BILL NUMBER: S3563
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to permitting
other qualifying members of a household to qualify for the disability
rent increase exemption
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill includes the parent or guardian of a person with a disability
in the definition of head of household for the disability rent increase
program.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Sections 1-3 amend paragraph b of subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 of section
467-b of the real property tax law to expand the definition of "head of
household" to include the parent or legal guardian of a person with a
disability.
Section 4 amends subparagraph d of subdivision 1 of section 467-c of the
real property tax law to expand the definition of "head of household" to
include the parent or legal guardian of a person with a disability.
Section 5 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) program, provides rent
relief for disabled New Yorkers living in rent regulated buildings on an
income of $50,000 or less. In 2016, the last year of available data,
66,578 New York City residents froze their rents using DRIE.
This vital program ensures that tens of thousands of disabled New York-
ers can remain in their homes but its restrictive eligibility require-
ments exclude some 7411 households in which a family member has a disa-
bility, but is not an eligible head of household under the existing
requirements.
This bill expands the scope of DRIE by amending the language of the real
property tax law to include the parent, legal guardian, or other rela-
tive of a person with a disability to provide rent relief to households
that face similar or identical hardships to those already covered by
DRIE.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
90 days after becoming law.