N.Y. Real Property Tax Law § 467-g: Rebate for owners of certain real property seriously damaged by the severe storm that occurred on the twenty-ninth and thirtieth of Octob...

§ 467-g. Rebate for owners of certain real property seriously damaged

by the severe storm that occurred on the twenty-ninth and thirtieth of

October, two thousand twelve in a city having a population of one

million or more. 1. Generally. Notwithstanding any provision of any

general, special or local law to the contrary, any city having a

population of one million or more is hereby authorized and empowered to

adopt and amend local laws in accordance with this section to grant a

rebate of real property taxes for the fiscal year beginning on the first

of July, two thousand twelve, in the amount provided in this section.

Such rebate shall be paid by the commissioner of finance to an owner who

owned eligible real property as defined in subdivision three of this

section or a unit in such eligible real property on the thirtieth of

October, two thousand twelve. If legal title to eligible real property,

or ownership of shares of stock representing a dwelling unit, is held by

one or more trustees, the beneficial owner or owners shall be deemed to

own the property or dwelling unit for purposes of this section.

Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, an owner

whose property is receiving benefits pursuant to any other section of

this article shall not be prohibited from receiving a rebate pursuant to

this section if such owner is otherwise eligible to receive such rebate.

2. Definitions. As used in this section:

a. "Annual tax" means the amount of real property tax that is imposed

on a property for the fiscal year beginning on the first of July, two

thousand twelve, determined after reduction for any amount from which

the property is exempt, or which is abated, pursuant to applicable law.

b. "Assessed valuation" means the assessed valuation of real property

that was used to determine the annual tax as defined in paragraph a of

this subdivision, and which is not reduced by any exemption from real

property taxes. For real property classified as class two or class four

real property as defined in subdivision one of section eighteen hundred

two of this chapter to which subdivision three of section eighteen

hundred five of this chapter applies, the assessed valuation is the

lower of the assessed valuation and transitional assessed valuation as

provided in subdivision three of section eighteen hundred five of this

chapter, and which is not reduced by any exemption from real property

taxes.

c. "Commissioner of finance" means the commissioner of finance of a

city having a population of one million or more, or his or her designee.

d. "Cooperative development" means, with respect to properties

described in subparagraph (c) of paragraph class one of subdivision one

of section eighteen hundred two of this chapter, all of the properties,

including the land and improvements thereon, as to which the land is

held by a single cooperative corporation.

e. "Department of buildings" means the department of buildings of a

city having a population of one million or more.

f. "Department of finance" means the department of finance of a city

having a population of one million or more.

g. "Owner" means the owner of real property, or a tenant-stockholder

of a unit in real property held in the cooperative form of ownership on

the thirtieth of October, two thousand twelve.

3. Eligible real property. a. For purposes of this section, "eligible

real property" means any tax lot that contained, on the applicable

taxable status date, class one, class two or class four real property as

such classes of real property are defined in subdivision one of section

eighteen hundred two of this chapter, on which any building has been

designated by the department of buildings in accordance with paragraph b

of this subdivision.

b. For purposes of this section, a building has been designated by the

department of buildings if:

(1) during the period beginning on the first of November, two thousand

twelve and ending on the thirtieth of November, two thousand twelve,

after inspection by the department, such building has been determined to

be seriously damaged and unsafe to enter or occupy or completely

demolished as a result of damage caused by the effects of the severe

storm that occurred on the twenty-ninth and thirtieth of October, two

thousand twelve, and such determination has been indicated by a notation

on such department's records and/or by the posting of a red placard

warning on the building; or

(2) during the period beginning on the first of November, two thousand

twelve and ending on the thirtieth of November, two thousand twelve,

after inspection by the department, such building has been determined to

require repairs or to have a restricted area and such determination has

been indicated by a notation on such department's records and/or by the

posting of a yellow sticker on the building, and during the period

beginning on the first of December, two thousand twelve and ending on

the twenty-eighth of December, two thousand twelve, after inspection by

the department, such building has been determined to be seriously

damaged and unsafe to enter or occupy or completely demolished as a

result of damage caused by the effects of the severe storm that occurred

on the twenty-ninth and thirtieth of October, two thousand twelve, and

such determination has been indicated by a notation on such department's

records and/or by the posting of a red placard warning on the building.

4. Amount of rebate. a. The amount of the rebate to be paid by the

commissioner of finance for eligible real property pursuant to

subdivision one of this section shall be equal to two-thirds of the

annual tax, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is equal to

that portion of the assessed valuation of the eligible real property

that is attributable to the improvements on the property, and the

denominator of which is equal to the total assessed valuation of the

eligible real property.

b. Except as provided in subdivision five of this section, for

property held in the cooperative form of ownership, the amount of the

rebate to be paid to the owner of a unit therein shall be equal to that

proportion of the amount calculated under paragraph a of this

subdivision that is attributable to such unit, as determined by the

proportional relationship of the owner's share or shares of stock in the

cooperative apartment corporation that owns such real property to the

total outstanding stock of the cooperative apartment corporation.

c. Eligible real property with no annual tax shall not be eligible for

a rebate under this section.

5. Calculation of rebate for certain class one real property

consisting of one family house structures situated on land held in

cooperative ownership.

a. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision four of this section,

the amount of the rebate to be paid by the commissioner of finance to

the owner of a building that was designated by the department of

buildings in accordance with paragraph b of subdivision three of this

section, that is located on eligible real property that is described in

subparagraph (c) of paragraph class one of subdivision one of section

eighteen hundred two of this chapter, shall be equal to two-thirds of

the annual tax on the property of the cooperative development, (1)

multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is equal to that

portion of the assessed valuation of the eligible real property in the

cooperative development that is attributable to the improvements on the

property, and the denominator of which is equal to the total assessed

valuation of the eligible real property in the cooperative development,

and (2) multiplied by a second fraction, the numerator of which is equal

to the number of buildings in the cooperative development that have been

designated by the department of buildings in accordance with paragraph b

of subdivision three of this section, and the denominator of which is

the total number of buildings that were located in the cooperative

development as of the twenty-eighth day of October, two thousand twelve,

then (3) divided by the number of buildings in the cooperative

development that have been designated by the department of buildings in

accordance with paragraph b of subdivision three of this section.

b. Eligible real property described in this subdivision with no annual

tax shall not be eligible for a rebate under this section.

6. Mailing of rebate. a. The commissioner of finance shall mail the

rebate authorized by this section to the person whose name appears on

the records of the department of finance as the owner of the eligible

real property or unit located therein on the thirtieth of October, two

thousand twelve, at an address on the records of the department of

finance as the address of such owner, and if no such address appears on

the records of the department of finance, then to the address, if any,

appearing in the latest assessment roll as the address of the owner of

the eligible real property. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, if an

owner has notified the United States postal service of a forwarding

address for mail that would otherwise have been sent to any of the

addresses described in the previous sentence, then the commissioner of

finance may mail the rebate authorized by this section to such

forwarding address.

b. Notwithstanding paragraph a of this subdivision, with respect to

any rebate to which an owner of a building that was designated by the

department of buildings in accordance with paragraph b of subdivision

three of this section that is located on eligible real property that is

described in subparagraph (c) of paragraph class one of subdivision one

of section eighteen hundred two of this chapter is entitled under this

section, the commissioner of finance shall mail the rebate to the

cooperative development of which the owner's property is a part, at the

address on the records of the department of finance as the address of

the cooperative corporation that is the owner of the land included in

the cooperative development, and if no such address appears on the

records of the department of finance, then to the address, if any,

appearing in the latest assessment roll as the address of the owner of

such land. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, if the cooperative

corporation has notified the United States postal service of a

forwarding address for mail that would otherwise have been sent to any

of the addresses described in the previous sentence, then the

commissioner of finance may mail the rebate authorized by this section

to such forwarding address.

7. Recovery of erroneous rebate. If the commissioner of finance

determines (a) that an owner who received a rebate was not entitled to a

rebate under this section, or (b) that a rebate was paid or calculated

in error under this section, the commissioner of finance shall recover

or recalculate such rebate and the amount of the rebate or an amount

equal to the difference between the rebate originally paid and the

amount to which the owner was entitled shall be deducted from any refund

or rebate otherwise payable to the owner, and any balance of such amount

remaining unpaid shall be paid to the commissioner of finance no later

than the due and payable date provided on a notice of the amount payable

mailed by the commissioner of finance. Such amount payable shall

constitute a tax lien on the real property owned by such owner as of the

due and payable date provided on such notice, and, if not paid by such

due and payable date, interest at the rate applicable to delinquent real

property taxes on such property shall be charged and collected on such

amount from the due and payable date provided on such notice to the date

of payment, and such amount payable shall be enforceable as a tax lien

in accordance with provisions of law relating to the enforcement of tax

liens in any such city.

8. Rebate not deemed a refund. Any rebate authorized by this section

to be paid by the commissioner of finance shall not be deemed to be a

refund of a real property tax payment.

9. Overpayment. If, in any proceeding brought pursuant to article

seven of the real property tax law, the assessed valuation of eligible

real property is reduced for the fiscal year beginning on the first of

July, two thousand twelve, and such reduction results in a return of

overpayment of real property taxes paid with respect to such fiscal

year, the amount of such overpayment shall be reduced by the amount of

any rebate paid pursuant to this section. If such overpayment is

returned before a rebate is paid pursuant to this section, the amount of

any rebate paid pursuant to this section shall be reduced by the amount

of such overpayment.

10. Rulemaking. The commissioner of finance shall be authorized to

promulgate rules necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section.