§ 354 — Certification of assessors

§ 354. Certification of assessors. 1. Any person appointed to the\noffice of chief or inferior assessor or city assessor shall be certified\nby the commissioner pursuant to this section within a maximum of three\nyears after he or she commences his or her appointment or by April\nfirst, two thousand nine whichever date is later, unless he or she has\nbeen previously certified by the commissioner and his or her\ncertification has not expired.\n 2. An assessor shall be certified upon successful completion of the\nbasic course of training and such examinations as may be prescribed by\nthe commissioner. The basic course of training shall be prescribed by\nthe commissioner based upon one or more general characteristics of the\nassessing units as the commissioner shall determine.\n 3. (a) An assessor may be certified by the commissioner if such person\nsatisfies the minimum qualification standards established by the\ncommissioner for assessors and passes a comprehensive examination\nconducted by the commissioner. The commissioner shall annually conduct\nexaminations for such purpose. Examinations shall be of such character\nas to fairly test and determine knowledge, skills, and abilities\nnecessary to perform the duties of assessor with respect to appraisal\nand assessment procedures, applicable laws, rules, and regulations and\nthe size and complexity of assessing units. The number of courses,\ncourse credit hours and their complexity shall be no greater than the\nrequirements established for other jurisdictions under section three\nhundred eighteen of this article. When applicable the basic course of\ntraining and examinations shall be consistently similar to other\njurisdictions throughout the state.\n (b) The commissioner may, in its discretion, waive any of the courses\nof training or may certify without examination any assessor, provided\nthat such person is:\n (i) an active member of the institute of assessing officers of the New\nYork state assessor's association or is a member of the American\ninstitute of real estate appraisers; or\n (ii) designated as a senior real property appraiser by the society of\nreal estate appraisers; or\n (iii) designated a certified assessment evaluator or an accredited\nassessment evaluator by the international association of assessing\nofficers.\n 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision or any other\nlaw, the travel and other actual and necessary expenses incurred by an\nassessor, in satisfactorily completing courses of training as required\nby this title or as approved by the commissioner, including continuing\neducation courses prescribed by the commissioner which are\nsatisfactorily completed by any assessor, shall be a state charge upon\naudit by the comptroller. Candidates for certification as eligible for\nthe position of assessor, other than assessors, shall be charged for the\ncost of training materials and shall be responsible for all other costs\nincurred by them in connection with such training.\n 5. In a city subject to this title, the travel and other actual and\nnecessary expenses incurred by appraisal personnel employed in the\noffice of such assessor in attending courses of training as required by\nthis subdivision shall be a state charge upon audit by the comptroller.\n 6. To the extent funds are appropriated, all payments pursuant to this\nsection shall be made from the local assistance account.\n