STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5776 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 20, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. GIGLIO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Real Property Taxation AN ACT to amend the real property tax law, in relation to establishing an exemption for reservists The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The real property tax law is amended by adding a new 2 section 458-d to read as follows: 3 § 458-d. Reservist exemption. 1. The following terms whenever used or 4 referred to in this section shall have the following meanings unless a 5 different meaning clearly appears in the context: 6 (a) "Reservist" means any member, whether or not such member was 7 ordered to active duty, of the federal reserve force of the United 8 States military. 9 (b) "Period of war" means the Spanish-American war; the Mexican border 10 period; World War I; World War II; the hostilities, known as the Korean 11 war, which commenced June twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred fifty and 12 terminated on January thirty-first, nineteen hundred fifty-five; the 13 hostilities, known as the Vietnam war, which commenced February twenty- 14 eighth, nineteen hundred sixty-one and terminated on May seventh, nine- 15 teen hundred seventy-five; and the hostilities, known as the Persian 16 Gulf conflict, which commenced August second, nineteen hundred ninety. 17 (c) "Service connected" means, with respect to disability or death, 18 that such disability was incurred or aggravated, or that the death 19 resulted from a disability incurred or aggravated, in line of duty in 20 the active military, naval or air service. 21 (d) "Qualified owner" means a reservist, the spouse of a reservist or 22 the unremarried surviving spouse of a reservist. Where property is owned 23 by more than one qualified owner, the exemption to which each is enti- 24 tled may be combined. Where a reservist is also the unremarried surviv- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02333-01-5
A. 5776 2 1 ing spouse of a reservist or veteran, such person may also receive any 2 exemption to which the deceased spouse was entitled. 3 (e) "Qualifying residential real property" means property owned by a 4 qualified owner which is used exclusively for residential purposes; 5 provided however, that in the event any portion of such property is not 6 so used exclusively for residential purposes but is used for other 7 purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining 8 portion only shall be entitled to the exemption provided by this 9 section. Such property must be the primary residence of the reservist or 10 unremarried surviving spouse of the reservist, unless the reservist or 11 unremarried surviving spouse is absent from the property due to medical 12 reasons or institutionalization. In the event the reservist dies and 13 there is no unremarried surviving spouse, "qualifying residential real 14 property" shall mean the primary residence owned by a qualified owner 15 prior to death, provided that the title to the property becomes vested 16 in the dependent parent or dependent child or children under twenty-one 17 years of age of a reservist by virtue of devise by or descent from the 18 deceased qualified owner, provided that the property is the primary 19 residence of one or all of the devisees. 20 (f) "Latest state equalization rate" means the latest final state 21 equalization rate or special equalization rate established by the 22 commissioner pursuant to article twelve of this chapter. The commission- 23 er shall establish a special equalization rate if it finds that there 24 has been a material change in the level of assessment since the estab- 25 lishment of the latest state equalization rate, but in no event shall 26 such special equalization rate exceed one hundred. In the event that 27 the state equalization rate exceeds one hundred, then the state equal- 28 ization rate shall be one hundred for the purposes of this section. 29 Where a special equalization rate is established for purposes of this 30 section, the assessor is directed and authorized to recompute the reser- 31 vist exemption on the assessment roll by applying such special equaliza- 32 tion rate instead of the latest state equalization rate applied in the 33 previous year and to make the appropriate corrections on the assessment 34 roll, notwithstanding the fact that such assessor may receive the 35 special equalization rate after the completion, verification and filing 36 of such final assessment roll. In the event that the assessor does not 37 have custody of the roll when such recomputation is accomplished, the 38 assessor shall certify such recomputation to the local officers having 39 custody and control of such roll, and such local officers are hereby 40 directed and authorized to enter the recomputed reservist exemption 41 certified by the assessor on such roll. 42 (g) "Latest class ratio" means the latest final class ratio estab- 43 lished by the commissioner pursuant to title one of article twelve of 44 this chapter for use in a special assessing unit as defined in section 45 eighteen hundred one of this chapter. 46 2. (a) Qualifying residential real property shall be exempt from taxa- 47 tion to the extent of fifteen percent of the assessed value of such 48 property; provided, however, that such exemption shall not exceed twelve 49 thousand dollars or the product of twelve thousand dollars multiplied by 50 the latest state equalization rate for the assessing unit, or in the 51 case of a special assessing unit, the latest class ratio, whichever is 52 less. 53 (b) In addition to the exemption provided by paragraph (a) of this 54 subdivision, where the reservist served in a combat theatre or combat 55 zone of operations, as documented by the award of a United States 56 campaign ribbon or service medal, or the armed forces expeditionary
A. 5776 3 1 medal, or global war on terrorism expeditionary medal, qualifying resi- 2 dential real property also shall be exempt from taxation to the extent 3 of ten percent of the assessed value of such property; provided, howev- 4 er, that such exemption shall not exceed eight thousand dollars or the 5 product of eight thousand dollars multiplied by the latest state equal- 6 ization rate for the assessing unit, or in the case of a special assess- 7 ing unit, the class ratio, whichever is less. 8 (c) In addition to the exemptions provided by paragraphs (a) and (b) 9 of this subdivision, where the reservist received a compensation rating 10 from the United States veteran's administration or from the United 11 States department of defense because of a service connected disability, 12 qualifying residential real property shall be exempt from taxation to 13 the extent of the product of the assessed value of such property multi- 14 plied by fifty percent of the reservist's disability rating; provided, 15 however, that such exemption shall not exceed forty thousand dollars or 16 the product of forty thousand dollars multiplied by the latest state 17 equalization rate for the assessing unit, or in the case of a special 18 assessing unit, the latest class ratio, whichever is less. For purposes 19 of this paragraph, where a person who served in the active military, 20 naval or air service during a period of war died in service of a service 21 connected disability, such person shall be deemed to have been assigned 22 a compensation rating of one hundred percent. 23 (d) (i) The exemption from taxation provided by this subdivision shall 24 be applicable to county, city, town and village taxation, but shall not 25 be applicable to taxes levied for school purposes. 26 (ii) Each county, city, town or village may adopt a local law to 27 reduce the maximum exemption allowable in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of 28 this subdivision to nine thousand dollars, six thousand dollars and 29 thirty thousand dollars, respectively, or six thousand dollars, four 30 thousand dollars and twenty thousand dollars, respectively. Each county, 31 city, town, or village is also authorized to adopt a local law to 32 increase the maximum exemption allowable in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) 33 of this subdivision to fifteen thousand dollars, ten thousand dollars 34 and fifty thousand dollars, respectively; eighteen thousand dollars, 35 twelve thousand dollars and sixty thousand dollars, respectively; twen- 36 ty-one thousand dollars, fourteen thousand dollars, and seventy thousand 37 dollars, respectively; twenty-four thousand dollars, sixteen thousand 38 dollars, and eighty thousand dollars, respectively; twenty-seven thou- 39 sand dollars, eighteen thousand dollars, and ninety thousand dollars, 40 respectively; thirty thousand dollars, twenty thousand dollars, and one 41 hundred thousand dollars, respectively; thirty-three thousand dollars, 42 twenty-two thousand dollars, and one hundred ten thousand dollars, 43 respectively; thirty-six thousand dollars, twenty-four thousand dollars, 44 and one hundred twenty thousand dollars, respectively. In addition, a 45 county, city, town or village which is a "high-appreciation munici- 46 pality" as defined in this subparagraph is authorized to adopt a local 47 law to increase the maximum exemption allowable in paragraphs (a), (b) 48 and (c) of this subdivision to thirty-nine thousand dollars, twenty-six 49 thousand dollars, and one hundred thirty thousand dollars, respectively; 50 forty-two thousand dollars, twenty-eight thousand dollars, and one 51 hundred forty thousand dollars, respectively; forty-five thousand 52 dollars, thirty thousand dollars and one hundred fifty thousand dollars, 53 respectively; forty-eight thousand dollars, thirty-two thousand dollars 54 and one hundred sixty thousand dollars, respectively; fifty-one thousand 55 dollars, thirty-four thousand dollars and one hundred seventy thousand 56 dollars, respectively; fifty-four thousand dollars, thirty-six thousand
A. 5776 4 1 dollars and one hundred eighty thousand dollars, respectively. For 2 purposes of this subparagraph, a "high-appreciation municipality" means: 3 (A) a special assessing unit that is a city, (B) a county for which the 4 commissioner has established a sales price differential factor for 5 purposes of the STAR exemption authorized by section four hundred twen- 6 ty-five of this title in three consecutive years, and (C) a city, town 7 or village which is wholly or partly located within such a county. 8 3. Application for exemption must be made by the owner, or all of the 9 owners, of the property on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The 10 owner or owners shall file the completed form in the assessor's office 11 on or before the appropriate taxable status date. The exemption shall 12 continue in full force and effect for all appropriate subsequent tax 13 years and the owner or owners of the property shall not be required to 14 refile each year. Applicants shall be required to refile on or before 15 the appropriate taxable status date if the percentage of disability 16 percentage increases or decreases or may refile if other changes have 17 occurred which affect qualification for an increased or decreased amount 18 of exemption. Any applicant convicted of making any willful false state- 19 ment in the application for such exemption shall be subject to the 20 penalties prescribed in the penal law. 21 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other 22 provision of law, in a city having a population of one million or more, 23 applications for the exemption authorized pursuant to this section shall 24 be considered timely filed if they are filed on or before the fifteenth 25 day of March of the appropriate year. 26 5. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, no later 27 than ninety days before the taxable status date next occurring on or 28 after the thirty-first day of December nineteen hundred eighty-four, the 29 governing board of any county, city, town or village may adopt a local 30 law to provide that no exemption shall be granted pursuant to this 31 section for the purposes of taxes levied for such county, city, town or 32 village. For the purposes of a county which is not an assessing unit, 33 the taxable status date next occurring on or after December thirty- 34 first, nineteen hundred eighty-four shall mean the first such taxable 35 status date of any city or town within such county upon the assessment 36 roll of which the county levies taxes. A local law adopted pursuant to 37 this subdivision may be repealed by the governing board of the applica- 38 ble county, city, town or village. Such repeal must occur at least nine- 39 ty days prior to the taxable status date of such county, city, town or 40 village. 41 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the 42 provisions of this section shall apply to any real property held in 43 trust solely for the benefit of a person or persons who would otherwise 44 be eligible for a real property tax exemption, pursuant to this section, 45 were such person or persons the owner or owners of such real property. 46 7. (a) For the purposes of this section, title to that portion of real 47 property owned by a cooperative apartment corporation in which a 48 tenant-stockholder of such corporation resides and which is represented 49 by such tenant-stockholder's share or shares of stock in such corpo- 50 ration as determined by its or their proportional relationship to the 51 total outstanding stock of the corporation, including that owned by the 52 corporation, shall be deemed to be vested in such tenant-stockholder. 53 (b) Provided that all other eligibility criteria of this section are 54 met, that proportion of the assessment of such real property owned by a 55 cooperative apartment corporation determined by the relationship of such 56 real property vested in such tenant-stockholder to such real property
A. 5776 5 1 owned by such cooperative apartment corporation in which such tenant- 2 stockholder resides shall be subject to exemption from taxation pursuant 3 to this section and any exemption so granted shall be credited by the 4 appropriate taxing authority against the assessed valuation of such real 5 property; the reduction in real property taxes realized thereby shall be 6 credited by the cooperative apartment corporation against the amount of 7 such taxes otherwise payable by or chargeable to such tenant-stockhold- 8 er. 9 (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this subdivision, a tenant-stock- 10 holder who resides in a dwelling that is subject to the provisions of 11 either article two, four, five or eleven of the private housing finance 12 law shall not be eligible for an exemption pursuant to this section. 13 (d) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this subdivision, real property 14 owned by a cooperative corporation may be exempt from taxation pursuant 15 to this section by a municipality in which such property is located only 16 if the governing body of such municipality, after public hearing, adopts 17 a local law, ordinance or resolution providing therefor. 18 8. (a) As used in this subdivision, "Gold Star Parent" shall mean the 19 parent of a child who died in the line of duty while serving in the 20 United States armed forces during a period of war, who is not eligible 21 for an exemption pursuant to subdivision seven of section four hundred 22 fifty-eight-a of this title. 23 (b) A county, city, town, or village may adopt a local law to include 24 a Gold Star Parent within the definition of "qualified owner", as 25 provided in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of this section, and to 26 include property owned by a Gold Star Parent within the definition of 27 "qualifying residential real property" as provided in paragraph (e) of 28 subdivision one of this section, provided that such property shall be 29 the primary residence of the Gold Star Parent. 30 (c) The additional exemption provided for in paragraph (c) of subdivi- 31 sion two of this section shall not apply to real property owned by a 32 Gold Star Parent. 33 9. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (c) of subdivision two 34 of this section and subdivision three of this section, the governing 35 body of any municipality may, after public hearing, adopt a local law, 36 ordinance or resolution providing that where a reservist, the spouse of 37 the reservist or unremarried surviving spouse already receiving an 38 exemption pursuant to this section sells the property receiving the 39 exemption and purchases property within the same city, town or village, 40 the assessor shall transfer and prorate, for the remainder of the fiscal 41 year, the exemption received. The prorated exemption shall be based upon 42 the date the reservist, the spouse of the reservist or unremarried 43 surviving spouse obtains title to the new property and shall be calcu- 44 lated by multiplying the tax rate or rates for each municipal corpo- 45 ration which levied taxes, or for which taxes were levied, on the appro- 46 priate tax roll used for the fiscal year or years during which the 47 transfer occurred times the previously granted exempt amount times the 48 fraction of each fiscal year or years remaining subsequent to the trans- 49 fer of title. Nothing in this section shall be construed to remove the 50 requirement that any such reservist, the spouse of the reservist or 51 unremarried surviving spouse transferring an exemption pursuant to this 52 subdivision shall reapply for the exemption authorized pursuant to this 53 section on or before the following taxable status date, in the event 54 such reservist, the spouse of the reservist or unremarried surviving 55 spouse wishes to receive the exemption in future fiscal years.
A. 5776 6 1 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 2 ing the date on which it shall have become a law and shall apply to 3 assessment rolls prepared on the basis of taxable status dates occurring 4 on or after such date.