§ 489-AA — Legislative declaration

§ 489-aa. Legislative declaration. It is hereby found and declared\nthat continued operation of the interstate railroads in the state and\nimprovement of their service and facilities are essential to the\ncommerce, defense, and general welfare of the people of the state; that\nin the year nineteen hundred fifty-nine at a time when the financial\ncondition of railroads in the state had deteriorated to the extent that\nthe continuation of vital operations was threatened, a partial exemption\nfrom taxation was granted railroad property in a manner which gave\nincreasingly greater exemptions as the rate of earnings of a railroad\nsystem declined; that since that time major interstate railroads\noperating in New York state have become bankrupt and the earnings of\nnon-bankrupt railroads have also declined substantially; that rail\nservices heretofore operated by the insolvent railroads will continue to\nbe operated by new rail systems of railroad companies created under or\nin compliance with federal statutes; that federal law requires that the\nproperty in the new systems be taxed in a non-discriminatory manner;\nthat in order for the new systems to be viable the railroad property\nwhich will constitute such new systems should be eligible for a partial\nexemption which reflects lack of earnings; that railroad ceilings cannot\nbe established for the new systems under existing formulas without the\nexpenditure of large sums of money to obtain cost data on system\nrailroad property located outside the state; that railroad ceilings\nestablished on the basis of the ratio of the operating revenues and\nexpenses of a railroad system will accomplish the same policy; and,\ntherefore, that various provisions of the railroad partial tax exemption\nlaw applicable to interstate railroads must be changed in order to\nextend the partial exemption to the new rail systems.\n