§ 972 — County may become collection agency

§ 972. County may become collection agency. 1. Adoption.\nNotwithstanding any provisions of this chapter, or any other general,\nspecial or local law to the contrary, the legislative body of a county\nmay, by local law, provide that thereafter and until such local law is\nrepealed, the county shall become the tax collection agency for the\npurpose of collecting taxes in installments as prescribed by this title\nand by sections thirteen hundred thirty-six through thirteen hundred\nforty-two of this chapter. The term "taxes" as used in this title shall\ninclude special assessments which are levied by the county legislative\nbody at the time and in the manner provided by law for the levy of\ncounty and town taxes.\n 2. Payment schedule. Such local law shall provide the number of\ninstallments and the respective dates upon which each installment shall\nbe due, the first not later than the last day of the month in which the\nrespective taxes may be paid without interest without regard to this\ntitle, and the last not later than the last day of the fiscal year for\nwhich it was levied, or in the case of a school district, not later than\nthe thirty-first day of August following the conclusion of such fiscal\nyear. Unless the local law provides otherwise, each installment shall\nbe as nearly equal as possible.\n 3. Interest. (a) Each installment other than the first shall be\nsubject to interest at the rate determined pursuant to section nine\nhundred twenty-four-a of this article, or such other law as may be\nlocally applicable, up to and including the date on which it is to be\npaid. Such interest shall be amortized over all scheduled payments,\nunless the local law provides for unequal installments, in which case\ninterest shall be calculated and imposed separately upon each\ninstallment.\n (b) If an installment is not paid on or before the date it is due,\nadditional interest shall be added as provided by section nine hundred\nseventy-five or section thirteen hundred forty of this chapter.\n (c) The amount of any interest which shall be added to any installment\npursuant to this section and section nine hundred seventy-five or\nsection thirteen hundred forty of this chapter shall belong to the\ncounty.\n 4. Eligible property. (a) A local law establishing an installment\nprogram pursuant to this section may provide that the program shall be\nlimited to one or more of the following types of property:\n (i) property which has been assessed as a one, two or three family\nresidence; or\n (ii) property which is exempt from taxation pursuant to section four\nhundred sixty-seven of this chapter; or\n (iii) property which is exempt from taxation pursuant to section four\nhundred fifty-nine of this chapter, or which is owned and occupied by a\nperson or persons who qualify as physically disabled pursuant to that\nstatute; or\n (iv) property which is owned by, and used as, the principal residence\nof, a person who receives supplemental security income.\n (b) If the local law does not provide otherwise, the program shall\napply to all types of property.\n (c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, taxes which are paid through a real\nproperty tax escrow account may not be paid in installments pursuant to\nthis title.\n 5. Adoption by certain cities and towns. Any city or town having the\npower to collect and enforce taxes levied or imposed pursuant to law may\nelect, by local law or ordinance, to have the provisions of this title\napply to such city or town, in which case all references to the county\nlegislative body shall refer to the legislative body of such city or\ntown and the references to other local officers shall refer to the\ncorresponding officers of such city or town; provided however, that the\nmanner and time provided by law for paying taxes imposed on behalf of\nanother municipal corporation or special district shall not be modified\nby the enactment of such local law or ordinance.\n