[§ 190, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 31-1932; L.L. No. 11-1956; L.L. No. 2-1957; L.L. No. 4-1965; L.L. No. 1-1966; § 1, L.L. No. 13-1981; § 1, L.L. No. 16-1981; § 1, L.L. No. 19-1981; § 1, L.L. No. 8-1983; § 1, L.L. No. 3-1994; § 1, L.L. No. 1-1995; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2012[1]]
For each fiscal year, the City Treasurer shall, on the first business day of July, proceed to collect taxes from all the persons named in the annual tax rolls and shall give notice by publication in the official papers that all taxes shall be due and payable as provided herein.
All taxes may be paid, without interest, on or before July 31. Alternatively, at the option of the taxpayer, taxes may be paid in four installments, due on or before July 31, September 30, January 31 and March 31. For parcels of property for which the total ad valorem tax is equal to $8,200 or less, the four installments of the tax shall be substantially equal in amount. For parcels of property for which the total ad valorem tax is greater than $8,200, the July installment shall consist of the entire ad valorem tax less $6,150, and the September, January and March installments shall be $2,050 each. Any amount levied on or before July 1, 2011, and paid after its due date shall continue to be paid with interest equal to 1 1/2% per month, or any part thereof, from the due date until the date of payment. Any amount levied on or after July 1, 2012, and paid after its due date shall be paid with interest equal to 1% per month, or any part thereof, from the due date until the date of payment.
Direct assessments, delinquent assessments, water rents and other charges inserted for collection in the tax rolls shall be payable on or before July 31 of the year in which they were inserted for collection in the tax rolls. Any such amount inserted for collection in the tax rolls on or before July 1, 2011, and paid after its due date shall continue to be paid with interest equal to 1 1/2% per month, or any part thereof, from the due date until the date of payment. Any such amount inserted for collection in the tax rolls on or after July 1, 2012, and paid after its due date shall be paid with interest equal to 1% per month, or any part thereof, from the due date until the date of payment.
The City Treasurer may, in his or her discretion, accept partial payments of taxes, assessments and charges, provided that any such payment includes any interest which has accrued on such taxes, assessments or charges.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law provided an effective date of 7-1-2012.
[§ 172, c. 755, L. 1907; c. 131, L. 1919; L.L. No. 10-1948; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
Local assessments and installments thereof; expenses of public improvements and work apportioned upon the property deemed benefited; water rates; expenses of installing, maintaining and/or repairing water meters; expenses of cleaning and repairing sidewalks; and all other items, including the additions thereto, inserted in the annual tax rolls against real property become a part of the annual tax upon the respective lots or parcels of land against which such items are charged, and the whole thereof becomes one tax and must be collected as such, except that the Treasurer may in his or her discretion receive the annual tax upon a lot or parcel of land without some or all of the amounts added thereto. All of the provisions of this act relating to the collection of annual taxes, including interest, fees and penalties thereon, and all other provisions relating to annual taxes are intended to refer to annual taxes and all sums added thereto and made a part thereof. All sums for local assessments inserted directly in the annual tax rolls shall be credited to the City local works fund; all sums for unpaid installments of local improvements assessments inserted in the tax roll, with interest added thereto, shall be credited to the local improvement fund; all sums inserted in the annual tax rolls for water rates and expenses of installing, maintaining and/or repairing water meters, with interest added thereto, shall be credited to the revenues of the Waterworks.
[§ 195-a, L.L. No. 4-1925, as added by L.L. No. 15-1929; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
The City Treasurer shall keep in his or her office a book or books or other record of registration in which shall be entered all lots or parcels of land in the City and opposite thereto the name and address of each owner of such lots or parcels of land who has filed the statement of his or her name and address as provided in § 6-118, and also the name and address of each tax agent as shown in the appointment as provided in § 6-119 and in which book or books or other record of registration shall be entered from time to time any changes in name or address made pursuant to such sections.
[§ 195-b, L.L. No. 4-1925, as added by L.L. No. 15-1929; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
Every owner of a lot or parcel of land residing in the City of Rochester shall file with the City Treasurer a written statement, duly verified and acknowledged, showing the name and address of such owner and giving a brief description of each lot or parcel of land of which he or she is the owner. If any such owner shall change his or her residence, he or she shall file with the City Treasurer in like manner a duly verified and acknowledged statement showing his or her new address.
[§ 195-c, L.L. No. 4-1925, as added by L.L. No. 15-1929; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
Every owner of a lot or parcel of land in the City of Rochester who resides outside said City shall file with the City Treasurer for registration a written appointment, duly verified and acknowledged, of a resident of the City, who, for the purposes of this law, shall be designated as tax agent, and may from time to time file in like manner a written revocation of such appointment, and in that event he or she shall file a new appointment duly verified and acknowledged as above prescribed. The appointment shall contain the address of such owner and also the name and address of the agent, which shall be deemed to be the address of such agent until such owner or agent files with the City Treasurer a duly verified and acknowledged written notice of change of address.
[Added by c. 337, L. 1940; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
Notwithstanding any inconsistent or contrary provision of Chapter 755 of the Laws of 1907, known as the "Charter of the City of Rochester," as amended, and notwithstanding any inconsistent or contrary provision of Local Law No. 4 of the year 1925 of the City of Rochester, enacted July 28, 1925, entitled "A local law amending generally and supplementing an act constituting the Charter of the City of Rochester," as last amended, and notwithstanding any inconsistent or contrary provisions of any other general or special law, statute or local law, when, as and if the Board of Supervisors of the County of Monroe shall deliver the county tax rolls on property within the City of Rochester to the Treasurer of the City of Rochester, with warrants annexed thereto, directing the Treasurer of the City of Rochester to collect from the several persons named in said rolls the sums mentioned in the last column of each roll opposite their respective names, as authorized and provided for by Section 14-a of Chapter 441 of the Laws of 1938, as added by Chapter 411 of the Laws of 1939, the City Treasurer of the City of Rochester shall have the power and it shall be his or her duty to receive said rolls with the warrants and commands annexed thereto from the Board of Supervisors of the County of Monroe and to perform and comply with each and every command, provision and requirement of said warrants and commands; to give the public notice required by Section 14-b of Chapter 441 of the Laws of 1938, as added by Chapter 411 of the Laws of 1939; to make to the County Treasurer of Monroe County the verified return as, at the time and in the manner required by Section 14-c of Chapter 441 of the Laws of 1938, as added by Chapter 411 of the Laws of 1939; to receive and collect from the County of Monroe the amount of expenses necessarily incurred by the City of Rochester for equipment, personnel, advertising and other charges incident to the collection of said county taxes, which amount may be fixed by agreement between the City Treasurer and the County Treasurer; to apply, if he or she deems advisable, to the County Treasurer of the County of Monroe for an extension of the time beyond February 15 within which to collect said taxes remaining unpaid, to a date as fixed by the County Treasurer not later than June 1 following; to give, if the time for the collection of such taxes has been extended beyond February 15, the further public notice required to be given by Section 14-e of Chapter 441 of the Laws of 1938, as added by Chapter 411 of the Laws of 1939; to collect on such taxes, if the same are paid after January 31 in each year, the fees and penalties set forth in Section 14-f of Chapter 441 of the Laws of 1938, as added by Chapter 411 of the Laws of 1939; to deposit daily to the credit and account of the County of Monroe the daily collection of all such taxes, inclusive of fees and penalties in a depository designated by the Treasurer of the County of Monroe and to receive therefor duplicate deposit slips, one of which shall be retained by the Treasurer of the City of Rochester and the other of which shall be delivered on the day following each deposit to the Treasurer of the County of Monroe.
[Added by L.L. No. 5-1978; § 1, L.L. No. 3-2008]
A. 
The City Treasurer shall establish and implement a program in accordance with the provisions of § 22 of the General Municipal Law to collect an unpaid City tax, special ad valorem levy, special assessment or other charge, and interest thereon, which is an encumbrance on real property, from the proceeds of any fire insurance policy insuring the interest of an owner and issued on real property located in the City, provided that one such tax, levy, assessment or other charge has remained undischarged for a period of one year or more. Upon the City Treasurer's filing of a certificate with the insurer certifying the amount of taxes owed, the City shall have a lien to the extent of such taxes on the fire insurance proceeds, which lien, as to such proceeds, shall have priority over all other liens and claims, except the claim of a mortgagee of record named in such fire insurance policy.
B. 
Notwithstanding the foregoing, fire insurance proceeds which are claimed pursuant to this section shall be released or returned to the insured, provided that the insured agrees in writing to restore the affected premises. Such agreement shall be entered into between the insured and the City no later than 30 days after payment of the proceeds by the insurer to the City, and the City Treasurer is hereby authorized to enter into such agreement on behalf of the City. The agreement shall require the insured to restore the premises within a reasonable period of time to the same or an improved condition than before the loss or destruction and shall further require the posting of an undertaking in an amount sufficient to assure the restoration of the premises. The agreement shall contain such additional terms and conditions as the Corporation Counsel deems to be appropriate.
C. 
All proceeds paid by the insurer to the City in accordance with the provisions of this section shall be held by the City Treasurer in trust until the expiration of the thirty-day period during which the insured may enter into an agreement to restore the affected premises. If an agreement is not executed within this period, the City Treasurer shall apply the proceeds to the payment of outstanding taxes on the affected property. If an agreement is executed for the restoration of the affected premises, the proceeds shall be released or returned to the insured, but the City shall have the right to use any other available method for the collection of the outstanding taxes.
D. 
The program authorized in this section shall be in addition to any other remedies which may be available for the collection of back taxes, and a claim placed against fire insurance proceeds under this section shall not prevent the City from pursuing any other available remedies. In addition, the Corporation Counsel is authorized to institute any action or special proceeding which may accrue against the insured, insurer, real property or surety under this program.
E. 
The City Treasurer shall file claims with an insurer in accordance with this section for taxes owed on property upon which there is erected any residential, commercial or industrial building or structure, except a one- or two-family residential structure. Under this program, the City Treasurer shall file claims against the proceeds of fire insurance policies issued, reissued or renewed on or after November 3, 1977, and all claims shall be filed with the insurer within 20 days after such insurer's demand therefor.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 8-2008]
A. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law to the contrary, the Mayor is authorized, subject to the provisions hereof and the approval of the City Council, to enter into an agreement to sell some or all of the delinquent tax liens held by the City of Rochester to a private entity and to accept payment for the tax liens sold of less than the full amount of such taxes, fees, interest and penalties. The agreement may also provide for the repurchase or exchange of such delinquent tax liens.
B. 
The Director of Finance is authorized to review for potential sale all tax liens for delinquent City and school taxes, assessments and charges that are not (1) the subject of an agreement for the installment payment of delinquent taxes (commonly referred to as a "tax payment agreement") which is not in default; (2) currently restricted in their enforcement by the provision of any bankruptcy law; (3) related to any real property owned or controlled by the federal, state, county, or City government, or any agency, department, or board thereof, against which enforcement of the tax lien is restricted or prohibited under applicable federal, state, or local law; (4) related to real property that is the subject of a pending tax certiorari proceeding for the tax year(s) involved; or (5) related to real property that has been identified by a local, state or federal government as having environmental contamination.
C. 
Prior to the sale of eligible delinquent tax liens, the City Treasurer shall cause to be published once in each week for two consecutive weeks in an official newspaper of the City a notice that delinquent tax liens may be offered for sale in bulk to a private entity on or after a specified date. The notice shall be in substantially the following form:
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the properties set forth in a list available for inspection in the City Treasurer's Office are subject to delinquent tax liens held by the City of Rochester for [__________] (identify fiscal year or years). On or after [__________] (enter expected date of sale), the delinquent tax liens on the properties listed may be sold to [__________] (enter name of purchaser). Any person paying the delinquent taxes prior to the sale must contact the City Treasurer.
Following the sale, the purchaser of the delinquent tax liens will have the right to collect and enforce the delinquent taxes against the properties. Any person paying the delinquent taxes after the sale must contact [__________] (enter name of tax lien purchaser or its tax collection agent) directly.
D. 
At least 20 days prior to the date on which a sale of delinquent tax liens shall be effective, the City Treasurer shall cause a notice to be mailed to the last known address of the owner of each parcel of property on the list of delinquent tax liens to be sold, as it appears upon the tax roll, or, if a parcel has been transferred after the applicable tax status date, as reported pursuant to § 574 of the Real Property Tax Law or a comparable law. Failure to provide notice, or failure of the addressee to receive notice pursuant to this subdivision shall not in any way affect the validity of any sale of a tax lien or tax liens pursuant to this section, or the validity of the taxes or interest prescribed by law with respect thereto. Such notice shall identify the affected parcel and be in substantially the following form:
To the Addressee:
The real property identified in this notice is subject to a delinquent tax lien or liens held by the City of Rochester for [__________] (identify fiscal year or years). According to our records, you own or have an interest in this property. You are hereby advised that on or after [__________] (enter expected date of sale), the delinquent tax lien or liens on this property may be sold to [__________] (enter name of purchaser). To pay the delinquent taxes prior to the sale, please contact the City Treasurer.
Following the sale, the purchaser of the delinquent tax lien or liens will have the right to collect and enforce the delinquent taxes against this property. To pay the delinquent taxes after the sale, please contact [__________] (enter name of tax lien purchaser or its tax collection agent) directly.
Dated:
______________________________
City Treasurer
E. 
Upon the sale of delinquent tax liens pursuant to this section, the City Treasurer shall issue and deliver to the purchaser one or more certificates identifying each of the affected parcels and the total amount due on each affected parcel as of the date of the sale, including interest, penalties, and charges. The City Treasurer shall retain a copy of each such certificate in the City Treasurer's office, and shall maintain records that will enable interested parties to determine which liens have been sold, to whom, and the total amount due on such liens when they were sold. The certificate shall be in recordable form and the purchaser of such tax lien may record the certificate or certificates evidencing the purchase and sale of the liens in the Office of the Monroe County Clerk.
F. 
The holder of a delinquent tax lien may, at the holder's discretion, accept partial payments and enter into installment agreements with the owner(s) on such terms and conditions as the holder of the delinquent tax lien shall deem advisable, without regard to any restrictions that might be applicable if the tax lien were held by the City, provided that the rate of interest for tax liens purchased or held by a private entity shall not exceed the rate of interest for tax liens held by the City.
G. 
Notwithstanding any provision of the Charter to the contrary, the tax lien purchaser, or its successors or assigns, under the terms and conditions of the agreement entered into pursuant to this section, shall be authorized to foreclose the tax lien acquired only by foreclosure in accordance with the provisions of Article IX, Part E, Title 3 of this Charter.