§ 483-B — Historic barns

§ 483-b. Historic barns. 1. Historic barns which are reconstructed or\nrehabilitated shall be exempt from taxation to the extent provided\nhereinafter. After a public hearing, the governing board of a county,\ncity, town or village may adopt a local law and a school district, other\nthan a school district subject to article fifty-two of the education\nlaw, may adopt a resolution to grant the exemption authorized pursuant\nto this section. A copy of such local law or resolution shall be filed\nwith the commissioner and the assessor of such county, city, town or\nvillage who prepares the assessment roll on which the taxes of such\ncounty, city, town, village or school district are levied.\n 2. (a) Such barns shall be exempt for a period of one year to the\nextent of one hundred per centum of the increase in assessed value\nthereof attributable to such reconstruction or rehabilitation and for an\nadditional period of nine years subject to the following:\n (i) The extent of such exemption shall be decreased by ten per centum\nof the "exemption base" each year during such additional period. The\n"exemption base" shall be the increase in assessed value as determined\nin the initial year of the term of the exemption, except as provided in\nsubparagraph (ii) of this paragraph.\n (ii) In any year in which a change in level of assessment of fifteen\npercent or more is certified for a final assessment roll pursuant to the\nrules of the commissioner, the exemption base shall be multiplied by a\nfraction, the numerator of which shall be the total assessed value of\nthe parcel on such final assessment roll (after accounting for any\nphysical or quantity changes to the parcel since the immediately\npreceding assessment roll), and the denominator of which shall be the\ntotal assessed value of the parcel on the immediately preceding final\nassessment roll. The result shall be the new exemption base. The\nexemption shall thereupon be recomputed to take into account the new\nexemption base, notwithstanding the fact that the assessor receives\ncertification of the change in level of assessment after the completion,\nverification and filing of the final assessment roll. In the event the\nassessor does not have custody of the roll when such certification is\nreceived, the assessor shall certify the recomputed exemption to the\nlocal officers having custody and control of the roll, and such local\nofficers are hereby directed and authorized to enter the recomputed\nexemption certified by the assessor on the roll. The assessor shall give\nwritten notice of such recomputed exemption to the property owner, who\nmay, if he or she believes that the exemption was recomputed\nincorrectly, apply for a correction in the manner provided by title\nthree of article five of this chapter for the correction of clerical\nerrors.\n (b) No such exemption shall be granted for reconstruction or\nrehabilitation unless such reconstruction or rehabilitation was\ncommenced subsequent to the effective date of the local law or\nresolution adopted pursuant to subdivision one of this section;\nprovided, however, that such local law or resolution may provide that\nsuch reconstruction or rehabilitation commenced prior to the effective\ndate of such local law or resolution may qualify for the exemption.\n (c) No such exemption shall be granted to an historic barn which is\nreceiving an exemption pursuant to section four hundred eighty-three of\nthis title or which has received an exemption pursuant to that section\nwithin ten years of the date of the application for exemption filed\npursuant to this section.\n (d) No such exemption shall be granted to an historic barn which is\nused for residential purposes.\n (e) No such exemption shall be granted for reconstruction and\nrehabilitation expenses that materially alter the historic appearance of\nthe barn.\n 3. Such exemption shall be granted only upon application by the owner\nof such barn on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The application\nshall be filed with the assessor of the city, town, village or county\nhaving the power to assess property for taxation on or before the\nappropriate taxable status date of such city, town, village or county.\n 4. If satisfied that the barn is entitled to an exemption pursuant to\nthis section, the assessor shall approve the application and such barn\nshall thereafter be exempt from taxation as herein provided commencing\nwith the assessment roll prepared on the basis of the taxable status\ndate referred to in subdivision three of this section. The assessed\nvalue of any exemption granted pursuant to this section shall be entered\nby the assessor on the assessment roll with the taxable property, with\nthe amount of the exemption shown in a separate column.\n 5. For the purposes of this section, an historic barn shall mean a\ncertified agricultural structure that was at least partially constructed\nbefore nineteen hundred forty-five and that is or was used as an\nagricultural facility or for purposes related to agriculture; provided,\nhowever, that a certified agricultural structure that was constructed\nafter nineteen hundred forty-five may qualify as an historic barn if\nsuch structure is determined eligible for listing on the state or\nnational register of historic places or is determined to be a\ncontributing structure of a district listed on the state or national\nregister of historic places. The office of parks, recreation and\nhistoric preservation shall establish eligibility guidelines for the\ncertification of agricultural structures as historic barns which shall\nbe eligible for the tax exemption established pursuant to this section.\n