to provide equity in relation to the
taxation of state-owned lands.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Section 532 of the Real Property Tax Law is amended. 2.(a)
is added stating that: Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section,
or any other provision of law to the contrary, beginning with tax years
commencing on and after January 1st, 2024, state owned land shall be
subject to taxation for all purposes, exclusive of improvements, equal
to the following percentages of taxes that would be owned if the land
were privately owned:
2026 10%
2027 15%
2028 20%
2029 25%
2030 and thereafter 30%
2.(b) The amount of taxes paid pursuant to this section shall in no way
reduce a real property taxation payment owed to a municipal corporation
pursuant to any other provisions of law, on land in which there exists a
payment in lieu of taxes agreement, the state shall pay the greater of
the amount owed pursuant to such agreement and the amount of taxes owed
pursuant to this subdivision.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE): here
to enter text.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, there is no state-wide policy regarding the payment of taxes
on state-owned lands. Rather, through piece-meal legislation or agree-
ments, some school districts receive property tax payments from the
State for state-owned lands and others do not. This legislation would
fix this inequity by treating all school districts containing state-
owned lands equally.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.1291 and S.64 of 2023/2024
A.5950 and S.650 of 2021/2022
A.8736 and S.7216 of 2019/2020
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
There will be benefits to local governments and a cost to the State. The
exact cost is not known at this time.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This 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 assessment
rolls prepared on the basis of taxable status dates occurring on or
after such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3854
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WILLIAMS -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Real Property Taxation
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to taxation of
state owned land
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 532 of the real property tax law, subdivision (d)
2 as amended by chapter 364 of the laws of 2004, subdivision (e) as
3 amended by section 1 of part WW of chapter 59 of the laws of 2021,
4 subdivision (g) as amended by chapter 196 of the laws of 2018, subdivi-
5 sion (h) as added by chapter 626 of the laws of 1995, subdivision (i) as
6 added by chapter 646 of the laws of 1998, subdivision (j) as added by
7 chapter 18 of the laws of 2008, subdivision (k) as added by section 1 of
8 part VV of chapter 58 of the laws of 2018 and subdivision (l) as added
9 by section 2 of part XX of chapter 58 of the laws of 2022, is amended to
10 read as follows:
11 § 532. Certain state lands subject to taxation for all purposes. 1.
12 The following state lands shall be subject to taxation for all purposes:
13 (a) All wild or forest lands owned by the state within the forest
14 preserve;
15 (b) All wild or forest lands owned by the state in the towns of Altona
16 and Dannemora, Clinton county, except the lands in the town of Dannemora
17 upon which buildings and inclosures are erected and maintained by the
18 state for the use of state institutions;
19 (c) All state lands located within the boundaries of the Allegany
20 state park in the county of Cattaraugus, exclusive of the improvements
21 thereon;
22 (d) All lands in the counties of Rockland and Putnam acquired for a
23 public use by the state, exclusive of the improvements erected thereon
24 by the state;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07316-01-5
A. 3854 2
1 (e) All lands in the counties of Rockland and Sullivan and in the
2 towns of Blooming Grove, Chester, Monroe, Warwick, Cornwall, Highlands,
3 Tuxedo and Woodbury, Orange county, and in the towns of Gardiner,
4 Rochester, Shawangunk and Wawarsing, Ulster county, acquired for a
5 public use by the commissioners of the Palisades Interstate park, exclu-
6 sive of the improvements erected thereon by the state;
7 (f) All lands acquired or leased by the state pursuant to chapter one
8 hundred forty-eight of the laws of eighteen hundred seventy-eight for
9 the construction and management of a railroad from Lake Champlain to
10 Clinton prison;
11 (g) All lands owned by the state, including lands leased from the
12 United States for a term of fifty years or more, for use by the conser-
13 vation department as a fish hatchery, game farm, game management area,
14 game refuge or for reforestation purposes, exclusive of the improvements
15 erected thereon by the state, in the following towns:
16 County Town
17 Chenango Otselic
18 Pharsalia
19 Sherburne
20 Jefferson Antwerp
21 Brownville
22 Lorraine
23 Worth
24 Lewis Montague
25 Livingston Conesus
26 Livonia
27 Springwater
28 West Sparta
29 Ontario Canadice
30 Richmond
31 Oswego Redfield
32 Otsego Morris
33 Pittsfield
34 Rensselaer Berlin
35 Stephentown
36 Steuben Wayland
37 Washington Argyle
38 Ft. Edward
39 Kingsbury
40 Yates Italy
41 Except, however, for the towns of Conesus, Canadice and Richmond the
42 provisions of this subdivision shall only apply to lands acquired by the
43 state on or after December fifteenth, nineteen hundred eighty-nine.
44 (h) All lands owned by the state, in the Bashakill wetland properties
45 located in the town of Mamakating in Sullivan county.
46 (i) All lands owned by the state in the Neversink Gorge areas in the
47 Sullivan County towns of Forestburgh, Thompson, and Mamakating.
48 (j) All lands owned by the state pursuant to subdivision two of
49 section two hundred eight of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breed-
50 ing law located within the counties of Nassau, Queens and Saratoga,
51 inclusive of the improvements erected thereon.
52 (k) Land owned by the state situate in the towns of McDonough and
53 Preston in the county of Chenango, constituting a portion of Bowman Lake
A. 3854 3
1 State Park, the title to which was vested in the state on February twen-
2 ty-first, two thousand seventeen, exclusive of the improvements erected
3 thereon.
4 (l) lands owned by the state and acquired pursuant to the provisions
5 of title twenty-one of article fifteen of the environmental conservation
6 law exclusive of the improvements erected thereon erected by the regu-
7 lating districts.
8 2. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, or any other
9 provision of law to the contrary, beginning with tax years commencing on
10 and after January first, two thousand twenty-six, state owned land shall
11 be subject to taxation for all purposes, exclusive of improvements,
12 equal to the following percentages of the taxes that would be owed if
13 the land were privately owned:
14 Tax Years Beginning inPercentage
15 calendar year:of taxes paid:
16 202610%
17 202715%
18 202820%
19 202925%
20 2030 and thereafter30%
21 (b) The amount of taxes paid pursuant to this section shall in no way
22 reduce a real property taxation payment owed to a municipal corporation
23 pursuant to any other provision of law. On land in which there exists a
24 payment in lieu of taxes agreement, the state shall pay the greater of
25 the amount owed pursuant to such agreement and the amount of taxes owed
26 pursuant to this subdivision.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
28 ing the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to
29 assessment rolls prepared on the basis of taxable status dates occurring
30 on or after such date.
