§ 485-T — Owner occupied residential property exemption program

§ 485-t. Owner occupied residential property exemption program. 1.\nDefinitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the\nfollowing meanings:\n (a) "Applicant" means any person obligated to pay real property taxes\non real property, which he or she owns and upon which he or she resides,\nor will reside and for which an exemption from taxes under this section\nis sought.\n (b) "Municipality" means any city having a population of not less than\nthirty-one thousand one hundred forty and not more than thirty-one\nthousand one hundred fifty as determined by the latest federal decennial\ncensus.\n (c) "Residential construction work" means (i) the creation,\nmodernization, rehabilitation, expansion or other improvement of single\nfamily or two family residential property that is vacant, legally\ncondemned and has outstanding state and local building and fire code\nviolations, where the cost of remedying such violations exceeds the\nvalue of such property; or\n (ii) the construction of a new single or two family residence of not\nless than one thousand two hundred square feet on a parcel upon which a\nprior structure was demolished.\n 2. A municipality, may, by local law, provide for the exemption of\nowner occupied residential property, which has been subject to\nresidential construction work, from taxation as provided in this\nsection. Subsequent to the adoption of such a local law, the county in\nwhich such municipality is located may, by local law, and any school\ndistrict, all or part of which is located in such municipality, may, by\nresolution, exempt such property from its taxation in the same manner\nand to the same extent as such municipality has done.\n 3. Upon the adoption of such a local law the owner occupied\nresidential property that was created, modernized, rehabilitated,\nexpanded or otherwise improved, shall be exempt from taxation and\nspecial ad valorem levies as provided for in subdivision four of this\nsection.\n 4. (a) (i) For a period of eleven years following the approval of an\napplication, the increase in assessed value of such property\nattributable to such creation, modernization, rehabilitation, expansion\nor other improvement shall be exempt as provided in subparagraph (ii) of\nthis paragraph. Such exemption shall be computed with respect to the\n"exemption base". The exemption base shall be determined for each year\nin which there is an increase in assessed value so attributable from\nthat of the previous year's assessed value.\n (ii) The following shall determine the computation of the tax\nexemption:\nYear of exemption Percentage of exemption\n 1 through 3 100% of exemption base\n 4 through 5 80% of exemption base\n 6 through 7 60% of exemption base\n 8 through 9 40% of exemption base\n 10 through 11 20% of exemption base\n (b) No such exemption shall be granted unless:\n (i) such creation, modernization, rehabilitation, expansion or other\nimprovement was commenced subsequent to the date on which the\nmunicipality's local law took effect;\n (ii) the cost of such creation, modernization, rehabilitation,\nexpansion or other improvement exceeds the sum of ten thousand dollars\nor such greater amount as may be specified by local law;\n (iii) the building department has issued a certificate of occupancy\nfollowing the completion of the residential construction work; and\n (iv) the property complies with all applicable codes and zoning laws\nof the city.\n (c) For purposes of this section the term "creation, modernization,\nrehabilitation, expansion or other improvement" shall not include\nordinary maintenance and repairs.\n (d) No such exemption shall be granted concurrent with or subsequent\nto any other real property tax exemption granted to the same\nimprovements to real property, except, where during the period of such\nprevious exemption, payments in lieu of taxes or other payments were\nmade to the municipality in an amount that would have been equal to or\ngreater than the amount of real property taxes that would have been paid\non such improvements had such property been granted an exemption\npursuant to this section. In such case, an exemption shall be granted\nfor a number of years equal to the eleven year exemption granted\npursuant to this section less the number of years the property would\nhave been previously exempt from real property taxes.\n 5. (a) Such exemption shall be granted only upon application by an\nowner who resides or certifies that he or she will reside on the real\nproperty on a form prescribed by the commissioner. Such application\nshall be filed with the assessor on or before the appropriate taxable\nstatus date.\n (b) Such application must include information that discloses the scope\nof work to be undertaken and shall contain cost estimates and quotes for\nsuch work from contractors, plumbers and electricians licensed to do\nbusiness within the municipality.\n (c) The application and the scope of work shall be reviewed by the\nmunicipal housing code enforcement officer and the appropriate fire and\nbuilding code enforcement officer who shall ensure that all proposed\nwork complies with the provisions of the New York state fire prevention\nand building code and all applicable municipal codes and ordinances.\n 6. If the assessor is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to an\nexemption pursuant to this section, he or she shall approve the\napplication and such real property shall thereafter be exempt from\ntaxation and special ad valorem levies as provided in this section\ncommencing with the assessment roll prepared after the taxable status\ndate referred to in subdivision five of this section. The assessed value\nof any exemption granted pursuant to this section shall be entered by\nthe assessor on the assessment roll with the taxable property, with the\namount of the exemption shown in a separate column.\n