BILL NUMBER: S2337
SPONSOR: SKOUFIS
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property tax law and the tax law, in relation
to preventing the transitioning of the school tax relief (STAR)
exemption into a personal income tax credit; and repealing certain
provisions of the real property tax law and the tax law relating thereto
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to repeal part A of chapter 60 of the
laws of 2016, which provides for the transition of the school tax relief
property tax exemption to a personal income tax credit.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Part A of chapter 60 of the laws of 2016 amending the Real
Property Tax Law and the Tax Law relating to transitioning the school
tax relief (STAR) exemption into a personal income tax credit is
REPEALED.
Section 2: Repeals subdivision 16 of section 425 of the real property
tax law.
Section 3: States an application to renounce an exemption shall be made
on a form prescribed by the commissioner and shall be filed with the
county director of real property tax services no later than ten years
after the levy of taxes upon the assessment roll on which the renounced
exemption appears. Outlines how the county director, after consulting
with the assessor as appropriate, shall compute the total amount owed on
account of the renounced exemption.
Section 4: Repeals subdivision 6 of section 1306-a of the real property
tax law.
Section 5: Repeals subsection (eee) of section 606 of the tax law.
Section 6: Amends Paragraph 2 of subsection (n-1) of section 606 of the
tax law, as amended by section 1 of part BB of chapter 59 of the laws of
2022 to require that a taxpayer (or taxpayer filing joint returns)must
own and primarily reside in real property receiving (either) the STAR
exemption authorized by section four hundred twenty-five of the real
property tax law and that they must must have had qualified gross income
no greater than two hundred fifty thousand dollars in tax year two thou-
sand twenty.
Section 7: Establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The STAR program has historically been an exemption program, which
provides homeowners with immediate school tax relief by reducing their
school tax bills. Part A of Chapter 60 of the Laws of 2016 changed STAR
to a personal income tax program for new homeowners. These homeowners
will receive their full school tax bill, and then have to wait for a tax
credit from the Department of Taxation and Finance. New formulas will be
used to calculate the credit amounts for cooperatives and mobile homes,
which could mean some homeowners receiving the personal income tax cred-
it will receive a lesser benefit than their neighbors who are receiving.
This legislation would keep STAR as an exemption program and allow
future applicants to receive the same benefits in the same manner as
current STAR recipients.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
Senate
2015-2016: S7531, Referred to Local Government
2017-2018: S1374, Referred to Investigations and Government Operations
2019-2020: S505, Referred to Investigations and Government Operations
2021-2022: S4250, Referred to Investigations and Government Operations
Assembly
2015-2016: A9943, Reported to Ways and Means
2017-2018: No Assembly Same-As 2019-2020: No Assembly Same-As
2021-2022: A7234, Referred to Real Property Taxation
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
This legislation would eliminate the temporary cost savings of the
conversion, which was estimated by the New York State Division of Budget
to be about $100 million annually until full conversion was complete;
however the savings attributable to the conversion would ultimately have
been offset by lower income tax revenues to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S2337: 1306-a real property tax law, 1306-a(6) real property tax law