Add §207-r, Gen Muni L; amd §58, Civ Serv L; amd §§1310 & 606, add §1330-a, Tax L; add §466-k, RPT L; add
§677-b, Ed L
Allows salary and civil service exam credits for police officers in certain cities and property tax credits for resident officers and student loan forgiveness program for certain police officers.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1364--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 12, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government -- recom-
mitted to the Committee on Local Government in accordance with Senate
Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law and the civil service law, in
relation to salary and civil service exam credits for police officers
in certain cities; to amend the tax law and the real property tax law,
in relation to establishing certain tax credits for resident police
officers; and to amend the education law, in relation to the police
officer loan forgiveness program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new
2 section 207-r to read as follows:
3 § 207-r. Salaries of police officers who are residents of certain
4 cities. A city with a population of one hundred thousand or more is
5 hereby authorized to adopt a local law to provide that the salary of a
6 police officer of such city who is a resident thereof shall be increased
7 by an amount of five percent or more of such officer's base salary.
8 § 2. Section 58 of the civil service law is amended by adding a new
9 subdivision 7 to read as follows:
10 7. (a) A city with a population of one hundred thousand or more is
11 authorized to adopt a local law which would grant residents of such city
12 additional credits in competitive examinations for original appointment
13 as a police officer pursuant to this section.
14 (b) In the event of the enactment of a local law pursuant to paragraph
15 (a) of this subdivision, on an eligible list resulting from a compet-
16 itive examination for original appointment as a police officer, the
17 names of the eligible shall be entered in the order of their respective
18 final earned ratings on examination, with the name of the eligible with
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06775-02-6
S. 1364--A 2
1 the highest final earned rating at the head of such list, provided
2 however, that for the purposes of determining final earned ratings, a
3 person who is a resident of such city shall be entitled to receive five
4 points additional credit. Such additional credit shall be added to the
5 final earned rating after such person has qualified in the competitive
6 examination and shall be granted only at the time of establishment of
7 the resulting eligible list.
8 (c) Any candidate who believes that he or she is entitled to addi-
9 tional credit as provided in this section, may make an application for
10 such additional credit at any time between the date of application for
11 the examination and the date of the establishment of the eligible list.
12 Such candidate shall provide appropriate documentary proof of residency
13 as required by such city of residency.
14 (d) The additional credit provided by this section shall be in addi-
15 tion to any additional credit that may be granted pursuant to any gener-
16 al, special or local law.
17 (e) Any local law adopted pursuant to this section shall be applicable
18 only to competitive examinations for original appointment as a police
19 officer of such city which are held at least thirty days after the
20 adoption of such local law.
21 § 3. Section 1310 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
22 (g) to read as follows:
23 (g) Resident police officer credit. (1) Notwithstanding any other
24 provision of law to the contrary, any city imposing a tax under this
25 article is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend local laws
26 for any taxable year beginning after two thousand seventeen, as speci-
27 fied in such local laws, providing for a resident police officer credit
28 to be allowed as provided for in paragraphs two and three of this
29 subsection.
30 (2) The credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to
31 the authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits
32 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced,
33 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a
34 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without
35 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer.
36 (3) The credit shall be equal to five hundred dollars multiplied by a
37 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa-
38 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a city
39 resident and the denominator of which is the number of days in such
40 taxable year.
41 § 4. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 1330-a to read as
42 follows:
43 § 1330-a. Resident police officer credit. (a) Notwithstanding any
44 other provision of law to the contrary, any city imposing a tax under
45 this article is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend local
46 laws for any taxable year beginning after two thousand sixteen, as spec-
47 ified in such local laws, providing for a resident police officer credit
48 to be allowed as provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of this
49 section.
50 (b) The credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to
51 the authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits
52 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced,
53 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a
54 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without
55 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer.
S. 1364--A 3
1 (c) The credit shall be equal to one hundred dollars multiplied by a
2 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa-
3 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a city
4 resident and the denominator of which is the number of days in such
5 taxable year.
6 § 5. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
7 (p-1) to read as follows:
8 (p-1) Resident police officer credit. (1) A resident police officer
9 credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to the
10 authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits
11 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced,
12 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a
13 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without
14 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer.
15 (2) The credit shall be equal to five hundred dollars multiplied by a
16 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa-
17 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a resi-
18 dent of a city which, if authorized to, is providing a real property tax
19 exemption pursuant to section four hundred sixty-six-k of the real prop-
20 erty tax law and which, if authorized by this chapter to impose a tax
21 upon the personal income of residents, is providing a tax credit pursu-
22 ant to subsection (g) of section thirteen hundred ten of this chapter or
23 section thirteen hundred thirty-a of this chapter and the denominator of
24 which is the number of days in such taxable year.
25 § 6. The real property tax law is amended by adding a new section
26 466-k to read as follows:
27 § 466-k. Resident police officer credit. 1. Real property, in a city
28 with a population of over one hundred thousand, owned by a resident
29 police officer or such officer and spouse shall be exempt from taxation
30 for city purposes to the extent of ten thousand dollars multiplied by
31 the latest state equalization rate for the assessing unit in which such
32 real property is located; provided that the governing body of such city,
33 after a public hearing, adopts a local law, ordinance or resolution
34 providing therefor.
35 2. Such exemption shall not be granted unless: (a) the applicant
36 resides in the city where he or she serves as a police officer;
37 (b) the property is the primary residence of the applicant;
38 (c) the property is used exclusively for residential purposes;
39 provided however, that in the event any portion of such property is not
40 used exclusively for the applicant's residence but is used for other
41 purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining
42 portion only shall be entitled to the exemption provided by this
43 section; and
44 (d) the applicant has been certified by such city as a police officer.
45 3. Application for such exemption shall be filed with the assessor on
46 or before the taxable status date on a form as prescribed by the state
47 board.
48 4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any city with a
49 population of one million or more.
50 § 7. The education law is amended by adding a new section 677-b to
51 read as follows:
52 § 677-b. Police officer loan forgiveness program. 1. Certification.
53 Police officer loan forgiveness awards shall be awarded each year. Such
54 awards shall be allocated as provided in this section to eligible police
55 officers as certified to the commissioner by the president.
S. 1364--A 4
1 2. Eligibility. A police officer shall be eligible for an award under
2 this section provided that (a) such person resides in a city with a
3 population of one hundred thousand or more which has enacted a local law
4 providing for such police officer loan forgiveness program, (b) such
5 police officer is employed in such city as a police officer, and (c)
6 such police officer incurred student loan expense while attending either
7 the city or state university of the state of New York.
8 3. Duration. Each award shall entitle the recipient to an annual award
9 and a recipient shall be eligible for no more than a total of two thou-
10 sand dollars a year for a maximum of six years.
11 4. Calculation of award amounts. The commissioner shall be responsible
12 for calculating the dollar amount of each award that eligible candidates
13 may receive from this program.
14 5. Student loan expense. Student loan expense shall mean the cumula-
15 tive total of the annual student loans covering the cost of attendance
16 at either the city or state university of the state of New York which
17 are outstanding when application for such program is made pursuant to
18 subdivision six of this section. Interest paid or due on such student
19 loans that an applicant has taken out for use in paying for such educa-
20 tion shall be considered eligible for reimbursement under this program.
21 6. Application and selection. Application shall be made to the commis-
22 sioner in a manner prescribed by the commissioner.
23 7. Award disbursement. Annual award disbursements shall be the respon-
24 sibility of the commissioner. The commissioner shall forward approved
25 applications to the president no later than ninety days after receipt of
26 such applications. Within forty-five days, the president shall verify
27 the approved applicants' eligibility and total student loan expense.
28 8. Notification. The president shall notify the commissioner of the
29 award entitlement for each approved applicant pursuant to the verifica-
30 tion performed in subdivision seven of this section.
31 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that section six
32 of this act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding
33 the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to taxable
34 status dates occurring on or after such date.
