STATE OF NEW YORK
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1065
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 10, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Aging
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to establishing a
senior citizen longtime resident exemption in certain municipalities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The real property tax law is amended by adding a new
2 section 467-l to read as follows:
3 § 467-l. Senior citizen longtime resident exemption. 1. Establishment.
4 Any municipal corporation, after conducting a public hearing, may adopt
5 a local law to grant a senior citizen longtime resident exemption pursu-
6 ant to this section.
7 2. Eligibility. a. No exemption shall be granted pursuant to this
8 section unless:
9 (1) the property is a one-, two- or three-family residential property
10 located within a United States census tract that has a median income not
11 exceeding sixteen thousand fifty-six dollars according to the two thou-
12 sand ten decennial census. A municipal corporation adopting the
13 provisions of this section may by local law further limit the exemption
14 to specific areas within such municipality experiencing an increase in
15 property values due to new development occurring therein, which put
16 senior citizen longtime residents at risk of displacement;
17 (2) the property serves as the primary residence of one or more of the
18 owners;
19 (3) all of the owners are at least sixty-five years of age or older,
20 or in the case of property owned by husband and wife or by siblings, one
21 of the owners is at least sixty-five years of age, as of the taxable
22 status date. At the option of the municipal corporation, which shall be
23 specified in the local law adopting the provisions of this section, any
24 person otherwise qualifying under this section shall not be denied the
25 exemption under this section if he or she becomes sixty-five years of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02864-01-9
S. 1065 2
1 age after the appropriate taxable status date and on or before December
2 thirty-first of the same year;
3 (4) one or more of the owners has owned and resided in the property
4 for no fewer than twenty-five consecutive years; and
5 (5) the total household income does not exceed thirty thousand dollars
6 for the latest preceding income tax year prior to the date of applica-
7 tion for such exemption. The term "income" as used in this section shall
8 mean the "adjusted gross income" for federal income tax purposes as
9 reported on the applicant's federal or state income tax return for the
10 applicable income tax year, subject to any subsequent amendments or
11 revisions, reduced by distributions, to the extent included in federal
12 adjusted gross income, received from an individual retirement account
13 and an individual retirement annuity; provided that if no such return
14 was filed for the applicable income tax year, "income" shall mean the
15 adjusted gross income that would have been so reported if such a return
16 had been filed.
17 3. Calculation of exemption. a. Except as provided in paragraph b of
18 this subdivision, a senior citizen longtime resident shall be exempt
19 from taxation and special ad valorem levies for every year in which the
20 property's current assessment exceeds the "base assessment." For the
21 purposes of this section the "base assessment" shall be the assessment
22 that appeared on the assessment roll immediately preceding the first
23 year in which an exemption was granted pursuant to this section. The
24 assessor shall annually calculate the exemption by subtracting the "base
25 assessment" from the current year's assessment.
26 b. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision,
27 no exemption shall be allowed to the extent that the assessment
28 increased due to one or more of the following events:
29 (1) a physical improvement made to the property;
30 (2) a removal or reduction of an exemption on the eligible taxpayer's
31 primary residence, including a reduction of the STAR exempt amount
32 calculated pursuant to subdivision two of section four hundred twenty-
33 five of this title; or
34 (3) a revaluation that caused the assessment of the eligible taxpay-
35 er's primary residence to increase by a percentage that is less than or
36 equal to the applicable change in level of assessment. As used in this
37 section, the terms "revaluation" and "change in level of assessment"
38 shall have the same meanings as set forth in sections one hundred two
39 and twelve hundred twenty of this chapter, respectively.
40 4. Application for such exemption shall be made annually on a form
41 prescribed by the commissioner. Such application shall be made to the
42 applicable assessor on or before the taxable status date. No application
43 for such exemption shall be granted unless the eligibility criteria of
44 subdivision two of this section are met.
45 5. In the event that a property granted an exemption pursuant to this
46 section transfers ownership or otherwise ceases to meet the eligibility
47 requirements of the exemption in subdivision two of this section, the
48 exemption granted pursuant to this section shall be discontinued. Upon
49 determining that an exemption granted pursuant to this section should be
50 discontinued, the applicable assessor shall mail a notice so stating to
51 the owner or owners thereof at the time and in the manner provided by
52 section five hundred ten of this chapter.
53 6. The applicable assessor shall, on or before December first, mail to
54 each person who was granted an exemption pursuant to this section for
55 the current fiscal year, an application form for an exemption and a
56 notice that such application must be filed no later than the taxable
S. 1065 3
1 status date in order for the exemption to be granted or continued. Fail-
2 ure to mail any such application form or notice or the failure of such
3 person or persons to receive the same shall not prevent the levy,
4 collection and enforcement of the payment of the taxes on property owned
5 by such person or persons.
6 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
