New Exemption Reporting Requirement from ORPS

STATE OF NEW YORK
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
OFFICE OF REAL PROPERTY SERVICES

I am writing to make you aware of Chapter 258 of the Laws of 2008. This new law adds Section 495 to the Real Property Tax Law, requiring counties, cities, towns, villages and school districts to attach to their tentative/preliminary budgets an exemption report.

It is anticipated that this law will provide increased transparency to taxpayers in regard to the amount and impact of exemptions on the local tax base. While exemptions serve a valid public purpose, they also erode the tax base and shift the tax burden to other property owners within the taxing district. The extent of this impact is largely hidden from view, because no systematic reporting is done at the local level.

The exemption report is required to show how much of the total assessed value on the final assessment roll used in that budgetary process is exempt from taxation. The law requires exemption reports to include:

• Every type of exemption granted by the taxing authority, and the cumulative impact of each type of exemption (in either dollar amount of assessed value or as a percentage of the total assessed value on the roll);
• The cumulative amount expected to be received from recipients of each type of exemption as payments in lieu of taxes or other payments for municipal services; and
• The cumulative impact of all exemptions granted.

Notice of the report is required to be included in any notice of the preparation of the budget otherwise required by law. Also, the report is required to be posted on any bulletin board maintained by the budgeting authority for public notices and on any website maintained by the budgeting authority. In addition to being attached to the tentative/preliminary budget, the report also will be part of the final budget.

Chapter 258 was signed into law by Governor David A. Paterson on July 7, 2008 and takes effect 90 days after that date. Therefore, the first budgets to be impacted by the new law will be those prepared by most counties and towns in the autumn of 2008.

For those municipalities and counties that use RPS Version 4 software for assessment administration, ORPS is currently developing a standardized report to meet the bulk of the exemption reporting requirements for those jurisdictions. More information will be made available in upcoming months.

If you have questions, please contact your ORPS Regional Office:

Albany - (518) 486-4403
Batavia - (585) 343-4363
Hauppauge - (631) 952-3650
Newburgh - (845) 567-2648
Ray Brook - (518) 891-1780
Syracuse - (315) 471-2347