[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.
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.
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. For the period commencing as of the taxable status date, May 1, 2023:
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-1996; L.L. No. 3-1999; L.L. No. 2-2023]
Annual Income
Percentage of Assessed Valuation Exempt From Taxation
$0 to $29,000
50%
$29,001 to $30,000
45%
$30,001 to $31,000
40%
$31,001 to $32,000
35%
$32,001 to $32,900
30%
$32,901 to $33,800
25%
$33,801 to $34,700
20%
$34,701 to $35,600
15%
$35,601 to $36,500
10%
$36,501 to $37,400
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 $37,400. 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.