BILL NUMBER: S7980
SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to the determi-
nation of adjusted base proportions in special assessing units which are
cities
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would amend section 1803-a of the Real Property Tax Law to
allow the local legislative body to amend the cap on the maximum class
growth rate as long as it does not exceed 5 percent for fiscal year
2026.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section One amends Subdivision 1 of section 1803-a of the real property
tax law
Section Two provides for the effectiveness of provisions for the special
assessing unit
Section Three provides for the effective date
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In order to determine how much of the levy to collect from each of the
four tax classes next fiscal year, State law requires New York City to
adopt class shares based on the equalization rates calculated by the
State Board of Real Property Services (SBRPS). In most years, the rates
provided by SBRPS would cause an increase to the tax burden for owners
of class one property, comprising one-to-three-family homes. Currently,
State law provides that the current base proportion of any of the City's
four tax classes may not exceed the adjusted base proportion from the
prior year by more than five percent. This bill would permit the local
legislative body to lower the cap on the maximum allowable growth rate
for the share of the overall tax levy paid by each class. Flexibility to
lower this cap would allow the Council to adopt balanced tax rates for
Fiscal 2026 that provide relief for class one homeowners without placing
undue burden on the other property tax classes.
The equalization rates have caused class one's tax rate to increase in
ten of the past fifteen years, with six of those years seeing increases
of over two percent. Conversely, the other three classes have seen much
more balanced oscillations in their tax rates, with increases of over
two percent only occurring three years for class three, one year for
class four, and never for class two.
Failure to enact this legislation would leave the City Council no option
but to adopt the default SBRPS formula for establishing class shares. In
that case, tax rates for class one and two may increase uncontrollably,
and cause significant increases in the tax bills for residential home-
owners. Limiting the tax rate increases for classes one and two that
would result from SBRPS procedures is avoidable only through passage of
this legislation.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately

Statutes affected:
S7980: 1803-a real property tax law, 1803-a(1) real property tax law