§ 967 — Division of taxes by governmental bodies

§ 967. Division of taxes by governmental bodies. (a) The governing\nboard of any city, town, village or county in which an empire zone is\nlocated is hereby authorized and empowered to:\n (i) adopt a local law providing that any taxes levied by or on behalf\nof such city, town, village or county upon taxable real property in such\nzone shall be divided based on the area's original taxable value and its\nincremental value as determined in subdivisions (c) and (f) of this\nsection, provided however, that no city, town, village or county may\nadopt a local law providing for such a division of taxes if:\n (A) the original taxable value of the zone involved exceeds a figure\nequal to twenty percent of the total assessed value of that\nmunicipality, exclusive of any incremental values for such areas; or\n (B) the land area of the zone involved exceeds a figure equal to\ntwenty percent of the total land area of the municipality.\n (ii) adopt a local law establishing a special empire zone tax\nincrement fund and providing for the deposit of moneys into such fund\npursuant to subdivision (g) of this section.\n (b) In no event shall the division of taxes pursuant to this section\nbe construed as relieving property owners within the designated area of\ntheir obligation for paying the taxes, if any, levied upon the assessed\nvalue of their taxable real property.\n (c) As soon as possible after any local legislative body has adopted a\nlocal law as provided for in subparagraph (i) of subdivision (a) of this\nsection, the assessor who prepares the assessment roll used for the levy\nof such county, city, town and village taxes shall certify the "original\ntaxable value" of each lot and parcel of taxable real property in the\narea involved. For the purposes of this section, "original taxable\nvalue" shall be the assessed value as of the last taxable status date\nbefore the date on which a local law authorizing the division of taxes\nwas adopted.\n (d) Whenever any property in such an area is owned by the city, town,\nvillage or county involved and is leased to any person or persons, such\nproperty shall be assessed and taxed in the same manner as privately\nowned property, and the lease or contract between the city, town,\nvillage or county involved and such person or persons shall provide that\nthe lessee shall pay taxes upon the assessed value of the entire\nproperty and not merely upon the assessed value of his, her or its\nleasehold interest.\n (e) In each year subsequent to the determination of the original\ntaxable value of each lot and parcel of taxable real property in such an\narea in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (c) of this\nsection, the assessor shall compute and certify the net amount by which\nthe taxable value of all such lots and parcels has increased or\ndecreased in comparison with the original taxable value of all such lots\nand parcels. The net amount of the increase or decrease is referred to\nin this section as the "incremental value" or the "lost value" for that\nyear, as the case may be.\n (f) In any year when there is an incremental value, the tax levying\nbody shall extend the taxes of each city, town, village or county, which\nhas adopted a local law pursuant to this section, against the\nincremental value as well as the original taxable value, and the amount\nof taxes received from such extension against the incremental value is\nreferred to in this section as the tax increment for that year.\n (g) The city, town, village or county official responsible for\nreceiving real property tax payments shall segregate each year all tax\nincrements from the designated area and transmit such increments to the\ncity, town, village or county treasurer who shall deposit such monies in\na special empire zone tax increment fund from which the local\nlegislative body may authorize payments for infrastructure improvements\nauthorized in such municipality's empire zone development plan for the\narea involved.\n (h) In the event that any state or local law governing the\nclassification of real property and thereby determining the percentage\nof market value to be assessed for real property taxation purposes is\namended hereafter, the increase or decrease in assessed valuation\nresulting therefrom shall be applied proportionately in each year\nthereafter to the original taxable value and incremental value of the\narea involved.\n (i) The local legislative body of the city, town, village or county or\nits designated agency may invest any funds in the special empire zone\ntax increment fund not required for immediate disbursement, in property\nor securities in which public bodies may invest funds subject to their\ncontrol.\n (j) In any year when there is a lost value, the provisions of this\nsection shall not apply.\n