Adds a person with a disability who has their primary residence in a special needs trust, or a property owner who has a tenant with a disability whose lease provides them with a life interest in the property as long as the tenant remains in residence as eligible for a real property tax exemption pursuant to section 459-c of the real property tax law.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9948
SPONSOR: Eachus TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property tax law, in relation to certain real
property tax exemptions to include additional eligibility for people
with disabilities
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of the bill is to expand accessibility to partial real prop-
erty tax exemptions for persons with disabilities.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 459-c of the real
property tax law, as amended by section 7 of part K of chapter 59 of the
3 laws of 2023, is amended to expand the eligibility criteria to receive
a partial real property tax exemption for persons. with disabilities by
including persons whose primary residence is in a special needs trust,
and real property owners who have a tenant with a disability whose lease
provides them with a life interest in the property, as long as the
tenant remains in residence.
Section 2. Establishes the enacting clause.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, the real property tax law includes a real property tax
exemption for persons with disabilities but excludes real property held
in special needs trusts, or real property owners who have a tenant with
a disability whose lease provides them with a life interest in the prop-
erty. This leaves the disabled population, a large portion of which are
on a fixed income, with fewer housing options in an already competitive
housing market. This bill would support home ownership for persons with
disabilities, keeping them in the homes and communities they were raised
in.
Group homes often become the default resource and while they provide
critical services, many are overwhelmed by demand. Availability may fall
outside of the community the individual is familiar with or the facility
may be located far from family. Extending the existing partial tax
exemption for disabled persons will allow them to remain close to their
support network, provide financial relief, and promote independence.
This bill aims to provide the disabled population with greater access to
an enhanced quality of life.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9948
IN ASSEMBLY
April 26, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EACHUS -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Real Property Taxation
AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to certain real
property tax exemptions to include additional eligibility for people
with disabilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 459-c of the real
2 property tax law, as amended by section 7 of part K of chapter 59 of the
3 laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) Real property owned by one or more persons with disabilities, or
5 real property owned by a married person or a married couple, or by
6 siblings, at least one of whom has a disability, or a person with a
7 disability who has their primary residence in a special needs trust, or
8 a property owner who has a tenant with a disability whose lease provides
9 them with a life interest in the property as long as the tenant remains
10 in residence, or real property owned by one or more persons, some of
11 whom qualify under this section and the others of whom qualify under
12 section four hundred sixty-seven of this title, and whose income, as
13 hereafter defined, is limited by reason of such disability, shall be
14 exempt from payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the battery city park
15 authority or from taxation by any municipal corporation in which located
16 to the extent of fifty per centum of the assessed valuation thereof as
17 hereinafter provided. After a public hearing, the governing board of a
18 county, city, town or village may adopt a local law and a school
19 district, other than a school district subject to article fifty-two of
20 the education law, may adopt a resolution to grant the exemption author-
21 ized pursuant to this section.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14775-01-4
