§ 104 — Electronic real property tax administration

§ 104. Electronic real property tax administration. 1. Notwithstanding\nany provision of law to the contrary, the commissioner is hereby\nauthorized to establish standards for electronic real property tax\nadministration (E-RPT). Such standards shall set forth the terms and\nconditions under which the various tasks associated with real property\ntax administration may be executed electronically, dispensing with the\nneed for paper documents. Such tasks shall include any or all of the\nfollowing:\n (a) The filing of exemption applications;\n (b) The filing of petitions for administrative review of assessments;\n (c) The filing of petitions for judicial review of assessments;\n (d) The filing of applications for administrative corrections of\nerrors;\n (e) The issuance of statements of taxes;\n (f) The payment of taxes, subject to the provisions of sections five\nand five-b of the general municipal law;\n (g) The provision of receipts for the payment of taxes;\n (h) The issuance of taxpayer notices required by law, including\nsections five hundred eight, five hundred ten, five hundred ten-a, five\nhundred eleven, five hundred twenty-five and five hundred fifty-one-a\nthrough five hundred fifty-six-b of this chapter; and\n (i) The furnishing of notices and certificates under this chapter\nrelating to state equalization rates, residential assessment ratios,\nspecial franchise assessments, railroad ceilings, taxable state lands,\nadvisory appraisals, and the certification of assessors and county\ndirectors or real property tax services, subject to the provisions of\nsubdivision five of this section.\n 2. Such standards shall be developed after consultation with local\ngovernment officials, the office of court administration in the case of\nstandards relating to petitions for judicial review of assessments, and\nthe office of the state comptroller in the case of standards relating to\npayments or taxes and the issuance of receipts therefor.\n 3. (a) Taxpayers shall not be required to accept notices, statements\nof taxes, receipts for the payment of taxes, or other documents\nelectronically unless they have so elected. Taxpayers who have not so\nelected shall be sent such communications in the manner otherwise\nprovided by law.\n (b) The governing board of any municipal corporation may, by local\nlaw, ordinance or resolution, determine that it is in the public\ninterest for such municipal corporation to provide electronic real\nproperty tax administration. Upon adoption of such local law, ordinance\nor resolution, such municipal corporation shall comply with standards\nset forth by the commissioner.\n (c) The standards prescribed by the commissioner pursuant to this\nsection relating to communications with taxpayers shall provide for the\ncollection of electronic contact information, such as e-mail addresses\nand/or social network usernames, from taxpayers who have elected to\nreceive electronic communications in accordance with the provisions of\nthis section. Such information shall be exempt from public disclosure in\naccordance with section eighty-nine of the public officers law.\n 4. When a document has been transmitted electronically in accordance\nwith the provisions of this section and the standards adopted by the\ncommissioner hereunder, it shall be deemed to satisfy the applicable\nlegal requirements to the same extent as if it had been mailed via the\nUnited States postal service.\n 5. (a) On and after January first, two thousand twenty, whenever the\ncommissioner is obliged by law to mail a notice of the determination of\na tentative state equalization rate, tentative special franchise\nassessment, tentative assessment ceiling or other tentative\ndetermination of the commissioner that is subject to administrative\nreview, the commissioner shall be authorized to furnish the required\nnotice by e-mail, or by causing it to be posted on the department's\nwebsite, or both, at his or her discretion. When providing notice of a\ntentative determination by causing it to be posted on the department's\nwebsite, the commissioner also shall e-mail the parties required by law\nto receive such notice, to inform them that the notice of tentative\ndetermination has been posted on the website. Such notice of tentative\ndetermination shall not be deemed complete unless such emails have been\nsent. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the\ncommissioner shall not be required to furnish such notices by postal\nmail, except as provided by paragraphs (d) and (e) of this subdivision.\n (b) When providing notice of a tentative determination by e-mail or\nposting pursuant to this subdivision, the commissioner shall specify an\ne-mail address to which complaints regarding such tentative\ndetermination may be sent. A complaint that is sent to the commissioner\nby e-mail to the specified e-mail address by the date prescribed by law\nfor the mailing of such complaints shall be deemed valid to the same\nextent as if it had been sent by postal mail.\n (c) When a final determination is made in such a matter, notice of the\nfinal determination and any certificate relating thereto shall be\nfurnished by e-mail or by a website posting, or both at the\ncommissioner's discretion, and need not be provided by postal mail,\nexcept as provided by paragraphs (d) and (e) of this subdivision. When\nproviding notice of a final determination by website posting, the\ncommissioner also shall e-mail the parties required by law to receive\nsuch notice, to inform them that the notice of final determination has\nbeen posted on the website. Such notice of final determination shall not\nbe deemed complete unless such emails have been sent.\n (d) If an assessor has advised the commissioner in writing that he or\nshe prefers to receive the notices described in this subdivision by\npostal mail, the commissioner shall thereafter send such notices to that\nassessor by postal mail, and need not send such notices to that assessor\nby e-mail. The commissioner shall prescribe a form that assessors may\nuse to advise the commissioner of their preference for postal mail.\n (e) If the commissioner learns that an e-mail address to which a\nnotice has been sent pursuant to this subdivision is not valid, and the\ncommissioner cannot find a valid e-mail address for that party, the\ncommissioner shall resend the notice to the party by postal mail. If the\ncommissioner does not have a valid e-mail address for the party at the\ntime the notice is initially required to be sent, the commissioner shall\nsend the notice to that party by postal mail.\n (f) On or before November thirtieth, two thousand nineteen, the\ncommissioner shall send a notice by postal mail to assessors, to chief\nexecutive officers of assessing units, and to owners of special\nfranchise property and railroad property, informing them of the\nprovisions of this section. The notice to be sent to assessors shall\ninclude a copy of the form prescribed pursuant to paragraph (d) of this\nsubdivision.\n (g) As used in this subdivision, the term "postal mail" shall mean\nmail that is physically delivered to the addressee by the United States\npostal service.\n