[Adopted 1-11-1984 by L.L. No. 1-1984; amended in its entirety 10-17-2007 by L.L. No. 7-2007 (Ch. 85 of the 1994 Code)]
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Village of Mineola Disabled Tax Exemption Law."
A. 
The New York State Legislature passed on May 31, 1983, effective January 2, 1984, Chapter 200 of the Laws of 1983, adding § 459 to the Real Property Tax Law, authorizing the governing body of a county, city, town or village to adopt local legislation providing for a real property tax exemption for improvements to certain real property to the extent of any increases in value attributable to an improvement which facilitates or accommodates the use and accessibility of real property by a disabled resident.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II).
B. 
It is the intent of the Village of Mineola, as an exercise of this local power, to exempt from taxation any improvements to real property used as a one-, two- or three-family residence, which improvements are attributable to facilitating and/or accommodating the use and accessibility of said real property by a disabled resident of the same.
This article hereby provides that any improvement to any real property used solely for residential purposes as a one-, two- or three-family residence shall be exempt from real property taxation to the extent of any increase in value attributable to such improvement if such improvement is used for the purpose of facilitating and accommodating the use and accessibility of such real property by:
A. 
A resident owner of the real property who is physically disabled; or
B. 
A member of the resident owner's household who is physically disabled, if such member resides at the real property.
A. 
To qualify as a physically disabled person, for the purposes of this article, an individual shall submit to the Assessor of the Incorporated Village of Mineola a certified statement from a physician licensed to practice in the State of New York, on a form prescribed and made available by the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance, which states that the individual has a permanent physical impairment which substantially limits one or more of such individual's major life activities. An individual who has obtained a certificate from the State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped stating that such individual is legally blind may submit such certificate in lieu of the physician's certified statement.
B. 
Such exemption will be considered only upon application by the owner or all of the owners of the real property and on a form prescribed and made available by the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance.
C. 
The application shall be filed, together with the appropriate certified statement of physical disability or certificate of blindness, with the Assessor of the Incorporated Village of Mineola on or before the taxable status date, which is January 1 of each year.
If the Assessor is satisfied that the improvement is necessary to facilitate and accommodate the use and accessibility by a resident who is physically disabled and that the applicant is entitled to an exemption pursuant to this article, the Assessor shall approve the application and enter the taxable assessed value of the parcel for which an exemption has been granted pursuant to this article on the assessment roll with the taxable property, with the amount of the exemption as determined pursuant to § 470-29 in a separate column. Once granted, the exemption shall continue on the real property until the improvement ceases to be necessary to facilitate and accommodate the use and accessibility of the property by the resident who is physically disabled.