BILL NUMBER: S9785
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to the appropri-
ate tax year for assessing income requirements for certain real property
tax exemptions in a city with a population of one million or more
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Sections one, three, five, and seven of this bill would amend sections
459-c. 467, 467-b, and 467-c of the Real Property Tax law, respectively,
to amend the relevant time period referenced in the definition of
"income" used in each such section to determine benefits for applicants
in cities having a population of one million persons or more to relate
to the "target income tax year," as defined in this bill.
Sections two, four, six, and eight of this bill would also amend
sections 459-c, 467, 467-b. and 467-c of the Real Property Tax law,
respectively, to add to each such section a new term, "target income tax
year," defined for the purposes of determining benefits for applicants
in cities having a population of one million persons or more as the most
recent income tax year or other appropriate period for which the New
York City Department of Finance, or appropriate supervising agency, as
applicable, determines data is sufficiently available.
Section nine of this bill would make these amendments effective imme-
diately and retroactive to May 3, 2023-the effective date of Chapter 276
of the laws of 2023.
 
REASONS FOR SUPPORT:
This legislation would clarify how tax return data is used to determine
eligibility for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE)
program, Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) program, Senior Citi-
zen Homeowners' Exemption (SCHE) program, and Disability Homeowners'
Exemption (DHE) program. Specifically, this legislation would establish
in each program a new statutory definition-"target income tax year"-that
would provide the City of New York with greater flexibility in determin-
ing the appropriate income year, or other time period, for evaluating an
applicant's eligibility for benefits under such programs.
This legislation responds to two sets of changes made during fiscal year
2024: first. the State Budget in Part K of Chapter 59 of the Laws of
2023, added a new means of calculating income for these programs; and
second, the State Legislature enacted Chapter 276 of the Laws of 2023,
in order to ensure that current recipients of these benefits would not
lose or suffer a reduction in benefits due to this new means of calcu-
lating income. Together, these amendments were intended to reduce the
necessary submissions and review that impacts the application and bene-
fit approval process in the City.
Unfortunately, the City of New York has not consistently received access
to relevant data in a timely manner to realize these benefits. By
allowing the City to use data from the most recent year, or other time
period, for which it is sufficiently available, this bill would provide
the City with the ability to realize the intended benefits of Chapters
59 and 276 of the Laws of 2023 in years in which the City does not
receive such data in a timely manner. Ultimately, this bill will allow
the City to use data it has available to it to determine income eligi-
bility, reducing the burden on individual taxpayers.
Accordingly, the Mayor urges the earliest possible favorable consider-
ation of this proposal by the Legislature.
Respectfully submitted,
CHRISTOPHER G. ELLIS. Jr.
Director

Statutes affected:
S9785: 459-c real property tax law, 467 real property tax law, 467(3) real property tax law, 467-b real property tax law, 467-b(1) real property tax law, 467-c real property tax law, 467-c(1) real property tax law