Relates to exemption of new multiple dwellings from local taxation; establishes process for condos and coops to qualify for section 421-a benefits based on affordable sales price or affordable rental price.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2696
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 25, 2019
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LENTOL -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Real Property Taxation
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to exemption of
new multiple dwellings from local taxation
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 421-a of the real property tax law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 18 to read as follows:
3 18. (a) Definitions. For the purposes of this subdivision:
4 (i) "421-a benefits" shall mean exemption from real property taxation
5 pursuant to this subdivision.
6 (ii) "Condominium or cooperative affordability option" shall only
7 apply to a homeownership project, of which one hundred percent of the
8 units shall: (A) have an actual sales price that shall be affordable to
9 an individual or family whose income at the time of the sale does not
10 exceed one hundred sixty-five percent of the area median income adjusted
11 for family size or (B) be offered for rent to an individual or family
12 whose income at the time of occupancy does not exceed eighty percent of
13 the area median income adjusted for family size such a unit shall not be
14 rented on a temporary, transient or short-term basis. Every lease and
15 renewal thereof for such unit rental shall be for a term of one or two
16 years, at the option of the tenant.
17 (iii) "Agency" shall mean the department of housing preservation and
18 development.
19 (iv) "Application" shall mean an application for 421-a benefits.
20 (v) "Area median income" shall mean the area median income established
21 by the United States department of housing and urban development or a
22 successor agency.
23 (vi) "Commencement date" shall mean, with respect to any eligible
24 multiple dwelling, the date upon which excavation and construction of
25 initial footings and foundations lawfully begins in good faith or, for
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04647-01-9
A. 2696 2
1 an eligible conversion, the date upon which the actual construction of
2 the conversion, alteration or improvement of the pre-existing building
3 or structure lawfully begins in good faith.
4 (vii) "Completion date" shall mean the date upon which the local
5 department of buildings issues the first temporary or permanent certif-
6 icate of occupancy covering all residential areas of an eligible multi-
7 ple dwelling.
8 (viii) "Construction period" shall mean, with respect to any eligible
9 multiple dwelling, a period: (A) beginning on the later of the commence-
10 ment date of such eligible multiple dwelling or three years before the
11 completion date of such eligible multiple dwelling; and (B) ending on
12 the day preceding the completion date of such eligible multiple dwell-
13 ing.
14 (ix) "Eligible conversion" shall mean the conversion, alteration or
15 improvement of a pre-existing building or structure resulting in a
16 multiple dwelling in which no more than forty-nine percent of the floor
17 area consists of such pre-existing building or structure.
18 (x) "Eligible multiple dwelling" shall mean a homeownership project
19 containing four or more dwelling units created through new construction
20 or eligible conversion for which the commencement date is after December
21 thirty-first, two thousand seventeen and on or before June fifteenth,
22 two thousand twenty-one, and for which the completion date is on or
23 before June fifteenth, two thousand twenty-five.
24 (xi) "Eligible site" shall mean either: (A) a tax lot containing an
25 eligible multiple dwelling; or (B) a zoning lot containing two or more
26 eligible multiple dwellings that are part of a single application.
27 (xii) "Floor area" shall mean the horizontal areas of the several
28 floors, or any portion thereof, of a dwelling or dwellings, and accesso-
29 ry structures on a lot measured from the exterior faces of exterior
30 walls, or from the center line of party walls.
31 (xiii) "Homeownership project" shall mean a multiple dwelling or
32 portion thereof operated as condominium or cooperative housing, however,
33 it shall not include a multiple dwelling or portion thereof operated as
34 cooperative or condominium housing located within the borough of Manhat-
35 tan.
36 (xiv) "Multiple dwelling" shall have the meaning set forth in the
37 multiple dwelling law.
38 (xv) "Restriction period" shall mean a period commencing on the
39 completion date and expiring on the twentieth anniversary of the
40 completion date.
41 (xvi) "Twenty year benefit" shall mean: (A) for the construction peri-
42 od, a one hundred percent exemption from real property taxation, other
43 than assessments for local improvements; (B) for the first fourteen
44 years of the restriction period, a one hundred percent exemption from
45 real property taxation, other than assessments for local improvements;
46 and (C) for the final six years of the restriction period, a twenty-five
47 percent exemption from real property taxation, other than assessments
48 for local improvements; provided, however, that no exemption under
49 clause (B) or (C) of this subparagraph shall be given for any unit which
50 does not qualify under the condominium or cooperative affordability
51 requirement.
52 (b) Benefit. In cities having a population of one million or more,
53 notwithstanding the provisions of any other subdivision of this section
54 or of any general, special or local law to the contrary, a homeownership
55 project that meets all of the requirements of this subdivision shall
56 receive a twenty year benefit.
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1 (c) Tax payments. In addition to any other amounts payable pursuant to
2 this subdivision, the owner of any eligible site receiving 421-a bene-
3 fits shall pay, in each tax year in which such 421-a benefits are in
4 effect, real property taxes and assessments as follows:
5 (i) with respect to each eligible multiple dwelling constructed on
6 such eligible site, real property taxes on the assessed valuation of
7 such land and any improvements thereon in effect during the tax year
8 prior to the commencement date of such eligible multiple dwelling, with-
9 out regard to any exemption from or abatement of real property taxation
10 in effect during such tax year, which real property taxes shall be
11 calculated using the tax rate in effect at the time such taxes are due;
12 and
13 (ii) all assessments for local improvements.
14 (d) Limitation on benefits for non-residential space. If the aggregate
15 floor area of commercial, community facility and accessory use space in
16 an eligible site, other than parking which is located not more than
17 twenty-three feet above the curb level, exceeds twelve percent of the
18 aggregate floor area in such eligible site, any 421-a benefits shall be
19 reduced by a percentage equal to such excess.
20 (e) Calculation of benefit. Based on the certification of the agency
21 certifying the applicant's eligibility for 421-a benefits, the assessors
22 shall certify to the collecting officer the amount of taxes to be
23 exempted.
24 (f) Affordability requirements. During the restriction period, a
25 homeownership project shall comply with subparagraph (ii) of paragraph
26 (a) of this subdivision. Failure to comply with the provisions of this
27 paragraph shall result in revocation of any 421-a benefits for the peri-
28 od of such non-compliance.
29 (g) Lower income rentals. Nothing in this subdivision, or any other
30 provision of law shall: (i) prohibit the occupancy of a unit by individ-
31 uals or families whose income at any time is less than the maximum
32 percentage of the area median income, adjusted for family size, speci-
33 fied for such unit pursuant to this subdivision, or (ii) prohibit the
34 owner of an eligible site from requiring, upon initial rental or upon
35 any rental following a vacancy, the occupancy of any unit by such lower
36 income individuals or families.
37 (h) Agency requirements. The agency shall establish by rule require-
38 ments for the marketing and monitoring of any homeownership project that
39 is granted an exemption pursuant to this subdivision. Such requirements
40 shall include: (i) if qualifying by sales price, certification by an
41 architect or engineer verifying number of bedrooms and a certified
42 public accountant verifying affordable sales price and (ii) if qualify-
43 ing by rental, the filing annually of an affidavit by the owner certify-
44 ing that a unit is rented at or below eighty percent of the area median
45 income based on household size.
46 (i) Concurrent exemptions or abatements. An eligible multiple dwelling
47 receiving 421-a benefits shall not receive any exemption from or abate-
48 ment of real property taxation under any other law.
49 (j) Voluntary renunciation or termination. Notwithstanding the
50 provisions of any general, special or local law to the contrary, an
51 owner shall not be entitled to voluntarily renounce or terminate any
52 421-a benefits unless the agency authorizes such renunciation or termi-
53 nation in connection with the commencement of a new tax exemption pursu-
54 ant to either the private housing finance law or section four hundred
55 twenty-c of this title.
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1 (k) Termination or revocation. The agency may terminate or revoke
2 421-a benefits for noncompliance with this subdivision. If 421-a bene-
3 fits are terminated or revoked for noncompliance with this subdivision,
4 a homeownership project shall continue to comply with subparagraph (ii)
5 of paragraph (a) of this subdivision and all other requirements of this
6 subdivision for the restriction period and any additional period
7 expressly provided in this subdivision, as if the 421-a benefits had not
8 been terminated or revoked.
9 (l) Powers cumulative. The enforcement provisions of this subdivision
10 shall not be exclusive, and are in addition to any other rights, reme-
11 dies, or enforcement powers set forth in any other law or available at
12 law or in equity.
13 (m) Applications. (i) The application with respect to any eligible
14 multiple dwelling shall be filed with the agency not later than one year
15 after the completion date of such eligible multiple dwelling.
16 (ii) Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local
17 law to the contrary, the agency may require by rule that applications be
18 filed electronically.
19 (iii) The agency may rely on certification by an architect or engineer
20 or certified public accountant submitted by an applicant in connection
21 with the filing of an application. A false certification by such archi-
22 tect or engineer or certified public accountant shall be deemed to be
23 professional misconduct pursuant to section sixty-five hundred nine of
24 the education law. Any licensee found guilty of such misconduct under
25 the procedures prescribed in section sixty-five hundred ten of the
26 education law shall be subject to the penalties prescribed in section
27 sixty-five hundred eleven of the education law, and shall thereafter be
28 ineligible to submit a certification pursuant to this subdivision.
29 (n) Filing fee. The agency may require a filing fee of three thousand
30 dollars per dwelling unit in connection with any application. However,
31 the agency may promulgate rules imposing a lesser fee for eligible sites
32 containing eligible multiple dwellings constructed with the substantial
33 assistance of grants, loans or subsidies provided by a federal, state or
34 local governmental agency or instrumentality pursuant to a program for
35 the development of affordable housing.
36 (o) Rules. The agency shall promulgate rules to carry out the
37 provisions of this subdivision.
38 (p) Authority of city to enact local law. Except as otherwise speci-
39 fied in this subdivision, a city to which this subdivision is applicable
40 may enact a local law to restrict, limit or condition the eligibility
41 for or the scope or amount of 421-a benefits in any manner, provided
42 that such local law may not grant 421-a benefits beyond those provided
43 in this subdivision and provided further that such local law shall not
44 take effect sooner than one year after it is enacted. The provisions of
45 sections 11-245 and 11-245.1 of the administrative code of the city of
46 New York or of any other local law of the city of New York that were
47 enacted on or before the effective date of this paragraph shall not
48 restrict, limit or condition the eligibility for or the scope or amount
49 of 421-a benefits pursuant to this subdivision.
50 § 2. Subparagraphs (v) and (liv) of paragraph (a) of subdivision 16 of
51 section 421-a of the real property tax law, as amended by section 3 of
52 part TTT of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, are amended to read as
53 follows:
54 (v) "Affordability option D" shall only apply to a homeownership
55 project[, of which one hundred percent of the units shall have an aver-
56 age assessed value not to exceed sixty-five thousand dollars upon the
A. 2696 5
1 first assessment following the completion date and where each owner of
2 any such unit shall agree, in writing, to maintain such unit as their
3 primary residence for no less than five years from the acquisition of
4 such unit] which complies with subdivision eighteen of this section.
5 (liv) "Twenty year benefit" shall [mean: (A) for the construction
6 period, a one hundred percent exemption from real property taxation,
7 other than assessments for local improvements; (B) for the first four-
8 teen years of the restriction period, a one hundred percent exemption
9 from real property taxation, other than assessments for local improve-
10 ments, provided, however, that no exemption shall be given for any
11 portion of a unit's assessed value that exceeds $65,000; and (C) for the
12 next six years of the restriction period, a twenty-five percent
13 exemption from real property taxation, other than assessments for local
14 improvements, provided, however, that no exemption shall be given for
15 any portion of a unit's assessed value that exceeds $65,000] have the
16 meaning set forth in subdivision eighteen of this section.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
