2023 New York Laws › RPT - Real Property Tax › Article 4 - Exemptions › Title 2 - Private Property › 485-A - Residential-Commerical Urban Exemption Program.

§   485-a.   Residential-commercial   urban   exemption   program.  1.
Definitions.  As used in this section, the following  terms  shall  have
the following meanings:
(a)  "Municipality"  means any town, city or village except for a city
having more than one million inhabitants.
(b) "Applicant" means any person obligated to pay real property  taxes
on  the  property  for which an exemption from real property taxes under
this section is sought.
(c)  "Commercial   construction   work"   means   the   modernization,
rehabilitation,  expansion  or  other  improvement  of  the  portion  of
mixed-use property to be used for commercial purposes.
(d) "Commercial purpose or use"  means  (i)  the  buying,  selling  or
otherwise providing of goods or services directly to the public; or (ii)
a  non-residential  lawful use including, but not limited to, an office,
hotel, retail store,  brewery,  distillery,  restaurant,  cafe,  bar  or
tavern,  gymnasium,  theater, or entertainment venue which employs or is
anticipated to employ a minimum  of  five  employees  primarily  at  the
mixed-use property for which an exemption under this section is sought.
(e)  "Mixed-use  property"  means  property on which will exist, after
completion  of  residential  construction  work  or  a  combination   of
residential  construction  work  and  commercial  construction  work,  a
building or structure used for both residential and commercial  purposes
of  which,  at least forty percent of the building or structure's square
footage is devoted to residential purposes or use and at  least  fifteen
percent  of  the  building  or  structure's square footage is devoted to
commercial purposes or use.
(f) "Person"  means  an  individual,  corporation,  limited  liability
company,  partnership,  association,  agency,  trust, estate, foreign or
domestic government or subdivision thereof, or other entity.
(g) "Residential construction work" means the creation, modernization,
rehabilitation, expansion or other improvement of dwelling units,  other
than  dwelling units in a hotel, in the portion of mixed-use property to
be used for residential purposes.
(h) "Story above grade" means any  story  having  its  finished  floor
surface entirely above grade.
(i)  "Grade"  shall  mean  the  finished  ground  level  adjoining the
building at all exterior walls.
2. Any municipality may, by local law, provide for  the  exemption  of
real  property  from  taxation  as  provided  in  this section. Upon the
adoption of such a local law, the county in which such  municipality  is
located may, by local law, and any school district, all or part of which
is  located  in  such  municipality,  may,  by  resolution,  exempt such
property from its taxation in the same manner and to the same extent  as
such municipality has done.
3.  Upon  the  adoption  of  such  a  local  law, non-residential real
property, upon conversion to mixed-use property, shall  be  exempt  from
taxation  and  special  ad valorem levies as provided for in subdivision
four of this section.
4. (a) (i) For a period of  twelve  years  from  the  approval  of  an
application,   the   increase   in   assessed  value  of  such  property
attributable  to  such  conversion  shall  be  exempt  as  provided   in
subparagraph  (ii)  of  this paragraph. Such exemption shall be computed
with respect to the  "exemption  base".  The  exemption  base  shall  be
determined for each year in which there is an increase in assessed value
so attributable from that of the previous year's assessed value.
(ii)  The  following table shall illustrate the computation of the tax
exemption:
Year of exemption                      Percentage of exemption
1 through 8                        100% of exemption base
9                                  80% of exemption base
10                                 60% of exemption base
11                                 40% of exemption base
12                                 20% of exemption base
(b) No such exemption shall be granted unless:
(i)  such conversion was commenced subsequent to the date on which the
municipality's local law took effect; and
(ii) the cost of such conversion  exceeds  the  sum  of  ten  thousand
dollars or such greater amount as may be specified by local law.
(c) For purposes of this section the term conversion shall not include
ordinary maintenance and repairs.
(d)  No  such exemption shall be granted concurrent with or subsequent
to  any  other  real  property  tax  exemption  granted  to   the   same
improvements  to  real property, except, where during the period of such
previous exemption, payments in lieu of taxes  or  other  payments  were
made  to the local government in an amount that would have been equal to
or greater than the amount of real property taxes that would  have  been
paid  on  such  improvements had such property been granted an exemption
pursuant to this section. In such case, an exemption  shall  be  granted
for  a  number  of  years  equal  to  the  twelve year exemption granted
pursuant to this section less the number of  years  the  property  would
have been previously exempt from real property taxes.
5.  Such exemption shall be granted only upon application by the owner
of such real property on a form prescribed  by  the  commissioner.  Such
application  shall  be  filed  with  the assessor of the municipality or
county having the power to assess property for taxation on or before the
appropriate taxable status date of such municipality or county.
6. If the assessor is satisfied that the applicant is entitled  to  an
exemption  pursuant  to  this  section,  he  or  she  shall  approve the
application and such real property shall be  exempt  from  taxation  and
special  ad  valorem  levies  as  in this section provided. The assessed
value of any exemption granted pursuant to this section shall be entered
by the assessor on the assessment roll with the taxable  property,  with
the amount of the exemption shown in a separate column.
7.  (a)  During  the period of exemption pursuant to this section, the
owner shall submit an annual certification  to  the  assessor  attesting
that  the  property complies with the provisions or requirements of this
section and any additional provisions or requirements as may be provided
by local law. Failure to  submit  such  certification  shall  result  in
revocation  of  benefits.  Such certification shall include at a minimum
the following:
(i) the types of residential use  and  the  total  above-grade  square
footage and below-grade square footage of such use;
(ii)  the  types  of  commercial  use and the total above-grade square
footage and below-grade square footage of such use;
(iii) attestation that the portion of the building used for commercial
purposes is currently, as demonstrated by documentation submitted by the
applicant, used as such or is in good faith contemplated to be  used  as
such;
(iv)  the  specific  address  of the entrance through which the public
enters the portion of the building used for commercial purposes;
(v) if the portion of the building intended to be used for  commercial
purposes  is  not  currently in active use for such purposes and open to

the public,  the  reasons  why  it  is  not  currently  being  used  for
commercial purposes and open to the public; and
(vi) all such other information required by the municipality.
(b)  If  the  assessor is satisfied that the applicant continues to be
entitled to the exemption pursuant to this section, the  assessor  shall
approve the certification and the real property shall remain exempt from
taxation  and  special ad valorem levies for another year as provided in
this section.
8. (a) The benefits of this section shall be revoked upon a finding by
the assessor that:
(i) the application for benefits hereunder or the annual certification
required hereunder contains a false statement or false information as to
a material matter or omits a material matter;
(ii) the eligible real property fails to comply with one  or  more  of
the  provisions  or  requirements  of  this section or any provisions or
requirements provided by local law; or
(iii) the portion of the property devoted to commercial  purposes  has
not  been  in  active use for commercial purposes and open to the public
for three consecutive years.
(b) Such revocation  shall  require  the  repayment  of  any  benefits
previously  granted  pursuant  to this section for any year during which
the  property  was  non-compliant   or   the   application   or   annual
certification  contained  a false statement or false information as to a
material matter or omitted a material matter.
(c) No benefits may be revoked unless the  applicant  has  been  given
thirty  days'  notice  of  such revocation and has been given reasonable
notice to cure any failure to comply with the provisions of requirements
of this section.
9. If the assessor determines that there was a  material  misstatement
in  an  application filed by or on behalf of the owners for an exemption
pursuant to this section and that such misstatement provided  the  basis
for  the  granting  of such exemption, the municipality shall proceed to
impose a penalty on the applicant of one thousand dollars in addition to
recovering the amount of any prior exemption granted.