[1]
Editor's Note: The title of the Department of Assessment and
Taxation was changed to Department of Assessment by L.L. No. 5-1979.
[Amended by L.L. No. 4-1940; L.L. No. 9-1969; L.L. No. 5-1979; L.L. No. 3-1990]
The Commissioner of Assessment shall be the head of the Department
of Assessment. He shall appoint to hold office during his pleasure,
except as otherwise provided by law, an Assistant Commissioner of
Assessment and such other subordinates as may be prescribed by the
Board of Estimate and Contract.
[Amended by L.L. No. 32-1961; L.L. No. 5-1979]
The Commissioner of Assessment 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 in
towns of the state in reference to the assessment of property within
the City, except as otherwise provided by law, or this chapter, and,
except as otherwise provided by this chapter, shall possess all the
powers conferred upon and perform all the duties formerly appertaining
to the office of Assessors and the Board of Assessors of the City
of Mount Vernon. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, he
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 Commissioner to install appropriate
systems of assessment 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 his assessment. The Assessment Map of the City of Mount Vernon
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.
[Amended by L.L. No. 5-1972; L.L. No. 5-1979]
The Board of Assessment Review shall consist of three members,
who shall have knowledge of property values in the City, appointed
by the City Council. One member shall be an officer or employee of
the City, except that neither the Commissioner of Assessment nor any
member of his staff may be appointed to the Board of Assessment Review.
Of the members first appointed, one shall be appointed for a period
of one year, one for a period of two years and one for a period of
three years. At the expiration of such terms, the terms of office
of their successors shall be five years.
[Amended by L.L. No. 5-1979]
In the assessment of any lands in the City for any purposes,
it shall be sufficient to state the name 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 Commissioner of Assessment; if the owner or owners
be unknown to the Commissioner, or if they be nonresidents and the
ownership is unknown to the Commissioner, then the assessment may
be designated ownership unknown, and there shall be stated the number
of the lot and the 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 inhabited 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 though
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.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 226, Deeds, etc., to be
presented; maps to be filed, was repealed by L.L. No. 46-1961.
[Added by L.L. No. 4-1990; amended 12-12-2012 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
1.
Income and expense statements. Where real property is income-producing
property, the owner shall be required to submit annually to the Commissioner
of Assessment, not later than the first day of May 1990 for those
statements due in 1990 and not later than the first day of February
in all succeeding years, a statement of all income derived from and
all expenses attributed to the operation of such property as follows:
A.
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.
B.
Where the owner's books and records reflecting the operation 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.
C.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subdivisions A and B 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 the statement shall be
filed, then the statement shall be for the period of ownership.
D.
The Commissioner of Assessment may, for good cause shown, extend
the time for filing an income and expense statement by a period not
to exceed 30 days.
2.
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 fact 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."
3.
Form. The form on which such statement shall be submitted shall be
prepared by the Commissioner of Assessment, and copies of such form
shall be made available at said Commissioner's offices in the City
of Mount Vernon.
4.
Failure to file statement; penalties; enforcement procedures.
A.
In the event that an owner of income-producing property fails to file an income and expense statement within the time prescribed in Subsection 1 of this section (including any extension of time for filing), such owner shall be subject to a penalty in an amount not to exceed 5% of the assessed value of such income-producing property determined for the current fiscal year. The penalties prescribed in this paragraph shall be determined by the Commissioner of Assessment after notice and an opportunity to be heard.
B.
In the event an income and expense statement required under the provisions
of this section has not been timely filed, the Commissioner of Assessment
may compel by subpoena the 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 an order is issued, the Commissioner
of Assessment 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.
5.
Definition of "income-producing property." As used in 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 18 of the Real Property
Tax Law.
6.
Disclosure of information; penalties for. Except in accordance with
proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, it shall be
unlawful for the Commissioner of Assessment 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 Commissioner of Assessment 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 and 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 Commissioner of Assessment.
Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the delivery to an owner
or his or her 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 the 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 a member of the Board of
Assessment Review, the offender shall be dismissed from office.
[Amended by L.L. No. 6-1933; L.L. No. 3-1969; L.L. No. 5-1979; L.L. No. 4-1980]
On or before the first day of June, the Commissioner of Assessment
shall have completed a tentative assessment roll for the year. The
assessment roll shall be in the form required by the Real Property
Tax Law.
[Added by L.L. No. 3-1969; amended by L.L. No.
4-1980]
The taxable status of all real property assessable for taxation
shall be determined annually as of the first day of May.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1930; L.L. No. 6-1933; L.L. No. 33-1961; L.L. No. 56-1961; L.L. No. 5-1979; L.L. No. 6-1980; L.L. No. 3-1985]
When the Commissioner of Assessment has completed the tentative
assessment roll, he shall publish at least twice in the official paper
or papers a notice of the completion thereof and that it may be examined
at his office, and of the day, to be known as grievance day, during
which complaints may be filed and heard at his office. A verified
written complaint stating the full value of the property and the reasons
for the complaint must be filed with the Commissioner on or before
grievance day, i.e., the third Tuesday in June of each year. All complaints
shall be heard and decided by the Board of Review, which shall attend
at the Commissioner's office for the purpose of hearing complaints
if requested in writing by the complainant on grievance day from 9:00
in the forenoon to 12:00 noon and from 2:00 to 4:30 in the afternoon
and from 8:00 to 10:00 in the evening and at subsequent adjourned
hearing dates not later than the fifteenth day of July in each year.
On or before the twentieth day of July in each year, the Commissioner
of Assessment shall forward to each person who shall have filed a
complaint on or before grievance day a notice setting forth the disposition
made by the Board of Review of such complaint. Failure to mail any
such notice or failure of the addressee to receive the same shall
not in any manner affect the validity of the assessment.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-1962; L.L. No. 5-1979]
Any person whose real property is assessed upon the tentative
assessment roll with 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
his deed or other evidence of title to the property to the Commissioner
of Assessment. The Commissioner shall apportion the assessment and
the tax thereon, and shall forthwith deliver a written statement of
his apportionment to the Comptroller. The Comptroller shall thereupon
enter the apportionment upon the assessment roll, and shall thereafter
separately receive the taxes so apportioned. No apportionment of any
lot shall be made, however, unless no part of the property resulting
from such apportionment is less than a regular building lot.
[Amended by L.L. No. 5-1979]
During the grievance days aforesaid the Commissioner of Assessment
may add to the tentative assessment roll any property liable to taxation,
the assessment of which may have been omitted, and he may increase
any assessment upon the tentative assessment roll, upon giving two
days' written 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 an original assessment.
[Added by L.L. No. 2-1926; amended by L.L. No.
1-1972; L.L. No.
5-1979]
If the whole or any portion of the expense of a public improvement
be assessed or charged upon the property affected by such improvement,
such assessment shall be confirmed by the City Council, after a public
hearing shall have been had, at which any person interested may present
written objections to such confirmation. Notice of the time and place
of such hearing shall be published in the official paper of the City
at least 10 days prior to the hearing.
The title of such assessment, with the date of confirmation
by the City Council, shall be entered, with the date of such entry,
in a record of the titles of assessments confirmed and shall be kept
in the office of the Commissioner of Assessment.
No action or proceeding to set aside, vacate, cancel or annul
any assessment or tax for a local improvement shall be maintained,
except for total want of jurisdiction to levy and assess the same
on the part of the officers, board or body authorized by law to make
such levy or assessment or to order the improvement on account of
which the levy or assessment was made. No action or proceeding shall
be maintained to modify or reduce any such assessment or tax except
for fraud or substantial error by reason of which the amount of such
tax or assessment is in excess of the amount which should have been
lawfully levied or assessed.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1972]
No action or proceeding shall be maintained to set aside, vacate,
cancel, annul, review, reduce or otherwise question, test or affect
the legality or validity of any assessment or tax for a local improvement,
except in the form and manner and by the proceedings herein provided.
If, in the proceedings relative to an assessment or tax, entire absence
of jurisdiction on the part of the officers, board or body authorized
by law to levy or assess the same or to order the improvement on account
of which the assessment was made or tax imposed, is alleged to have
existed or in case any fraud or substantial error, other than the
errors or irregularities specified in the preceding section, by reason
of which substantial damages have been sustained, are alleged to have
existed or to have been committed, any party aggrieved thereby, who
shall have filed objections thereto, within the time and in the manner
specified by law therefor, and whose objections have been overruled
by the Board of Review, may apply, to the Supreme Court at any Special
Term thereof held within the Ninth Judicial District, for an order
vacating or modifying such assessment as to the land in which he has
an interest, upon the grounds, in said objections specified, and no
other, and upon due notice of such application to the Corporation
Counsel. Each such application shall be made within 20 days after
the confirmation of the assessment. Thereupon such Court may proceed
to hear the proofs and allegations of the parties and determine the
same, or may appoint a referee to take the proof and report thereon
or to hear, try and determine the same. If it shall be determined
in such proceeding that the officers, board or body had no jurisdiction
to make the levy or assessment complained of or order the improvement,
the Court may order such assessment or tax vacated. If it shall be
determined therein that any such fraud or substantial error has been
committed and that the party applying for such relief has suffered
substantial damages by reason thereof, the Court may order that the
assessment or tax be modified as to such party, and that so modified
it be confirmed. A like application may be made to secure a modification
or reduction of any such assessment or tax on account of fraud or
some substantial error occurring in the performance of the work of
the improvement on account of which such assessment or tax is made
or levied, and it shall be determined in like manner. If, in any such
proceeding, it shall be determined that such fraud or substantial
error has been committed, by reason of which any such assessment or
tax upon the lands of any such aggrieved party has been unlawfully
increased, the Court may order that such assessment or tax be modified
by deducting therefrom such amount as is in the same proportion to
such assessment or tax as the whole amount of such unlawful increase
is to the whole amount of the assessment or tax for the improvement.
An order so made in any such proceeding shall be entered in the County
Clerk's office of Westchester County, and shall have the same force
and effect as a judgment. The Court may, during the pendency of any
such proceeding, stay the collection of any assessment or tax involved
therein as against the parties thereto. Costs and disbursements of
any such proceeding may be allowed in the discretion of the Court.
No appeal shall be allowed or taken from the order made in any such
proceeding, but the determination so made therein shall be final and
conclusive upon all the parties thereto. No assessment or tax shall
be modified otherwise than to reduce it to the extent that the same
may be shown by the parties complaining thereof to have been in fact
increased in dollars and cents by reason of such fraud or substantial
error. In no event shall that proportion of any such assessment which
is the equivalent of the fair value or fair cost of the improvement
be disturbed for any cause. No money paid on account of any assessment
or tax shall be recovered for any cause, except the amount of the
excess of such assessment or tax over and above the fair value and
cost of the improvement. In case of the failure of any assessment
or tax for any cause, the Comptroller shall certify such fact to the
City Council and it shall be its duty to forthwith cause the same
to be relevied and reassessed in a proper manner.
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.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1968; L.L. No. 1-1972; L.L. No. 5-1979]
In all cases of assessment for improvement the Commissioner
of Assessment shall include in the apportionment all the expenses
connected with or which were incident to the making of the improvement
and assessment. Whenever the amount apportioned shall exceed the actual
cost of the improvement, including all expenses connected therewith
or incident thereto, the Comptroller shall certify the amount of the
surplus to the Commissioner and he 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 City Council and
Commissioner of Assessment, and the City Council and Commissioner
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.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section the financing
costs on assessable improvements (such as interest on notes, publication
of bond ordinances, bonding attorneys' fees) shall be charged to and
paid by the City at large, and not assessed against the individual
property owners.
[Amended by L.L. No. 6-1933; L.L. No. 1-1972; L.L. No. 5-1979; L.L. No. 5-1980]
The Board of Review shall decide all complaints, and the Commissioner
of Assessment shall correct and revise the tentative assessment roll
in accordance with their decisions on or before July 20 in each year.
Each revision shall be made in red ink and shall be initialed by the
Commissioner of Assessment. No erasure shall be made upon any copies
of the said tentative assessment roll; errors shall be corrected in
green ink. 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 Commissioner 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 Commissioner shall thereupon,
and on or before the first day of August in each year, file a certified
copy of the said general assessment roll in the office of the City
Clerk, there to remain open for 15 days for public inspection and
shall forthwith deliver another copy thereof to the Clerk of the Board
of Legislators of Westchester County and file a third copy thereof
with the Comptroller for the purpose 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 chapter. The Commissioner
of Assessment shall forthwith cause a notice to be posted conspicuously
in at least three public places in the City, and to be published in
one or more newspapers published in the City, that such assessment
roll has been finally completed and stating that it has been so filed
and will be open for public inspection.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1972; L.L. No. 5-1979]
The City 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 the application.
Such petition must be signed and verified by the party in interest
or his duly constituted agent or attorney. The Commissioner of Assessment,
the Comptroller or the Commissioner of Public Works may make an application
under the provisions of this section.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1972]
Upon the cancellation or correction of any taxes or assessments
by the City Council, or by 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 or 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, nor 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.
[Amended by L.L. No. 6-1933; L.L. No. 34-1961; L.L. No. 4-1970; L.L. No. 5-1976]
1.
City
tax. The City Council shall, on or before the fifth 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
heretofore adopted for such year, by fixing a tax rate in cents and
hundredths of a cent upon each dollar of assessed valuation of real
and personal 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 City Council shall thereupon confirm the taxes
so apportioned and extended and shall issue its warrant signed by
the President of the City Council and 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 City 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 time
as the City Council shall direct.
2.
State,
county and special district taxes. As soon as possible following the
receipt by the City from the County of Westchester, of a certificate
of apportionment of state, county and special district taxes, together
with a certified copy of the Act of the County Board of Legislators
as to such apportionment, the City Council shall levy and cause to
be raised by tax the amount so certified by fixing a tax rate in cents
and hundredths of a cent upon each dollar of assessed valuation of
real and personal 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 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 City Council shall thereupon confirm the taxes
so apportioned and extended and shall issue its warrant signed by
the President of the City Council and 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 for state, county and special district taxes, and shall
forthwith be delivered by the City Clerk to the Comptroller. The said
warrant shall be returned at such time as the City Council shall direct.
[Amended by L.L. No. 5-1928; L.L. No. 5-1969; L.L. No. 5-1976]
All taxes upon personal property, if any, and the amount of
all City taxes upon real estate shall be due and payable on the first
day of January in each year, and all state, county and special district
taxes shall be due and payable on the first day of April in each year.
Unpaid interest shall be included in and deemed a part of the unpaid
tax. All taxes shall be and become liens on the real estate affected
thereby on the day when they become due and payable as hereinbefore
provided and shall remain such liens until paid or otherwise satisfied
and discharged.
City taxes may be paid in two installments, each of which installments
shall be as nearly equal as possible, the first installment whereof
shall be payable on the first day of January, and the remaining installment
whereof shall be payable on the first day of July of each year. No
such installment may be paid unless all prior installments of current
taxes, including interest, shall have been paid or shall be paid at
the same time. Election to pay such taxes in installments shall be
indicated by payment of the first installment on or before the date
it is due or during the month in which such installment becomes due.
The failure or neglect to pay the first installment as hereinabove
provided shall be construed as an election to pay the total amount
of taxes in one payment in the manner provided by law.
[Amended by L. 1923, Ch. 616; L.L. No. 35-1961; L.L. No. 5-1976]
In each instance, after receiving the said City tax roll and
beginning on the second day of January in each year, and after receiving
the said state, county and special district tax roll, and beginning
on the first day of April in each year, the Comptroller shall cause
notice of the receipt of such respective tax roll by him to be published
in the official paper or papers once a week for three successive weeks
that the same has been left with him for collection, and that all
stated taxes shall be due and payable at his office at the time or
times specified in such notice. The said notice shall also set forth
the interest, penalties and fees to be added to taxes remaining unpaid.
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 his 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 within
20 days after receiving each 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 duplicate
tax bill for all taxes upon such real property included in such tax
roll or such other warrant. At least 10 days before the second installment
of tax upon the City tax roll shall become due, the Comptroller shall
publish and mail in the same manner a similar notice of the times
of payment and penalties and fees attaching to said second installment
of tax, which penalties and fees shall be the same as upon the first
installment of said tax. But the failure of the Comptroller to mail
such duplicate 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 the nonpayment
of such taxes, as provided in this chapter.
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 personal property or special
franchise tax the amount thereof, the name of the person to whom the
same is assessed, the amount of such tax and the date of delivery
to him of the assessment roll, on account of which such tax is paid.
The Comptroller shall prescribe the form of such receipts, stubs
and books and furnish with such receipts for the payment of City taxes,
a statement showing the total assessed valuation of real estate, personal
property, and special franchises, taxable within the City, the City
tax rate and the total taxes, together with a summary of the City
tax budget; and the Comptroller shall furnish with the receipts for
the payment of the state, county and special district taxes a statement
showing the total assessed valuation of real estate and special franchises
subject to state and county taxes, the total assessed valuation of
exempt real estate and special franchises taxed for sewer district
purposes only, the tax rate and the total taxes, together with a summary
of the certificate of apportionment for state, county and special
district taxes.
[Amended by L.L. No. 5-1974; L.L. No. 6-1974; L.L. No. 7-1974; L.L. No. 5-1976; L.L. No. 5-1982]
With respect to taxes becoming due on or after January 1, 1983,
if any tax on personal estate or the first installment of any City
tax on real estate shall remain unpaid on the first day of February
after it shall become due and payable, or if any tax on real estate
for state, county or special district purposes shall remain unpaid
on the first day of May after it shall become due and payable, it
shall be the duty of the Comptroller to charge, receive and collect
upon such tax so remaining unpaid on that day, interest upon the amount
thereof, at the rate of 1 1/2% for each one-month period or part
thereof after the day on which said taxes or such part thereof became
due and payable, as provided herein; and such increase of percentage
shall be paid over and accounted for by such Comptroller from time
to time, as a part of the tax collected by him. If installment payments
are permitted hereunder and the second installment of any tax on real
estate shall remain unpaid on the first day of August after it shall
be due and payable, it shall be the duty of the Comptroller to charge,
receive and collect upon such tax so remaining unpaid on that day,
interest upon the amount thereof, at the rate of 1 1/2% for each
one-month period or part thereof after such installment shall become
due and payable as provided herein; and such increase of percentage
shall be paid over and accounted for by such Comptroller from time
to time, as a part of the tax collected by him. The aforesaid interest
and penalties shall also apply from January 1, 1983, to taxes theretofore
due and remaining unpaid on or after said date.
[Added by L.L. No. 2-1926; amended by L.L. No.
1-1927; L.L. No.
2-1928; L.L. No.
36-1961]
If an assessment for a public improvement be made payable in installments, as provided by § 43 of this Act, 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 may be paid without interest or penalty, within one month after the assessment is confirmed. One installment may be paid with interest thereon at the rate of 6% per annum computed from the date when said assessment is confirmed as above provided, on or before each recurring annual anniversary of said date. Upon any or all installments not paid within the respective times when the same may be paid with interest thereon computed at the rate of 6% per annum as hereinabove provided, interest shall be computed at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of confirmation.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 243, Notice to delinquents,
was repealed by L.L. No. 47-1961.
Whenever the unpaid taxes and assessments levied against any
property in the City remain unpaid for a period of more than three
years, together with the penalties thereon, the Comptroller shall
thereupon certify the same to the Corporation Counsel who shall forthwith
foreclose the liens of such taxes and assessments in the manner provided
by this chapter for the foreclosure of tax liens.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1972]
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 City 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, he shall be credited
by the City 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 City Council.
[Added by L.L. No. 8-1966; amended by L.L. No.
4-1971]
1.
Pursuant
to the provisions of § 467 of the Real Property Tax Law,
as amended, and as therein provided, real property owned by one or
more persons, each of whom is 65 years of age or over, or real property
owned by husband and wife, one of whom is 65 years of age or over,
shall be exempt from taxation up to a maximum of 50% of the assessed
valuation thereof, as hereinafter provided, pursuant to the following
schedule:
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1996; L.L. No. 3-1999]
|
Annual Income
|
Percentage of Value Exempt From Taxation
| |
|---|---|---|
|
$18,500 or less
|
50%
| |
|
$18,501 to $19,500
|
45%
| |
|
$19,501 to $20,500
|
40%
| |
|
$20,501 to $21,500
|
35%
| |
|
$21,500 to $22,400
|
30%
| |
|
$22,401 to $23,300
|
25%
| |
|
$23,301 to $24,200
|
20%
| |
|
$24,201 to $25,100
|
15%
| |
|
$25,101 to $26,000
|
10%
| |
|
$26,001 to $26,900
|
5%
|
2.
No
exemption shall be granted.
(a)
If the income of the owner or the combined income of the owners of
the property for the income tax year immediately preceding the date
of making application for exemption exceeds the sum of $26,900. Income
tax year shall mean the twelve-month period for which the owner or
owners filed a federal personal income tax return, or if no such return
is filed, the calendar year. Where title is vested in either the husband
or the wife, their combined income may not exceed such sum. Such income
shall include social security and retirement benefits, interest, dividends,
net rental income, salary or earnings, and net income from self-employment,
but shall not include gifts or inheritances.
[Amended by L.L. No. 6-1977; L.L. No. 4-1979; L.L. No. 6-1981; L.L. No. 1-1991; L.L. No. 8-1994; L.L. No. 1-1996; L.L. No. 3-1999]
(b)
Unless the title of the property shall have been vested in the owner
or all of the owners of the property for at least 24 consecutive months
prior to the date of making application for exemption, provided, however,
that in the event of death of either a husband or wife in whose name
title of the property shall have been vested at the time of death
and then becomes vested solely in the survivor by virtue of devise
by or descent from the deceased husband or wife, the time of ownership
of the property by the deceased husband or wife shall be deemed also
a time of ownership by the survivor and such ownership shall be deemed
continuous for the purposes of computing such period of 24 consecutive
months, and provided further that where property of the owner or owners
has been acquired to replace property formerly owned by such owner
or owners and taken by eminent domain or other involuntary proceeding,
except a tax sale, the period of ownership of the former property
shall be combined with the period of ownership of the property for
which application is made for exemption, and such periods of ownership
shall be deemed to be consecutive for purposes of this section.
[Amended by L.L. No. 6-1981[2]]
[2]
Editor's Note: This local law provided that it take effect
45 days after the adoption and that it apply to taxes for the year
1982 and for subsequent years.
(c)
Unless the property is used exclusively for residential purposes.
(d)
Unless the real property is the legal residence of and is occupied
in whole or in part by the owner or by all of the owners of the property.
3.
(a)
Application for such exemption must be made by the owner, or all
of the owners of the property, on forms prescribed by the State Board
of Equalization and Assessment to be furnished by the Commissioner
of Assessment, and shall furnish the information and be executed in
the manner required or prescribed in such forms, and shall be filed
in the Department of Assessment on or before the appropriate taxable
status date.
[Amended by L.L. No. 5-1979]
(b)
The Commissioner of Assessment may require any applicant or applicants
to furnish such other and further information as may be reasonably
necessary for him to establish the qualifications for exemption of
said applicant or applicants. He may establish such rules and procedures
and take such other steps as may be necessary to implement the provisions
of this local law.
[Amended by L.L. No. 5-1979]
4.
Any
conviction of having made any willful false statement in the application
for such exemption shall be punishable by a fine of not more than
$100 and shall disqualify the applicant or applicants from further
exemption for a period of five years.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 246 relating to installment
payments for local improvements confirmed prior to 9-1-1923, was repealed
by L.L. No. 48-1961.
