Authorizes funds in the case of certain tax certiorari challenges or agreed upon settlements; authorizes the board of education to establish a tax certiorari stabilization reserve fund.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4452--B
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 11, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. GAUGHRAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Education in
accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT authorizing funds in the case of certain tax certiorari chal-
lenges or agreed upon settlements; and to amend the education law, in
relation to authorizing a board of education to establish a tax
certiorari stabilization reserve fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. 1. Contingent upon available funding, and not to exceed
2 $69,000,000, moneys shall be available for a local government entity,
3 which for the purposes of this section shall mean a county, city, town,
4 village, school district, special district, school district public
5 library or municipal public library where, on or after April 1, 2019, a
6 successful tax certiorari challenge or an agreed upon settlement that
7 has resulted in either a reduction in the real property tax collections
8 or payments in lieu of taxes of at least twenty percent, or in regard to
9 a settlement agreement a reduction in real property taxes or payments in
10 lieu of taxes of at least twenty percent in the aggregate over the term
11 of the settlement agreement, or that has resulted in a real property tax
12 levy increase of over twenty percent of a local government entity. Such
13 moneys attributable to a successful tax certiorari challenge, or an
14 agreed upon settlement, shall be paid annually on a first come, first
15 serve basis by the New York state urban development corporation to such
16 local government entity within reasonable time upon confirmation from
17 the state office of real property tax services or the local industrial
18 development authority established pursuant to the local industrial
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10714-05-0
S. 4452--B 2
1 development agency pursuant to article eighteen-A of the general munici-
2 pal law that such tax certiorari judgment, or an agreed upon settlement,
3 has resulted in a reduction in the real property tax collections or
4 payment in lieu of taxes, provided, however, that the urban development
5 corporation shall not provide assistance to such local government entity
6 for more than fifteen years in the case of a tax certiorari judgment or
7 agreed upon settlement, and shall award payments reflecting the loss of
8 revenues due to the tax certiorari judgment or an agreed upon settlement
9 as follows:
10 (a) for award year one, a maximum potential award of no more than
11 eighty percent of loss of revenues;
12 (b) for award year two, a maximum potential award of no more than
13 seventy percent of loss of revenues;
14 (c) for award year three, a maximum potential award of no more than
15 sixty percent of loss of revenues;
16 (d) for award year four, a maximum potential award of no more than
17 fifty percent of loss of revenues;
18 (e) for award year five, a maximum potential award of no more than
19 forty percent of loss of revenues;
20 (f) for award year six, a maximum potential award of no more than
21 thirty percent of loss of revenues; and
22 (g) for award years seven through fifteen, a maximum potential award
23 of no more than twenty percent of loss of revenues.
24 2. A local government entity shall be eligible for only one payment of
25 funds hereunder per year. A local government entity may seek assistance
26 under the tax certiorari mitigation fund once a final judgment or
27 settlement agreement in a tax certiorari proceeding has been filed or
28 executed. The date of submission of a local government entity's applica-
29 tion for assistance shall establish the order in which assistance is
30 paid to program applicants, except that in no event shall assistance be
31 paid to a local government entity until such time that a final judgment
32 or settlement agreement in a tax certiorari proceeding has been filed or
33 executed. For purposes of this section, any local government entity
34 seeking assistance under the tax certiorari mitigation fund must submit
35 an attestation to the department of public service that a final judgment
36 or settlement agreement in a tax certiorari proceeding has been filed or
37 executed.
38 3. For a facility with a tax certiorari judgment or settlement, the
39 appropriate agency shall submit such attestation to the urban develop-
40 ment corporation upon receipt of the determination of the amount of such
41 annual payment which shall be determined by the president of the urban
42 development corporation based on the amount of the differential between
43 the annual real property taxes and payments in lieu of taxes imposed
44 upon the facility, exclusive of interest and penalties, and the annual
45 reduction on real property taxes or payments in lieu of taxes during the
46 term of a settlement agreement from a tax certiorari proceeding. The
47 total amount awarded from this program shall not exceed $69,000,000.
48 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 3654 to read
49 as follows:
50 § 3654. Tax certiorari stabilization reserve fund. (a) Definitions. As
51 used in this section:
52 (i) "Board of education" or "board" shall mean the board of education
53 of any school district impacted by a tax certiorari action;
54 (ii) "Tax certiorari stabilization reserve fund" or "fund" shall mean
55 the tax certiorari stabilization reserve fund established pursuant to
56 this section; and
S. 4452--B 3
1 (iii) "School district" or "district" shall mean any other school
2 district that is impacted by a tax certiorari action.
3 (b) The board of education is hereby authorized to establish a tax
4 certiorari stabilization reserve fund to lessen or prevent increases in
5 the school district's real property tax levy resulting from decreases in
6 revenue due to a tax certiorari settlement or judgment provided, howev-
7 er, that no such fund shall be established unless approved by a majority
8 vote of the voters present and voting on a separate ballot proposition
9 therefor at either a special district meeting which the board of educa-
10 tion may call for such purpose or at the annual district meeting and
11 election, to be noticed and conducted in either case in accordance with
12 article forty-one of this chapter. Such separate proposition shall set
13 forth the maximum allowable balance to be deposited and held in the tax
14 certiorari stabilization reserve fund. Moneys shall be paid into and
15 withdrawn from the fund and the fund shall be administered as follows:
16 (i) The board of education is hereby authorized to receive payments
17 into its tax certiorari stabilization reserve fund from any available
18 funds.
19 (ii) Moneys may be withdrawn from the tax certiorari stabilization
20 reserve fund for any fiscal year to be expended for any lawful purpose
21 to lessen or prevent increases in the district's tax levy. Withdrawals
22 from the fund shall be disclosed in a manner consistent with the
23 required disclosures of similar reserve funds held by the district,
24 including disclosures of similar reserve funds held by the district,
25 including disclosures required by the property tax report card prepared
26 by the district pursuant to the provisions of subdivision seven of
27 section seventeen hundred sixteen of this chapter; and deposits and
28 withdrawals made in each fiscal year shall be subject to the district's
29 annual budget approval process.
30 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.