§ 874 — Tax exemptions

§ 874. Tax exemptions. (1) It is hereby determined that the creation\nof the agency and the carrying out of its corporate purposes is in all\nrespects for the benefit of the people of the state of New York and is a\npublic purpose, and the agency shall be regarded as performing a\ngovernmental function in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it by\nthis title and shall be required to pay no taxes or assessments upon any\nof the property acquired by it or under its jurisdiction or control or\nsupervision or upon its activities. Provided, however, if the agency is\nlocated within a transportation district referenced in paragraph (a) of\nsubdivision two of section two hundred fifty-three of the tax law, it\nshall not be exempt from the additional tax on each mortgage of real\nproperty situated within the state imposed by such paragraph.\n (2) Any bonds or notes issued pursuant to this title, together with\nthe income therefrom, as well as the property of the agency, shall be\nexempt from taxation, except for transfer and estate taxes.\n (3) Payments in lieu of taxes received by the agency shall be remitted\nto each affected tax jurisdiction within thirty days of receipt.\n (4) (a) The agency shall establish a uniform tax exemption policy,\nwith input from affected tax jurisdictions, which shall be applicable to\nthe provision of financial assistance pursuant to section eight hundred\nfifty-nine-a of this title and shall provide guidelines for the claiming\nof real property, mortgage recording, and sales tax exemptions. Such\nguidelines shall include, but not be limited to: period of exemption;\npercentage of exemption; types of projects for which exemptions can be\nclaimed; procedures for payments in lieu of taxes and instances in which\nreal property appraisals are to be performed as a part of an application\nfor tax exemption; in addition, agencies shall in adopting such policy\nconsider such issues as: the extent to which a project will create or\nretain permanent, private sector jobs; the estimated value of any tax\nexemptions to be provided; whether affected tax jurisdictions shall be\nreimbursed by the project occupant if a project does not fulfill the\npurposes for which an exemption was provided; the impact of a proposed\nproject on existing and proposed businesses and economic development\nprojects in the vicinity; the amount of private sector investment\ngenerated or likely to be generated by the proposed project; the\ndemonstrated public support for the proposed project; the likelihood of\naccomplishing the proposed project in a timely fashion; the effect of\nthe proposed project upon the environment; the extent to which the\nproject will utilize, to the fullest extent practicable and economically\nfeasible, resource conservation, energy efficiency, green technologies,\nand alternative and renewable energy measures; the extent to which the\nproject will provide onsite child care services or otherwise facilitate\nnew child care services; the extent to which the proposed project will\nrequire the provision of additional services, including, but not limited\nto additional educational, transportation, police, emergency medical or\nfire services; and the extent to which the proposed project will provide\nadditional sources of revenue for municipalities and school districts.\n (b) The agency shall establish a procedure for deviation from the\nuniform tax exemption policy required pursuant to this subdivision. The\nagency shall set forth in writing the reasons for deviation from such\npolicy, and shall further notify by certified mail, return receipt\nrequested or an electronic correspondence with a read-receipt, the\naffected local taxing jurisdictions of the proposed deviation from such\npolicy and the reasons therefor. When the affected local taxing\njurisdiction is a school district, the agency shall notify by certified\nmail, return receipt requested or an electronic correspondence with a\nread-receipt, the district clerk and district superintendent of each\naffected school district.\n (5) Payments in lieu of taxes which are delinquent under the agreement\nor which an agency fails to remit pursuant to subdivision three of this\nsection, shall be subject to a late payment penalty of five percent of\nthe amount due which shall be paid by the project occupant (where taxes\nare delinquent because of the occupant's failure to make the required\npayment) or the agency (because of the agency's failure to remit\npursuant to subdivision three of this section) to the affected tax\njurisdiction at the time the payment in lieu of taxes is paid. For each\nmonth, or part thereof, that the payment in lieu of taxes is delinquent\nbeyond the first month, interest shall accrue to and be paid to the\naffected tax jurisdiction on the total amount due plus a late payment\npenalty in the amount of one percent per month until the payment is\nmade.\n (6) An affected tax jurisdiction which has not received a payment in\nlieu of taxes due to it under an agreement may commence legal action in\nany court of competent jurisdiction directly against any person, firm,\ncorporation, organization or agency which is obligated to make payments\nin lieu of taxes under an agreement and has failed to do so. In such an\naction, the affected tax jurisdiction shall be entitled to recover the\namount due, the late payment penalty, interest, expenses, costs and\ndisbursements together with the reasonable attorneys' fees necessary to\nprosecute such action. Nothing herein shall be construed as providing an\naffected tax jurisdiction with the right to sue and recover from an\nagency which has not received payments in lieu of taxes from a project\noccupant.\n (7) Any refinancing of a project shall be subject to the provisions of\nsection eight hundred fifty-nine-a of this chapter, except where such\nrefinancing was previously approved pursuant to such section.\n (8) Agents of an agency and project operators shall annually file a\nstatement with the state department of taxation and finance, on a form\nand in such a manner as is prescribed by the commissioner of taxation\nand finance, of the value of all sales and use tax exemptions claimed by\nsuch agents or agents of such agents or project operators, including,\nbut not limited to, consultants or subcontractors of such agents or\nproject operators, under the authority granted pursuant to this section.\nThe penalty for failure to file such statement shall be the removal of\nauthority to act as an agent of an agency or a project operator.\n (9) (a) Within thirty days of the date that the agency designates a\nproject operator or other person to act as agent of the agency for\npurposes of providing financial assistance consisting of any sales and\ncompensating use tax exemption to such person, the agency shall file a\nstatement with the department of taxation and finance relating thereto,\non a form and in such manner as is prescribed by the commissioner of\ntaxation and finance, identifying each such agent so named by the\nagency, setting forth the taxpayer identification number of each such\nagent, giving a brief description of the property and/or services\nintended to be exempted from such taxes as a result of such appointment\nas agent, indicating the agency's rough estimate of the value of the\nproperty and/or services to which such appointment as agent relates,\nindicating the date when such designation as agent became effective and\nindicating the date upon which such designation as agent shall cease.\n (b) Within thirty days of the date that the agency's designation\ndescribed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision has been amended,\nterminated, been revoked, or become invalid or ineffective for any\nreason, the agency shall file a statement with the department of\ntaxation and finance relating thereto, on a form and in such manner as\nis prescribed by the commissioner of taxation and finance, identifying\neach such agent so named by the agency in the original designation and\nsetting forth the taxpayer identification number and other identifying\ninformation of each such agent, the date as of which the original\ndesignation was amended, terminated, revoked, or became invalid or\nineffective and the reason therefor, together with a copy of the\noriginal designation.\n (10) Each agency shall develop policies for the suspension or\ndiscontinuance of financial assistance, or for the modification of any\npayment in lieu of tax agreement to require increased payments under\ncircumstances as specified in the policy, which may include but shall\nnot be limited to events of material violation of the terms and\nconditions of a project agreement.\n (11) Each agency shall develop policies for the return of all or a\npart of the financial assistance provided for the project, including all\nor part of the amount of any tax exemptions, as specified in the policy,\nwhich may include but shall not be limited to material shortfalls in job\ncreation and retention projections or material violations of the terms\nand conditions of project agreements. All such returned amounts of tax\nexemptions shall be redistributed to the appropriate affected tax\njurisdiction, unless agreed to otherwise by any local taxing\njurisdiction.\n (12) Each agency shall at least annually assess the progress of each\nproject for which bonds or notes remain outstanding or straight-lease\ntransactions have not terminated, or which continue to receive financial\nassistance or are otherwise active, toward achieving the investment, job\nretention or creation, or other objectives of the project indicated in\nthe project application. Such assessments shall be provided to board\nmembers.\n