§ 523 — Board of assessment review

New York § 523

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law RPT: Real Property Tax
• Title 1-A: Administrative Review of Assessments
• Art. 5: Assessment Procedure

Text

§ 523. Board of assessment review. 1. (a) In each local government\nthere shall be a board of assessment review. In each village, except a\nvillage which has enacted a local law as provided in subdivision three\nof section fourteen hundred two of this chapter, there may be a board of\nassessment review constituted pursuant to this section.\n (b) The board of assessment review shall consist of not less than\nthree nor more than five members appointed by the legislative body of\nthe local government or village or as provided by subdivision five of\nsection fifteen hundred thirty-seven of this chapter, if applicable.\nMembers shall have a knowledge of property values in the local\ngovernment or village. Neither the assessor nor any member of his or her\nstaff may be appointed to the board of assessment review. A majority of\nsuch board shall consist of members who are not officers or employees of\nthe local government or village.\n (c) The terms of office of members of the board of assessment review\nshall be five years and shall commence on the first day of October and\nterminate on the thirtieth day of September, five years thereafter. In\nthe case of the first board appointed under the provisions of this\ntitle, however, the terms shall be of such length that not more than one\nwill expire in each of the first five years after the members of such\nboard are appointed.\n (d) Each member of a county, city or town board of assessment review\nshall attend the training required by subdivision two of this section.\nIndividual members of a village board of assessment review, as\nconstituted pursuant to this section, may attend the course of training\noffered by the commissioner but are not required to do so.\n (e) The members of the board of assessment review shall annually\nchoose one of their number to serve as chairman of such board. Within\nfive days after a person is so designated, the board of assessment\nreview shall notify the clerk of the local government of the\ndesignation.\n (f) Within twenty days of when a person is appointed to the board of\nassessment review or designated chairman of such board, the clerk of the\nlocal government shall notify the commissioner and the county director\nof real property tax services of the appointment or designation.\n (g) The legislative body of the local government or village may adopt\na resolution providing that the members of the board of assessment\nreview shall be paid for their respective services. Such resolution, if\nadopted, shall fix the amount of such compensation.\n (h) The board of assessment review in Nassau county may appoint a\nsecretary who shall perform such confidential duties and such other\nduties as are necessary to enable the board of assessment review to\nproperly and efficiently carry out the provisions of this title. The\ncompensation of such secretary shall be fixed by the legislative body of\nthe local government.\n 2. Training. (a) Upon the initial appointment or reappointment of an\nindividual to a board of assessment review, that appointee shall attend\na training course as shall be prescribed by the commissioner. The\ncommissioner shall prescribe an introductory training course for initial\nappointees and a supplementary training course available to all members\nof boards of assessment review. Neither training course shall extend\nbeyond four hours in length. The introductory training course shall\ninclude, but shall not be limited to, the functions, duties and\nresponsibilities of the board of assessment review, assessment review,\nassessment procedures, and exemption administration. The supplementary\ntraining course shall include but shall not be limited to real property\ntax legislation, judicial decisions, and administrative opinions.\n (b) The commissioner may delegate to county directors of real property\ntax services the responsibility of locally administering and offering\nboth the introductory and supplementary training courses as prescribed\nby the commissioner. In prescribing the supplementary training course,\nthe commissioner, in consultation with the county director of real\nproperty tax services, may address the educational needs of each county\nin the course to be offered in such county. The commissioner shall\nprepare a certificate of attendance for each appointee or incumbent\nmember who attends an introductory or supplementary training course, a\ncopy of which must be filed with the clerk of the local government. The\ncommissioner may delegate to the county director of real property tax\nservices the responsibility to prepare and file the certificates of\nattendance.\n (c) In the event that an appointee shall have been unable to attend\nthe course of training for reasons beyond his control, as may be\nattested to by the county director, the commissioner may issue a notice\nof extension enabling the appointee to attend such course at the\nearliest date when such course is next available as specified by the\ncommissioner. The commissioner shall notify each such appointee of the\nnotice of extension and the commissioner shall also file a copy of such\nnotice with the county director of real property tax services and with\nthe clerk of the appointing local government. In determining whether a\nquorum is present at a meeting of a board of assessment review, members\nof such board who have not attended the course of training and for whom\nthe certificate of attendance has not been filed as required herein, or\nfor whom a notice of extension has not been issued and filed as provided\nherein, shall not be counted and may not participate in the hearing and\ndetermination of complaints. Where a quorum of the board is not present\nat any meeting by reason of the provisions of this subdivision,\ncomplaints shall be filed and heard and assessments determined in\naccordance with the provisions of section five hundred twenty-seven of\nthis title.\n (d) For the purpose of this subdivision, the term "appointee" shall\ninclude any individual appointed or reappointed to the board of\nassessment review.\n 3. Members appointed to the board of assessment review shall be\nrequired to disclose on a form prescribed by the commissioner any direct\nor indirect interest they have in any property for which a complaint has\nbeen filed. Such disclosure shall be filed with the chief executive\nofficer of the taxing district for which they serve, on or before the\ndate when the board submits the statement of assessment changes pursuant\nto subdivision three of section five hundred twenty-five of this title.\nIn the situation where there is a direct or indirect interest, a\nmunicipality may enter into an inter-municipal agreement with another\nmunicipality in the county to permit hearing of the complaint in the\nother municipality. Any member of a board who knowingly and\nintentionally fails to disclose such interest shall be subject to a\ncivil fine of one thousand dollars for each such omission with respect\nto property for which a complaint has been filed. The chief executive\nofficer of the assessing unit may recover in the name of such assessing\nunit in a civil action commenced in any court of competent jurisdiction\nsuch civil penalty in addition to any actual damages incurred by the\nassessing unit. Any recovery shall be deposited to the general fund of\nthe assessing unit. For purposes of this subdivision, a member of a\nboard of assessment review shall be deemed to have a direct or indirect\ninterest in any property for which a complaint has been filed when the\nmember, spouse, or any of his or her minor children:\n (a) is the owner of such property; or\n (b) is an officer, director, partner or employee of an entity which is\nan owner or lessee of such property; or\n (c) is an officer, director, partner or associate of a law firm or\nreal estate firm which has a financial interest with the owner or lessee\nof such property; or\n (d) legally or beneficially owns or controls stock of a corporation\nwhich is an owner or lessee of such property, provided, however,\nownership of stock shall not constitute an interest where such stock is\nlisted on a major stock exchange or is sold on the over the counter\nmarket and the value thereof is less than ten thousand dollars.\n