The City Assessor shall be the head of the Department
of Assessment and Taxation. The City Assessor shall appoint such subordinates
as may be prescribed by this Charter or by the Common Council.
The City Assessor shall possess all the powers
conferred upon, be subject to all the obligations imposed upon and
perform all the duties appertaining to the office of assessors according
to state regulations in reference to the assessment of property within
the city, except as otherwise provided by law or this Charter, and,
except as otherwise provided by this Charter, shall possess all the
powers conferred upon and perform all the duties formerly appertaining
to the office of Assessor of the Village of Peekskill. Except as otherwise
provided by this Charter, the City Assessor shall also perform all
of the duties now provided by law in reference to the assessment of
local improvements imposed according to law. It shall also be the
duty of the City Assessor to install scientific systems of assessments
with tax maps, unit rules and such other systems and records as may
be necessary, and to gather and file useful and available information
that appertains to the value of property subject to the assessment.
The Assessment Map of the Village of Peekskill, as it now exists or
as it may be altered, amended or changed, is hereby declared to be
the Official Assessment Map of the City of Peekskill.
(Reserved)
In the assessment of any lands in the city for
any purposes, it shall be sufficient to state the names of one of
the owners of such lands if the owner or owners or any of them be
residents of the city and known to the City Assessor; if the owner
or owners be unknown to the City Assessor, or if they be nonresidents
and the ownership is unknown to the City Assessor, then the assessment
may be designated "ownership unknown," and there shall be stated the
number of the lot and block, if subdivided into lots and blocks and
so designated upon the City Assessment Map, or the number of the lot
or farm lot, if not so subdivided into blocks and lots and so designated,
and also the street and number of any building thereon; but if the
land be vacant or the building thereon be not numbered, then the name
of the street on which it fronts and a brief description of the premises
shall be given. In case no inhabitated building be on the land and
the residence of the owner be unknown, such owner may be designated
as "unknown." No assessment hereafter made in the city shall be held
to be invalid because the same may be made out in terms against the
owner or owners unknown or the estate of a deceased person, naming
such person, or the executor, administrator, heirs or devisees of
a deceased person, naming such person or any of them, or against a
company or a firm name, or against a person in whom is the record
title though not the actual title of the property, or for any cause
arising through ignorance or mistake as to the names of the owner
or owners of the property assessed, whether individually or a corporation,
provided such property is sufficiently described on the assessment
rolls to reasonably identify and indicate to a person familiar with
the same the particular property which it was intended to assess.
Every assessment roll shall be considered as referring to the last
adopted Assessment Map, unless it be otherwise stated therein.
[Added 1-27-2003 by L.L. No. 1-2003]
(a)
Income and expense statements. Where real property
is income-producing property, the owner shall be required to submit
annually to the Assessor, not later than the first day of May, 2003
for those statements due in 2003 and not later than the first day
of April on all succeeding years, a statement of all income derived
from all expenses attributed to the operation of such property as
follows:
(1)
Where the owner's books and records reflecting the
operation of the property are maintained on a calendar-year basis,
the statement shall be for the calendar year preceding the date the
statement shall be filed.
(2)
Where the owner's books and records reflecting the
operation of the property are maintained on a fiscal-year basis for
federal income tax purposes, the statement shall be for the last fiscal
year concluded as of the first day of January preceding the date the
statement shall be filed.
(3)
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subdivisions (1)
and (2) of this section, where the owner of the property has not operated
the property and is without knowledge of the income and expenses of
the operation of the property for a consecutive twelve-month period
concluded as of the first day of January preceding the date and statement
shall be filed, then the statement shall be for the period of ownership.
(4)
The Assessor may for good cause shown extend the time
for filing an income and expense statement by a period not to exceed
thirty days.
(b)
Declaration. Such statements shall contain the following
declaration: "I certify that all information contained in this statement
is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. I understand
that the willful making of any false statement of material that herein
will subject me to the provisions of law relevant to the making and
filing of false instruments and will render this statement null and
void."
(c)
Form. The form on which such statement shall be submitted
shall be prepared by the Assessor and copies of such form shall be
made available at said Assessor's office in the City of Peekskill.
(d)
Failure to file statement; penalties; enforcement
procedures.
(1)
In the event that an owner of income-producing property
fails to file an income and expense statement within the time prescribed
in Subsection (a) of this section (including any extension of time
for filing), the Board of Assessment Review shall deny any complaint
in relation to the assessment of such owner.
(2)
In the event an income and expense statement required
under the provisions of this section has not been timely filed, the
Assessor may compel by subpoena a production of the books and records
of the owner relevant to the income and expenses of the property,
and may also make application to any court of competent jurisdiction
for an order compelling the owner to furnish the required income and
expense statement and the books and records to the income and expenses
of the property. In the event such a order is issued, the Assessor
shall be entitled to recover from the owner the costs and expenses,
including attorney's fees, incurred by the City in connection with
the proceeding to obtain and enforce the order.
(e)
Definition of "income-producing property." As used
in this section, the term "income-producing property" means property
owned for the purpose of securing an income from the property itself,
but shall not include residential property containing three or fewer
dwelling units or property classified in class one as defined in Article
Eighteen of the Real Property Tax Law.
(f)
Disclosure of information; penalties for. Except in
accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by
law, it shall be unlawful for the Assessor, or any official or employee
of the City, any member of the Board of Assessment Review, any person
engaged or retained by the City, the Assessor or the Board of Assessment
Review on an independent contract basis, or any person, who, pursuant
to this section, is permitted to inspect any income expense statement
or to whom a copy, an abstract or a portion of any such statement
is furnished, to divulge or make known in any manner the amount of
income and/or expense or any particulars set forth or disclosed in
any such statement required under this section. The officers charged
with custody of such statements shall not be required to produce any
income and expense statement or evidence of anything contained in
said statement in any action or proceeding in any court, except on
behalf of the City or the Assessor. Nothing herein shall be construed
to prohibit the delivery to an owner or their duly authorized representative
of a certified copy of any statement filed by such owner pursuant
to this section or to prohibit the publication of statistics so classified
as to prevent the identification of particular statements and the
items thereof, or delivery of a copy to a legal representative or
other professional retained by the City or Board of Assessment Review
retained with respect to a proceeding to review the assessment of
the property at issue for use solely with respect to the review of
said assessment and for no other purpose. Any violation of the provisions
of this section shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000 or
by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, at the discretion
of the court, and if the offender be an officer or employee of the
City or member of the Board of Assessment Review, the offender shall
be dismissed from office.
Between the first and fifth days of April in
each year, the City Assessor shall begin to prepare, and by the first
day of June shall have completed, a tentative assessment roll for
the year, the day of taxable status to be May 1. The assessment roll
shall be in form required by state law.
The City Assessor is hereby authorized and directed
to place and list as taxable parcels upon the 1972 and all subsequent
assessment rolls of the City of Peekskill for city and school taxable
purposes all parcels of land owned in fee by the Peekskill Urban Renewal
Agency (L.P.A.) (Industrial Development Agency & Local Development
Corp.) or any city or quasi-city agency, including but not limited
to the area designated and shown on Map No. 1-1, Main Street-Central
Avenue-South Street Improvement Program Project Boundary Map prepared
by Raymond, May, Parish & Pine, dated October 1, 1969, and on
Map No. 2-1, Oakside Code Enforcement and Rehabilitation Program,
Project Boundary Map prepared by Raymond, May, Parish & Pine,
dated October 1, 1969, which said maps are filed in the office of
the City Assessor, such parcels to be limited to those having a structure
or structures thereon as of the taxable status dates for the year
1972 and all subsequent taxable status dates.
When the City Assessor has completed the tentative
assessment roll, notice of completion thereof shall be published at
least twice in the official paper or papers and that it may be examined
at the City Assessor's office and of the days, to be known as "grievance
days," during which complaints may be filed and heard at the City
Assessor's office. A verified complaint stating the full value of
the property and the reasons for complaint must be filed with the
City Assessor during the grievance days. The said grievance day shall
be the third Tuesday in June in each year. All complaints shall be
heard and decided by the Board of Assessment Review, which shall attend
at the City Assessor's office for the purpose of hearing complaints
on days and hours designated by the Board of Assessment Review during
this said period. Press notices of such days and hours shall be given
after the Board is organized on the first day of setting.
Any person whose real property is assessed upon
the tentative assessment roll with the real property of another person
as one piece or plot may at any time after the filing of such assessment
roll, before the same shall have been made the final assessment roll,
submit a deed or other evidence of title to the property to the City
Assessor. The City Assessor shall apportion the assessment and tax
thereon and shall forthwith deliver a written statement of apportionment
to the Comptroller. The Comptroller shall thereupon enter the apportionment
upon the assessment roll and shall thereafter separately receive the
taxes so apportioned.
During the grievance days aforesaid the City
Assessor may add to the tentative assessment roll any property liable
to taxation, the assessment of which may have been omitted, and may
increase any assessment upon the tentative assessment roll, upon giving
two days' notice of such addition or increase to the owner or agent
of the property, if known, otherwise to the occupant thereof. Such
notice may be given by publication in the official paper or papers
or by registered mail. Complaints against any such change shall be
heard in like manner as complaints against the original assessment.
(a)
If the whole or any portion of the expense of a public
or local improvement, except the construction and laying of new sidewalks
and curb, be assessed or charged upon the property affected by such
a public or local improvement, the Common Council of the City of Peekskill
shall proceed as set forth herein.
(b)
Whenever the Common Council may have authorized a
public or local improvement, it may also determine that the expense
thereof shall be assessed in whole or part to the owners of lands
which are benefited thereby.
(c)
When the costs of such public or local improvement
have been ascertained, the Common Council of the City of Peekskill
shall find and determine:
(1)
That area in the city which shall be benefited by
such public or local improvement and those classes or uses of property
located within the area which shall be determined to be exempt in
whole or in part and the percentage of such exemption, if any.
(d)
The Common Council of the City of Peekskill shall
also cause to be prepared and filed in the office of the City Clerk
a map showing such area, which shall thereafter be known as the "assessment
district." It shall include on such map each and every parcel of property
as shown on the Tax Assessment Maps of the City of Peekskill which
are included within such area. It shall also include thereon a list
enumerating which classes of property, if any, if shall have been
determined to be exempt in whole or in part from such special assessment
and the percentage of such exemption.
(e)
The Common Council shall also cause to be apportioned
and assessed that part of the expense to be raised by local assessment
upon the lands within such area which it has determined shall be benefited
by the public or local improvement. Such assessment shall be calculated
according to frontage, area, assessed valuation or otherwise as the
Common Council may deem to be just and equitable. It shall cause to
be attached to the aforesaid map and list a copy of the said apportionment,
and same shall also be filed in the office of the City Clerk of the
City of Peekskill.
(f)
After making such apportionment, the Common Council
shall publish in the official paper and serve upon each owner of lands
located within the area shown on the aforesaid map, personally or
by mail, at least 10 days before the hearing, a notice of the preparation
of the map and list and of the attachment thereto of such apportionment
and that at a specified time and place a hearing will be had to review
and complete the same and that said apportionment and the said map
and list can be examined by any person interested therein at the office
of the City Clerk at the usual hours.
(g)
The Council shall meet at the time and place specified
in the notice and hear objections to such apportionment and to such
map and list. It may modify and correct same and add or exclude land
to or from the area, but no assessment shall be increased and no lands
added thereto without notice to the owner thereof and an opportunity
to be heard.
(h)
The hearing may be adjourned from time to time without
further published notice and, as soon as practical upon the closing
of the hearing, the Common Council shall cause to be completed the
said apportionment, the said assessment and the said map and list
and file same in the office of the City Clerk and publish notice that
such completion is filed.
(i)
Any person claiming to be aggrieved thereby may, within
20 days after the filing of such apportionment and map and list, apply
to a court of record for an order to review said assessment and map
and list. The apportionment, the assessments and the map and list
shall otherwise be deemed final and conclusive. Such review shall
be limited to and in accordance with the rights and procedures as
set forth in the Real Property Tax Law.[1]
(j)
The expense of such public or local improvement may
be raised in an entire amount or in installments as the Common Council
may determine. If any portion of such expense is to be borne by the
city at large or if the entire expense of such improvement is to be
assessed against the persons benefited thereby, such expense may be
financed pursuant to the Local Finance Law.
(k)
If the Common Council shall determine that such assessments
shall be paid in the entire amount in a single installment, it shall
by resolution fix the date upon which same shall become due and payable,
and if the amount so assessed be not paid within 20 days thereafter,
an action to recover the amount thereof shall be maintained by the
city against the persons liable therefor, or a special warrant shall
be issued by the Common Council for the collection of such assessments,
or the amount thereof, together with interest thereon at the rate
of 18% per annum, shall be included in the next annual tax levy.
(l)
In the event that the Council shall determine that
such assessment shall be made on the basis of the assessed valuations
of the lands benefited and, further, that same may be paid in other
than a single installment, it may further direct that the Assessor,
for each year in which an installment shall fall due, establish a
special column on the assessment roll and place therein for each property
benefited the same assessed valuation which is utilized on the annual
assessment roll for that year for general city, county or state purposes.
The Assessor at that time shall also determine which, if any, of the
parcels benefited shall then be entitled to a percentage of exemption.
The City Assessor shall then credit such percentage of exemption against
the assessment for such parcel. The Comptroller is then directed to
apportion the annual installment then due in the same manner as is
followed for the apportionment of the annual city, county and state
levy.
(m)
Whenever the said public or local improvement produces
revenue, the Common Council may direct that the said revenues be used
in whole or in part to reduce the annual installment then due.
(n)
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent
the City Council from making public or local improvements and raising
the cost thereof in accordance with any other provision of law.
(Reserved)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: This section is now governed
by the New York State Real Property Tax Law.
(Reserved)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: This section is now governed
by the New York State Real Property Tax Law.
Two or more persons may unite in commencing
and prosecuting proceedings to vacate or modify assessments; and when
two or more persons have commenced separate proceedings to vacate
or modify assessments for the same improvement, the court before whom
the same are commenced or pending, or a Judge thereof at special term
or chambers, may, by order upon due application and notice, consolidate
such separate proceedings into one proceeding.
In all cases of assessment for improvements
the City Assessor shall include in the apportionment all the expenses
connected with or which were incident to the making of the improvement
and assessment. Wherever the amount apportioned shall exceed the actual
cost of improvement, including all expenses connected therewith or
incident thereto, the Comptroller shall certify the amount of the
surplus to the City Assessor and shall thereupon declare a rebate
and the excess shall be refunded pro rata to the persons who paid
their assessments. If the amount assessed for any improvement shall
be insufficient to cover the cost of the improvement, including all
expenses connected therewith and incidental thereto, the Comptroller
shall certify the amount of the deficiency to the Common Council and
the City Assessor, and the Common Council and the City Assessor shall
forthwith cause to be assessed and levied the amount of such deficiency
pro rata upon the property included within the original assessment
and the same shall be assessed, levied and collected in like manner
as other assessments of a like character.
The Board of Assessment Review shall decide
all complaints and the City Assessor shall correct and revise the
tentative assessment roll in accordance with their decisions on or
before the 15th day of September in each year. When the tentative
assessment roll has been revised as herein provided, the amounts of
the assessments as revised as aforesaid shall be duly added and the
total stated, and the City Assessor shall verify all three copies
as required by the provisions of the Tax Law and shall duly certify
the same to be the general assessment roll of the year in which it
is so certified. The City Assessor shall thereupon and before the
15th day of August in each year file one copy of the said general
assessment roll in the City Assessor's office for public inspection
and shall forthwith deliver another copy thereof to the Clerk of the
Board of Legislators of Westchester County and file the third copy
thereof with the Comptroller for the purposes of apportioning and
extending the taxes of the following year thereon as herein provided.
The assessment roll shall thereupon become official and conclusive
as to all persons who have not made complaints as provided by this
Charter.
[Amended 5-14-2007 by L.L. No. 2-2007; 6-24-2019 by L.L. No. 3-2019]
The Common Council shall have authority to correct
clerical errors on the assessment roll, to cancel or correct any erroneous
or invalid assessments and to cancel or refund the taxes or special
assessments thereon or any part thereof or any interest, penalty or
fee pertaining thereto, except in the case of an assessment which
is or which is claimed to be erroneous or invalid by reason of overvaluation
or inequality. Each application for correction or cancellation must
be by a written petition which must contain a statement of the full
value of the property and all the facts necessary to a proper determination
upon its application. Such petition must be signed and verified by
the party in interest or his/her duly constituted agent or attorney.
The City Assessor, the Comptroller or the Director of Public Works
may make an application under the provisions of this section.
Upon the cancellation or correction of any taxes
or assessments by the Common Council or by the judgment of a court,
the City Clerk shall report the same to the Comptroller, who shall
enter the same.
No assessment or tax shall be vacated, set aside,
canceled, annulled, reviewed or otherwise questioned or affected by
reason of any error, omission, irregularity or defect not actually
fraudulent in any of the steps of proceedings required to be had or
taken as preliminary to or in the making of the assessment, or in
the levying or collection of the tax, or in relation to or in connection
with any proposal, designation of materials, contract, work or improvement
for or on account of which such assessment was made or tax imposed.
But all property shall be liable to assessment and all assessments
shall be valid and of full force and effect notwithstanding any such
error, omission, irregularity or defect.
The Common Council shall, on or before the first
day of December in each year, levy and cause to be raised by such
tax a sum as shall be as nearly as possible but not less than the
amount of the tax budget theretofore adopted for such year, by fixing
a tax rate in cents and hundredths of a cent upon each dollar of assessed
valuation of taxable property within the city, to be collected from
the several owners thereof. The City Clerk shall forthwith certify
to the Comptroller the tax rate so fixed. The Comptroller shall apportion
and extend the city taxes against the respective assessments as the
same are set forth in the assessment roll and shall deliver the said
roll to the City Clerk. The Common Council shall thereupon by resolution
confirm the taxes so apportioned and extended and shall issue its
warrant signed by the Mayor, directing the Comptroller to collect
the amount of said taxes with interest as provided by law. The said
assessment roll, together with the taxes so apportioned and extended,
together with the said warrant, shall be the tax roll for the year
and shall forthwith be delivered by the City Clerk to the Comptroller.
The said warrant shall be returned at such times as the Common Council
shall direct.
[Amended 10-25-2010 by L.L. No. 12-2010]
All taxes on real estate for each fiscal year
shall become a lien on January 1 of such year and may be paid in two
equal installments on the last days of April and October, respectively,
without any additional charge, percentage or penalty; provided, however,
that in no event shall any additional charge, percentage or penalty
be added to any taxes for any such fiscal year paid during the month
each installment shall become payable as herein provided. The second
installment of the taxes on real estate may be paid at the same time
as the payment of the first installment of said taxes or at any time
thereafter. To all taxes or installments thereof paid after the last
date provided herein upon which such taxes or installments may be
paid without any additional charge, percentage or penalty, penalties
shall be added at the rate of 1% for each month and fraction thereof
computed from the date when such taxes shall have become a lien (January
1) to the date of the payment thereof; provided, however, that if
such taxes in any such fiscal year shall have become a lien prior
to the beginning of such fiscal year, the penalties upon such taxes
shall consist of any penalties accumulated in any previous fiscal
year, together with those penalties computed from the beginning of
such present fiscal year to the date of payment of such taxes. If
the final date for collection of taxes falls on a Saturday, Sunday
or public holiday, an extension for the collection of taxes shall
automatically be in effect until the conclusion of the first business
day following such date and the date for paying over taxes shall be
extended to the following day in accordance with § 925-a of the
Real Property Tax Law. Penalties shall not be compounded but shall
be computed at 1% per month, simple interest method.
After receiving said tax roll and beginning
on or before the ninth day of January of each year, the Comptroller
shall cause notice of the receipt thereof to be published in the official
paper or papers once a week for three successive weeks that the same
has been left with the Comptroller for collection and that all taxes
shall be due and payable at the Comptroller's office, or other designated
places at the time to be specified in such notice. No further notice
than that herein required shall be deemed necessary either in the
case of property owned by a resident or a nonresident, except that
any person or corporation, whether a resident or nonresident of the
city, who is the owner of or liable to assessment for an interest
in real property in the city, may file with the Comptroller of the
city a notice stating name, residence and post office address, or,
in the case of a corporation, its principal office, a description
of the premises, with its number or other designation on the City
Tax Map, which notice shall be valid and continue in effect until
canceled by such person or corporation. The comptroller shall, during
the month of January after receiving such tax roll or any other warrant
for the collection of taxes, mail to each person or corporation filing
such notice, at the post office address stated therein, a tax bill
for all taxes upon such real property included in said tax roll or
such other warrant. But the failure of the Comptroller to mail such
tax bill shall not invalidate such taxes, nor prevent the accruing
of any interest or penalty imposed for the nonpayment of taxes, nor
prevent the sale of such property for nonpayment of such taxes, as
provided in this Charter.
The Comptroller shall deliver a receipt to each
person paying a tax, specifying the date of such payment, the name
of such person, a description of the property as shown on the assessment
roll and the assessed valuation thereof, and for special franchise
tax, the amount thereof, the name of the person to whom the same is
assessed, the amount such tax. The Comptroller shall prescribe the
form of tax bills and receipts, and on the back of the tax bills there
shall be a printed statement showing the total assessed valuation
of real estate, the total assessed valuation of special franchises,
the total assessed valuation of all property taxable within the city,
the tax rate and the total taxes, together with a summary of the tax
budget. At least 10 days before each installment of tax upon said
roll shall become due, the Comptroller shall publish a notice of the
times of payments of said installments of tax.
If an assessment for a local improvement be
made payable in installments, the total amount of said assessment
shall become a lien upon the property affected at the time when the
assessment is confirmed. The first installment thereof or the total
amount of said assessment, if permitted by the Common Council, may
be paid without interest or penalties within one month after confirmation
of assessment. In the event that said payment is not made within the
aforesaid grace period, the payments shall bear interest at the rate
of 18% per annum computed from the date of confirmation of the said
assessment.
If any tax or installment thereof shall remain
uncollected at the expiration of the time mentioned for the payment
thereof, the Comptroller shall give a written or printed notice to
the person, corporation or association against whom such tax or installment
thereof stands charged. Said notices shall bear even date and shall
require said persons, corporations or associations to pay such unpaid
tax or installment thereof to said Comptroller at his/her office within
the term of 20 days thereafter, with 18% interest thereon. Such notice
may be served personally or by leaving the same at the residence or
place of business of such person, corporation or association, or by
mailing in the post office of the city, properly folded, directed
and postage paid, at least 10 days before the expiration of the time
last mentioned. For persons not residents within the city a notice
to them or their agent mailed in the post office at Peekskill, properly
folded, directed to them at their reputed places of residence and
postage paid, shall be sufficient. The person or persons serving such
notices, if served by a person other than the Comptroller, shall be
designated by him/her, and an affidavit by such person or persons
of the service of such notices shall be deemed evidence in all courts
and places; said notice so served shall be deemed a full compliance
with the statute which requires a collector of taxes to call at least
once on the person taxed or at the place of his/her usual residence
and demand the payment of taxes charged on his/her property.
(a)
Whenever the unpaid taxes and assessments levied against
any property in the city remain unpaid for a period of more than the
two-year period prescribed by state law, the Comptroller shall thereupon
certify the same together with the penalties thereon, to the Corporation
Counsel, who shall forthwith foreclose the liens of such taxes and
assessments in the manner provided by this Charter for the foreclosure
of tax liens.
(b)
In addition to reporting the amounts of such unpaid taxes and assessments to the Corporation Counsel, the Comptroller may, with consent of the Common Council, commence procedures for the sale of any or all of such tax liens in accordance with the provisions of Article VII of Chapter 521 of the City Code.[1]
Within 15 days after the time specified in any
warrant for its return, or if the time of its return be extended,
then within 15 days from the time to which its return shall have been
extended, the Comptroller shall make and deliver to the Common Council
a return of all taxes or assessments mentioned in the tax roll or
assessment list remaining unpaid at the time of making such return;
and upon making oath that the sums mentioned in said return remain
unpaid, shall be credited by the Common Council with the amount thereof.
The Comptroller may receive payment of taxes and assessments under
such warrant until the delivery of said return to the Common Council.
