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
________________________________________________________________________
4439
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 11, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
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
19 the highest final earned rating at the head of such list, provided
20 however, that for the purposes of determining final earned ratings, a
21 person who is a resident of such city shall be entitled to receive five
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08032-01-9
S. 4439 2
1 points additional credit. Such additional credit shall be added to the
2 final earned rating after such person has qualified in the competitive
3 examination and shall be granted only at the time of establishment of
4 the resulting eligible list.
5 (c) Any candidate who believes that he or she is entitled to addi-
6 tional credit as provided in this section, may make an application for
7 such additional credit at any time between the date of application for
8 the examination and the date of the establishment of the eligible list.
9 Such candidate shall provide appropriate documentary proof of residency
10 as required by such city of residency.
11 (d) The additional credit provided by this section shall be in addi-
12 tion to any additional credit that may be granted pursuant to any gener-
13 al, special or local law.
14 (e) Any local law adopted pursuant to this section shall be applicable
15 only to competitive examinations for original appointment as a police
16 officer of such city which are held at least thirty days after the
17 adoption of such local law.
18 § 3. Section 1310 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
19 (g) to read as follows:
20 (g) Resident police officer credit. (1) Notwithstanding any other
21 provision of law to the contrary, any city imposing a tax under this
22 article is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend local laws
23 for any taxable year beginning after two thousand twenty, as specified
24 in such local laws, providing for a resident police officer credit to be
25 allowed as provided for in paragraphs two and three of this subsection.
26 (2) The credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to
27 the authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits
28 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced,
29 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a
30 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without
31 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer.
32 (3) The credit shall be equal to five hundred dollars multiplied by a
33 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa-
34 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a city
35 resident and the denominator of which is the number of days in such
36 taxable year.
37 § 4. The tax law is amended by adding a new section 1330-a to read as
38 follows:
39 § 1330-a. Resident police officer credit. (a) Notwithstanding any
40 other provision of law to the contrary, any city imposing a tax under
41 this article is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend local
42 laws for any taxable year beginning after two thousand nineteen, as
43 specified in such local laws, providing for a resident police officer
44 credit to be allowed as provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of this
45 section.
46 (b) The credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to
47 the authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits
48 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced,
49 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a
50 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without
51 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer.
52 (c) The credit shall be equal to one hundred dollars multiplied by a
53 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa-
54 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a city
55 resident and the denominator of which is the number of days in such
56 taxable year.
S. 4439 3
1 § 5. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new subsection
2 (p-1) to read as follows:
3 (p-1) Resident police officer credit. (1) A resident police officer
4 credit shall be allowed against the taxes imposed pursuant to the
5 authority of this article after the allowance of any other credits
6 allowed by this article. If the credit exceeds the tax as so reduced,
7 the taxpayer may receive, and the state comptroller, subject to a
8 certificate of the commissioner, shall pay as an overpayment, without
9 interest, the amount of such excess to the taxpayer.
10 (2) The credit shall be equal to five hundred dollars multiplied by a
11 fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days during the taxa-
12 ble year that the taxpayer was serving as a police officer while a resi-
13 dent of a city which, if authorized to, is providing a real property tax
14 exemption pursuant to section four hundred sixty-six-k of the real prop-
15 erty tax law and which, if authorized by this chapter to impose a tax
16 upon the personal income of residents, is providing a tax credit pursu-
17 ant to subsection (g) of section thirteen hundred ten of this chapter or
18 section thirteen hundred thirty-a of this chapter and the denominator of
19 which is the number of days in such taxable year.
20 § 6. The real property tax law is amended by adding a new section
21 466-k to read as follows:
22 § 466-k. Resident police officer credit. 1. Real property, in a city
23 with a population of over one hundred thousand, owned by a resident
24 police officer or such officer and spouse shall be exempt from taxation
25 for city purposes to the extent of ten thousand dollars multiplied by
26 the latest state equalization rate for the assessing unit in which such
27 real property is located; provided that the governing body of such city,
28 after a public hearing, adopts a local law, ordinance or resolution
29 providing therefor.
30 2. Such exemption shall not be granted unless: (a) the applicant
31 resides in the city where he or she serves as a police officer;
32 (b) the property is the primary residence of the applicant;
33 (c) the property is used exclusively for residential purposes;
34 provided however, that in the event any portion of such property is not
35 used exclusively for the applicant's residence but is used for other
36 purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining
37 portion only shall be entitled to the exemption provided by this
38 section; and
39 (d) the applicant has been certified by such city as a police officer.
40 3. Application for such exemption shall be filed with the assessor on
41 or before the taxable status date on a form as prescribed by the state
42 board.
43 4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any city with a
44 population of one million or more.
45 § 7. The education law is amended by adding a new section 677-b to
46 read as follows:
47 § 677-b. Police officer loan forgiveness program. 1. Certification.
48 Police officer loan forgiveness awards shall be awarded each year. Such
49 awards shall be allocated as provided in this section to eligible police
50 officers as certified to the commissioner by the president.
51 2. Eligibility. A police officer shall be eligible for an award under
52 this section provided that (a) such person resides in a city with a
53 population of one hundred thousand or more which has enacted a local law
54 providing for such police officer loan forgiveness program, (b) such
55 police officer is employed in such city as a police officer, and (c)
S. 4439 4
1 such police officer incurred student loan expense while attending either
2 the city or state university of the state of New York.
3 3. Duration. Each award shall entitle the recipient to an annual award
4 and a recipient shall be eligible for no more than a total of two thou-
5 sand dollars a year for a maximum of six years.
6 4. Calculation of award amounts. The commissioner shall be responsible
7 for calculating the dollar amount of each award that eligible candidates
8 may receive from this program.
9 5. Student loan expense. Student loan expense shall mean the cumula-
10 tive total of the annual student loans covering the cost of attendance
11 at either the city or state university of the state of New York which
12 are outstanding when application for such program is made pursuant to
13 subdivision six of this section. Interest paid or due on such student
14 loans that an applicant has taken out for use in paying for such educa-
15 tion shall be considered eligible for reimbursement under this program.
16 6. Application and selection. Application shall be made to the commis-
17 sioner in a manner prescribed by the commissioner.
18 7. Award disbursement. Annual award disbursements shall be the respon-
19 sibility of the commissioner. The commissioner shall forward approved
20 applications to the president no later than ninety days after receipt of
21 such applications. Within forty-five days, the president shall verify
22 the approved applicants' eligibility and total student loan expense.
23 8. Notification. The president shall notify the commissioner of the
24 award entitlement for each approved applicant pursuant to the verifica-
25 tion performed in subdivision seven of this section.
26 § 8. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that section six
27 of this act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding
28 the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to taxable
29 status dates occurring on or after such date.
