[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
[Amended by L. 1904, Ch. 560; L. 1907, Ch. 653; L. 1910,
Ch. 50; L. 1911, Ch. 187; L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1921, Ch. 56; L. 1922,
Ch. 613; L. 1924, Ch. 557; L.L. No. 3-1933; L.L. No. 5-1944; L.
1945, Ch. 839; L. 1946, Ch. 939; L. 1953, Ch. 878, § 186; L.L. No. 2-1957, § 3; L.L. No. 1-2005; L.L. No.
2-2007]
1. Annual estimates. On or before the first day of September in each
year, the common council, all heads of departments, boards, commissions,
city judge and officers empowered by law to expend money shall furnish
to the mayor as presiding officer of the board of estimate and apportionment,
itemized estimates in writing of the amount required for the next
fiscal year in their respective departments, boards, commissions,
courts or offices. Each such estimate shall set forth in detail the
amounts required for salaries and expenses and all other necessary
items, in detailed comparison with the amounts expended in the preceding
fiscal year and the amounts appropriated for the current fiscal year,
according to rules prescribed by the board of estimate and apportionment.
Thereafter during the month of September and on or before the last
day of said month, the mayor shall lay the estimates before the board
of estimate and apportionment. The board of estimate and apportionment
may make such changes in the estimates as it shall deem necessary.
Copies of the estimates shall be filed with the Treasurer at the same
time they are filed with the Mayor. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment
shall file with the Treasurer an itemized estimate for any expenditure
not included in the foregoing estimates for which appropriation is
to be made.
2. Education budget.
[Repealed by L. 1953, Ch. 878, § 325 (2) Schedule
"A"]
3. Financial statement. On or before the fifteenth day of October of
each year, the board of estimate and apportionment shall make an itemized
statement in writing of the estimated revenues and expenditures of
the city for the fiscal year, other than the amounts to be raised
by taxation for state and county purposes. Said board shall also make
a detailed statement of all the property revenue which in its judgment
will be received by the city during the fiscal year, and a statement
of the amount of the sinking fund which in the judgment of the board
will be available for the payment of the principal or interest on
any bonded indebtedness of the city falling due during the fiscal
year. The board shall also make a supplemental statement of all unencumbered
balances of the previous fiscal year. All such estimates of revenues,
available sinking fund moneys and unencumbered balances shall be made
in detailed comparison with the actual amounts for the preceding fiscal
year and the estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. The estimate
of expenditures shall contain an itemized statement, in detailed comparison
with the amounts expended in the preceding fiscal year and the amounts
appropriated for the current fiscal year for such purposes, of the
several amounts of money which the board of estimate and apportionment
deems it necessary to provide for all departments, boards, bureaus,
commissions, courts, offices, purposes, functions, funds and accounts
authorized or directed by law.
4. Budget hearings. All meetings of the board held to consider the budget
estimates shall be open to the public. The board of estimate and apportionment
shall arrange for and hold at least one public hearing on the budget
estimates prior to its final approval of said estimates. Notice of
the public hearing shall be given by publication for two successive
days in the official newspaper and such hearing shall be held not
earlier than five days after the day of the last publication of such
notice.
5. Powers of Council. After the annual estimate showing the estimated net amount required to be raised by taxation for said purposes has been completed, the board of estimate and apportionment, on or before the fifteenth day of November in each year, shall submit the same in final form to the council and may submit a statement in writing of its reasons for such estimates. Said council shall have the power to correct, revise and amend such estimate or any part thereof, but it shall have no power to increase the total thereof, provided, however, that the budget adopted by the council for the fiscal year beginning December 1, 1957, if said budget has been heretofore adopted by the council, shall be revised and amended by the board of estimate and apportionment so as to include the salaries and compensation for members of the Police Department and Fire Department as set forth in the schedules thereof in Title IV, Section
64, as amended by Section
1 of this local law, and also to include additional appropriations of revenue to meet the increased salaries and compensation as aforesaid, and as revised and amended by said board of estimate and apportionment, shall be adopted by the council. The board of estimate and apportionment shall also submit to the council when received the sums apportioned by the board of supervisors of Orange County to be levied in the city for state and county purposes. Said estimates as corrected, revised and amended, together with the sums directed to be levied for state and county taxes, which shall be adopted without change by the council, shall upon adoption by the council as provided in section seventy-three, become the annual budget and shall be entered in full on the minutes of the council.
5.5. The Common Council shall vote on the proposed budget
at a regular or special meeting held prior to the tenth day of December.
If for any reason, a budget is not approved prior to the thirty-first
day of December, then all appropriations in the next year shall be
based upon the levels of the previous year's budget so that the City
shall continue to operate until a new budget is enacted.
6. Contingent fund. The board of estimate and apportionment may make
an apportionment or supplement an apportionment by the transfer from
the contingent fund of such an amount as it deems necessary. No direct
charge for expenditures shall be made against the contingent fund.
7. Amounts to be raised by tax. The amounts included in the estimates
of the several departments, boards, commissions, and offices to be
raised or required by law to be raised by tax for the expenses of
general government, the protection of persons and property, streets,
public improvements, sanitation, public health, public welfare, recreation,
a contingent fund, judgments and settlements, contributions to the
New York state employees' retirement system the principal and interest
of the public debt of said city or any other obligations or debt which
by law may be created against the city, and amounts as may be necessary
to make up the deficiency occasioned by previous illegal and erroneous
assessments and uncollected taxes and assessments, and of all such
further sum or sums that may be required during any one year for carrying
on the ordinary affairs and general expenses of the city, as authorized
by this act or charter or by other law, shall be raised by general
tax. Nothing contained herein shall prevent the financing in whole
or in part, pursuant to the local finance law, of the payment of any
judgment that may be recovered against the city otherwise provided
for, nor shall anything contained in this section or section seventy-two
of this charter prevent the city from financing, in whole or in part,
any expenditure pursuant to the local finance law. The common council
shall also direct and cause such amount to be raised annually by general
tax as shall be necessary for library purposes as certified by the
board of education in the manner provided by law.
[Added by L.L. No. 4-1945]
Beginning December first, nineteen hundred forty-five, there
shall be included in the annual budget for the cost of removal of
snow and ice, an amount equal to at least the amounts prescribed in
the schedule set forth below:
1. For the fiscal year beginning December first, nineteen hundred forty-five,
an amount equal to at least one-fifth of the average of all expenditures
for such purpose during each of the five preceding fiscal years.
2. For the first fiscal year succeeding such fiscal year, an amount
equal to at least two-fifths of the average of all expenditures for
such purpose during each of the five preceding fiscal years.
3. For the second fiscal year succeeding such fiscal year, an amount
equal to at least three-fifths of the average of all expenditures
for such purpose during each of the five preceding fiscal years.
4. For the third fiscal year succeeding such fiscal year, an amount
equal to at least four-fifths of the average of all expenditures for
such purpose during each of the five preceding fiscal years.
5. For the fourth fiscal year succeeding such fiscal year, and for each
succeeding fiscal year thereafter, an amount equal to at least the
average of all expenditures for such purpose during each of the five
preceding fiscal years.
[Amended by L. 1907, Ch. 653; L. 1910, Ch. 50; L. 1911, Ch.
699; L. 1916, Ch. 200; L. 1921, Ch. 56; L. 1922, Ch. 613; L. 1924,
Ch. 557; L.L. No. 2-1940; L. 1943,
Ch. 710; L.L. No. 1-2009]
Nothing contained in Section
71 of this Charter shall be construed to prevent the City from financing, in whole or in part, any expenditure pursuant to the laws of the State of New York.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 187; L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922,
Ch. 613; L.L. No. 3-1954; L.L. No. 1-1959, § 2; L.L. No. 2-1996; L.L. No.
1-1997; L.L. No. 2-2007]
The tax so directed to be raised shall be assessed upon all
the taxable real and personal property in the city, according to the
valuation of the city assessment roll of the current year; after the
same shall have been corrected as hereinbefore provided. The said
tax, together with any special tax which shall have been voted as
herein provided, shall be levied by the common council at some meeting
thereof on or before the tenth day of December in each year. The commissioner
of assessment and taxation under the direction of the common council
shall extend and apportion said tax on the assessment roll delivered
to him as aforesaid, also one-half tax where there are two or more
properties assessed to the same person, and shall correct all clerical
errors in the description and valuation of all property, and shall
forthwith file the same, and shall make a full duplicate or copy of
the same, with the tax so extended and apportioned, and shall certify
such copy to be a correct duplicate of the city tax-roll. Such roll
shall on or before the first day of January be delivered by the Common
Council to the Treasurer as collector, with a warrant annexed, under
the seal of the city, to be signed by the Mayor, commanding him or
her to review, levy and collect the several sums in the roll specified
as assessed against the persons or property therein mentioned or described
for municipal and other purposes with such rate per centum upon said
sums for collecting the same as herein provided, and return the said
warrant and roll within ninety days after the date of the warrant.
Upon receipt of the tax roll and warrant the city collector shall
cause a notice to be published once a week for two successive weeks
in the official newspaper of the City of Middletown beginning the
1st day of February in each year and, again, once a week for two successive
weeks beginning the 1st day of June in each year, designating some
central and convenient place within the city where said collector
will attend each day of the week except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
for the months of February and June, respectively, each year, and
give notice that he will attend at such place with said roll and warrant
from nine o'clock in the forenoon until three o'clock in the afternoon
for the purpose of receiving payment of city, county and state taxes;
and it shall be the duty of said collector to attend accordingly,
and any person may pay his taxes at the time and place so designated
on paying such amounts thereon as in this act provided. At the time
of delivery to him of such roll and warrant, the collector shall endorse
on the assessment and tax roll on file with the clerk a receipt acknowledging
by him of the duplicate of such roll and warrant as city collector,
and he shall proceed to collect the unpaid city taxes in said roll
specified in the manner provided by law for the collection of county
taxes, and shall have and possess all the powers and authority conferred
by law on the collector of county taxes, and shall in like manner,
pay over all city tax money collected by him to the city treasurer,
and shall take his receipt therefor, and shall make return to the
common council of the amount collected and paid over by him and of
the city taxes remaining unpaid; and upon making oath before some
officer authorized by law or this act to administer oaths and take
affidavits, similar in all respects to the oath required by law of
collectors of county taxes, he shall be credited by the common council
with the amount of city taxes so remaining due and unpaid. And every
assessment upon real estate, or water and sewer rents imposed under
this act or the Charter, may, when due, be collected in the same manner
as herein provided for the collection of taxes. The collector shall
forthwith deposit all moneys received by him in the designated depositories
to the credit of the city.
The mayor, by the direction of the common council, may extend
or renew from time to time any warrant which may have been issued
for the collection of any tax or assessment, or may issue a new warrant
for the collection thereof, and in such extension, renewal or new
warrant, shall specify the time when the same shall be returned, and
amount of fees to be collected, and in case of the issue of a new
warrant, after any tax or assessment has been returned uncollected,
such new warrant shall also direct the collection of interest on such
taxes or assessments as the same is given to the city by this act;
and the same proceedings shall be had upon such extension, renewal
or new warrant as upon the former warrant. All the provisions of this
act shall apply to the said taxes or assessments and the collection
thereof, and to the powers and duties of the collector in relation
to the same, after such renewal, extension or new warrant, in like
manner as herein provided upon the warrant as originally issued. But
the collector shall not be required, in cases of the renewal, extension
or new warrant, to post or publish any notices.
[Amended by L. 1911, Ch. 699; L. 1922, Ch. 613; L. 1953,
Ch. 878, § 187]
There shall be three funds, which shall be kept separate and
intact from each other, namely: A general common council fund, which
may be subdivided into smaller funds for different purposes, a water
department fund, and an excise fund, and such additional fund as has
been or may be hereafter established by the common council as a police
pension fund. The common council shall have power to make transfers
from different accounts in the general common council fund but it
shall at no time order drafts to an amount in excess of the amount
appropriated and available for general city purposes, and may also
temporarily transfer such amount as it may deem advisable from one
of the above named three funds to another but no such transfer shall
be made from the police pension fund, in anticipation of the next
annual or semi-annual tax installment, but such sum shall be transferred
directly after the collection of such tax.
[Added by L.L. No. 3-1996]
The City of Middletown will collect the real property taxes
due the County of Orange with respect to real property within the
corporate limits of the City, as such real property taxes are determined,
assessed and imposed by the County Legislature. The County real property
taxes shall be collected by the City at the same time and under the
same installment process as set forth elsewhere in this Charter for
the collection of City real property taxes. The County will print
all real property tax bills issued by the City, at the County's sole
cost and expense, and the City will pay for all costs of collection
of County real property taxes imposed within the corporate limits
of the City, except for the printing of the tax bills.
Delinquent County real property taxes within the corporate limits
of the City shall be enforced and collected in the same fashion as
set forth elsewhere in this Charter with respect to the enforcement
and collection of delinquent City real property taxes.
The City will not guarantee the collection of County real property
taxes imposed on properties within the corporate limits of the City,
except as set forth herein. Within thirty (30) days of collection
of any County real property taxes by the City, the City shall forward
such collected real property taxes to the County. If any County real
property taxes remain unpaid during the time set forth for collection
of real property taxes without interest, and any such County real
property taxes are thereafter paid to the City, the City shall, within
thirty (30) days of collection of such delinquent real property taxes,
pay to the County the base amount of the County real property taxes
so collected; however, any interest and/or penalties collected by
the City shall remain the property of the City and shall not be paid
to the County, and the County shall not have any claim to any such
interest and/or penalties. If the City shall take a deed to any property
on which there are outstanding County real property taxes, whether
by a tax sale proceeding or otherwise, then the City shall pay to
the County, within thirty (30) days of the City taking such deed,
the base amount of the County real property taxes so collected; however,
any interest and/or penalties collected by the City shall remain the
property of the City and shall not be paid to the County, and the
County shall not have any claim to any such interest and/or penalties.
[Amended by L.L. No. 2-1996]
The roll and warrant for city taxes and any and all taxes, sums
or amounts unpaid thereon shall belong to the city, and shall thereafter
be enforced and collected in the manner provided for all city taxes,
and any and all sums collected thereon shall be placed in the common
council fund.
[Added by L. 1922, Ch. 613; amended by L. 1932, Ch. 29; L.L. No. 2-2007]
a. When any question involving the raising of funds for any purpose
is submitted to the taxpayers at a special election if the council
shall be of the opinion that the amount to be raised is too large
to be raised by certificates of indebtedness or if it deems it more
advisable for any reason, it may issue and sell bonds of the city
for that purpose; such bonds shall be signed by the Mayor and the
Treasurer and the seal of the city affixed thereto, and shall bear
interest at not exceeding six per centum per annum, and become payable
at such future period, not in excess of forty years, as the council
may direct. A sinking fund for the purpose of payment of each such
issue of bonds shall be provided, and there shall be levied by annual
tax, or appropriated annually from the revenues of the department
for the benefit of which the bonds are issued, the proper proportion
of a sum sufficient to meet said bonds at their maturity. Said bonds
shall be assignable and transferable and may at the option of the
holder be registered in which case they shall be transferable only
by endorsement of the persons in whose name they may stand as owner
on the books of the Treasurer. They shall contain a statement of the
purpose for which they are issued, and that a sinking fund has been
provided for their payment.
b. The council may borrow money and issue new bonds from time to time
hereafter, as the bonds issued by the city shall respectively mature
and fall due, to take up and replace, or as substitutes for such maturing
bonds, provided the city has not sufficient funds on hand when said
bonds shall mature to pay the same, which bonds shall draw interest
from date, payable semi-annually, at a rate not exceeding six per
centum per annum, and be payable at such times, and shall be in such
form as the council shall direct when ordering the issue thereof,
and a sinking fund as provided for in this section shall be provided
for the payment of such bonds. The proceeds of the bonds so issued
shall be used only for the retirement and payment of the previous
issue.
c. The council may prescribe the manner of the sale of all bonds or
certificates of indebtedness, and in no case shall either or any of
them be sold or issued for a less sum than their par value and accrued
interest; they shall be approved by the corporation counsel as to
form. Notice of the sale of all bonds or other obligations shall be
given in the manner and for the period prescribed by section nine
of the general municipal law of the state of New York.
d. All moneys, which shall be paid into the sinking fund shall be invested
as soon as practicable and may be invested in the bonds of this city,
those of any town or county or city in this state, bonds of the United
States, certificates of indebtedness of this city, or such securities
as it is lawful for savings banks to invest in. The investment of
the fund shall be made under the direction of the Board of Estimate
and Apportionment and in the name of the city. The securities shall
be kept in a safe deposit box, access to which shall be had only by
the Mayor and Treasurer jointly, or in the absence of the Mayor, the
Acting Mayor and Treasurer jointly; the keys shall be kept by the
Treasurer.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 2-2007; L.L. No. 1-2008; L.L. No. 2-2022; L.L. No. 1-2024]
1. Every tax or assessment for whatever purpose imposed or charged,
upon any real estate within the City, by virtue of any of the provisions
of this Charter, shall be a lien upon the real estate, within the
City, upon which it is assessed from the time of filing of the applicable
tax roll. Such liens shall be superior to any mortgage, judgment or
other lien of any nature affecting said premises, excepting prior
liens thereon for state and county taxes. If any such taxes or assessments
shall be returned as unpaid by any officer authorized to collect the
same, the Common Council may employ and direct an attorney, or the
Corporation Counsel, or other proper officer, employed by the Common
Council to advertise and sell such real estate in the manner hereafter
provided. Whenever the Common Council shall order any parcel of land
to be sold for any such tax, assessment, water rents or city lien,
the order shall be made for all such taxes, assessments, water rents
and city liens which may be then unpaid. Such sales shall be ordered
by the Common Council at least once in two years, but no such sales
shall be ordered in respect to any such liens unless the same have
been in default of payment for at least three months.
2. All taxes levied upon the same assessment roll shall be enforced
jointly, but the enforcement timetable and redemption period shall
be based upon the latest of the applicable lien dates.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Paragraph 1, above, in this Section,
and notwithstanding any other provision in this Charter, any water
or sewer charge not received by the Treasurer by its due date shall
be considered delinquent, and shall be levied, together with late-payment
fees, into the general city property tax at the time of the next levy.
Such amounts shall be indicated in a separate column on the tax roll
issued against the subject real property. Such re-levied water and
sewer liens shall be subject to the same penalties imposed for the
nonpayment of City taxes, and shall be collected in the same manner
as provided in this Charter for the collection and enforcement of
delinquent property taxes.
4. Notwithstanding
the provisions of Paragraph 1, above, in this Section, and notwithstanding
any other provision in this Charter, any overgrown vegetation, snow
removal, garbage can, bulk pick-up, dead tree removal, or building
demolition charge not received by the Treasurer by its due date shall
be considered delinquent, and shall be levied, together with late-payment
fees, into the general city property tax at the time of the next levy.
Such amounts shall be indicated in a separate column on the tax roll
issued against the subject real property. Such relevied overgrown
vegetation, snow removal, garbage can, bulk pick-up, dead tree removal,
and building demolition liens shall be subject to the same penalties
imposed for the nonpayment of City taxes, and shall be collected in
the same manner as provided in this Charter for the collection and
enforcement of delinquent property taxes.
[Amended by L. 1904, Ch. 560; L. 1911, Ch. 187; L. 1922,
Ch. 613; L.L. No. 2-2007; L.L. No. 1-2008]
On or before the fifteenth day of December next after any tax,
assessments and liens shall have been imposed upon any real estate
in the City of Middletown, the Treasurer shall make and deliver to
the Common Council a transcript of all such taxes, assessments and
liens which remain unpaid for a period of three months from the date
of the warrant or order for their collection, containing and showing
the name of the owner or owners or occupant, so far as the same shall
be known to the Treasurer, with a brief general description of the
location and kind of property.
[Amended by L. 1904, Ch. 560; L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 2-1945; L.L. No. 2-2007; L.L. No. 1-2008; L.L. No. 3-2022; L.L. No. 2-2023]
1. Order of Sale. Before any sale of unpaid tax liens as described in Section
79 of this Charter, an order shall be made by the Common Council which shall be entered at large in the records of the City designating and directing the attorney or proper officer of the City to sell the liens on properties on which taxes, assessments and liens remain unpaid as particularly described in the certificate of the Treasurer as hereinbefore provided, a copy of which order shall be delivered to the officer so designated, who shall forthwith advertise the sale of said liens in the manner set forth herein, and the sale shall be conducted in the manner required in the case of sales of real estate on execution as provided in Section 5236 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, except as herein provided.
2. Notice of sale. A printed notice of the time and place of the sale
containing a description of the property encumbered by the lien to
be sold shall be posted in Middletown City Hall at least thirty (30)
days before the date fixed for the sale. A copy of the notice shall
be served at least thirty (30) days before the date fixed for the
sale by personal delivery or by registered or certified mail, return
receipt requested, and by regular mail upon the property owner and
any mortgagee, lessee, lienholder or assignee of either whose mortgage,
lease, lien or assignment shall have been previously recorded in the
Office of the Clerk of the County of Orange. A copy of the notice
shall be published once per week for three (3) successive weeks in
the official newspaper of the City, the last such notice being published
at least seven (7) days prior to the date fixed for the sale. An omission
to give any notice required herein, or the defacing or removal of
a posted notice, does not affect the title of a purchaser without
notice of the omission or offense.
3. Conduct and terms of sale. The proceedings may be stopped at any
time before the sale by any person, by paying the amount of the tax
or assessment, with the interest allowed thereon by this Charter,
and the expense of advertising. The attorney or officer selling the
lien shall require the purchaser, in the terms of sale, to pay at
the close of the sale, a sum sufficient to pay said tax or assessment,
interest, expense and charges. The purchaser shall not be required
to pay more than sufficient to pay the tax or assessment, interest,
expenses and charges until after the time for the redemption of such
real estate shall expire, according to the provisions of this Charter.
The terms of sale must advise the purchaser that the purchaser shall
be required to comply with the ruling of the United States Supreme
Court in Tyler v Hennepin County, 598 U.S. 631 (2023). The terms of
sale must advise the purchaser that title to the subject property
will not be conveyed until the purchaser provides proof to the City
that (a) the purchaser has obtained an appraisal of the subject property
from a licensed appraiser, (b) the purchaser has utilized the appraisal
to calculate the amount the property owner must be reimbursed after
subtraction of unpaid taxes, interest, fees and other costs incurred
by the purchaser, and (c) that the purchaser has notified the property
owner of the amount to be reimbursed after conveyance of title. Said
attorney or officer shall, in all cases, reduce his or her terms of
sale to writing, and require the purchaser to subscribe the same;
which terms of sale shall be annexed to the certificate of sale which
is herein required to be filed with the Treasurer, and shall be filed
with the same. All sales in such cases shall be at public venue, between
the hours of nine o'clock in the morning and four o'clock in the afternoon,
and shall be made to the highest bidder therefor.
4. Certificate of sale. One (1) certificate of sale of each lien so
sold shall be made out, subscribed and acknowledged by said officer,
and shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the county, within
twenty (20) business days after such sale. Such certificate shall
contain a particular description of the premises sold, the price bid
for each distinct lot or parcel, the whole sale was made, and the
time of expiration of the redemption period for the subject property,
when the purchaser shall be entitled to a conveyance according to
this Charter.
5. Recording certificates. The certificate herein required to be filed
in the county clerk's office shall be duly recorded by the said clerk,
in the same manner as deeds are required by law to be recorded, and,
being so recorded shall have the same effect as against subsequent
purchasers and encumbrances as deeds and conveyances duly proved and
recorded; and such certificate or record thereof, or a duly authenticated
copy of such record, shall be received in all courts and places as
prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated.
6. Evidence indexing. In indexing any certificate so to be recorded
in his office or any deed which may be given pursuant thereto, the
said county clerk shall index the same as follows: By inserting as
grantor, the name of the person named in such certificate as the owner
thereof, adding thereto the words "by the City of Middletown", and
by inserting as grantee, the name of the person named in such certificate
as the purchaser. The Treasurer of the City of Middletown shall provide
and keep in his or her office a suitable book, in which he or she
shall enter at length all such certificates of sale filed therein,
and shall index all such certificates in the manner named above required.
7. Certificates assignable. The certificates of sale hereinbefore mentioned,
shall be assignable by the purchaser or his legal representatives,
and such assignment shall be acknowledged or proven in the manner
required by law to entitle deeds of real estate to be recorded. The
assignment must contain the requirements contained in Paragraph 3,
above, regarding the ruling in Tyler v Hennepin County. The Common
Council may give to the assignee of any such certificate a conveyance
of the real estate therein described, after the expiration of the
redemption period pursuant to the terms of this Charter, provided
all assignments thereof shall have been duly recorded in the clerk's
office of said county, and provided that the assignee has complied
with all of the obligations contained in Paragraph 3, above, regarding
the ruling in Tyler v Hennepin County.
[Added by L.L. No. 2-1934; amended by L.L. No. 1-1940; L.L. No. 3-1998; L.L. No.
2-2007; L.L. No. 1-2008; L.L. No. 3-2018; L.L. No. 3-2022]
1. Review by Treasurer. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of
the Charter of the City of Middletown, the Treasurer of the City is
hereby authorized to review for potential bulk sale all liens for
city, county taxes, school district taxes, library taxes, business
improvement district taxes, and assessments (such as water and sewer
bills and miscellaneous charges imposed against real property in the
City in accordance with this Charter) which are delinquent one month
(hereinafter collectively referred to as "tax liens") and which are
not (a) currently restricted in their enforcement by the provision
of any bankruptcy law, or (b) related to any real property owned or
controlled by the federal, state or local government or any agency,
department or board thereof, against which enforcement of the lien
is restricted or prohibited under applicable federal, state or local
law, or (c) related to real property which has been identified by
state or federal departments or agencies as having environmental contamination.
2. At least once every three (3) years, the Treasurer may solicit proposals
from private entities for the purchase of tax liens in bulk, and such
tax liens may be sold in bulk, in accordance with the terms and conditions
set forth herein.
3. To solicit such proposals, the Treasurer shall cause to be published
once in each week for two (2) consecutive weeks in the official paper
of the City a statement that the City may offer tax liens for sale
in bulk to a private entity on or after a specified date. Such statement
may seek proposals from any interested entity which may wish to purchase
from the City such tax liens in bulk.
4. The expense of such advertisement shall be added to and made a part
of such tax liens and shall be included in the amount to be paid to
the Treasurer for the purchase of such tax liens by the private entity
in any such sale, along with any other accrued interest, fees and
penalties to the date of such sale to a private entity.
5. If the Treasurer receives any proposals for the purchase of tax liens
in bulk, the Treasurer will present such proposals to the Mayor and
Common Council. The Mayor and the Common Council shall have the power
to reject any and all such proposals and to agree to any such proposal
as the Mayor and the Common Council determine to be in the best interests
of the City. In addition, the Mayor and the Common Council shall have
the power to require the private entity which submitted the successful
proposal to modify any such proposal to include such terms and conditions
as the Mayor and the Common Council deem appropriate and in the best
interests of the City. Any such agreement shall be drawn or reviewed
by the Corporation Counsel of the City and shall not be deemed to
be effective until actually approved by the Common Council and signed
by the Mayor.
6. The City shall have the power to enter into such agreement with a private entity whether or not the tax liens which are the subject of such agreement have already been the subject of a sale in accordance with Section
81 of the Charter of the City of Middletown.
7. If such an agreement for the sale of tax liens in bulk is made by the City and a private entity, then such private entity shall be deemed to have been and have all the rights of a successful bidder for the properties which are the subject of such agreement as if the liens for such properties were the subject of a sale as set forth in Section
81 of the Charter of the City of Middletown. All rights of redemption for such properties and the right of such private entity to receive a certificate of sale and deed to such properties shall be as described in and governed by Sections
79 through
105 of the Charter of the City of Middletown.
8. Notice of bulk sale. A printed notice of the time and place of the
sale containing a description of the property to be sold shall be
posted in Middletown City Hall at least thirty (30) days before the
date fixed for the sale. A copy of the notice shall be served at least
thirty (30) days before the date fixed for the sale by personal delivery
or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and
by regular mail upon the property owner and any mortgagee, lessee,
lienholder or assignee of either whose mortgage, lease, lien or assignment
shall have been previously recorded in the Office of the Clerk of
the County of Orange. A copy of the notice shall be published once
per week for three (3) successive weeks in the official newspaper
of the City, the last such notice being published at least seven (7)
days prior to the date fixed for the sale. An omission to give any
notice required herein, or the defacing or removal of a posted notice,
does not affect the title of a purchaser without notice of the omission
or offense.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-2008]
The right and title of the person to any real estate, encumbered by a lien which shall be sold as hereinbefore provided, shall not be divested by such sale, until the expiration of the redemption period as defined in Section
83 of this Charter; but if such real estate shall not have been redeemed as herein provided, and a deed shall be executed in pursuance of a sale, the grantee in such deed shall be deemed vested with the legal estate from the time of such sale, for the purpose of maintaining an action for any injury to such real estate.
[Amended by L.L. No. 1-2008; L.L. No. 1-2014; L.L. No. 3-2022; L.L. No. 2-2023]
1. The redemption period shall expire two years after the date of the lien as provided in Section
79 of this Charter. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any notice published by the City pursuant to this Charter specifies a later date for the expiration of the redemption period, the redemption period shall expire on the date so specified. Other than the conditions set forth in the preceding sentence, the redemption period cannot be extended.
2. Real property subject to a delinquent tax lien may be redeemed by
payment to the Treasurer, on or before the expiration of the redemption
period, of the amount paid by the purchaser of the lien or liens,
and all other sums which the purchaser may have paid for taxes or
assessments on said real estate; together with the interest thereon
from the time such payments were made, at the rate of fifteen per
centum a year, and the actual and necessary expenses the purchaser
or City may have incurred in the service of the notices provided for
in this title; and on such payments being made the title acquired
by such sale shall cease. Any person having any right, title or interest
in, or lien upon, any such property may redeem such property in the
manner provided herein. In case such payment is made by the owner
of said real estate, then, and in that event, all mortgages, judgments,
decrees or claims which were a lien on said real estate at the time
the tax or assessment for which the sale has been made, became a lien
thereon, shall be and remain liens upon said real estate, anything
hereinbefore contained to the contrary notwithstanding. Upon such
payment being made by any such person so entitled to redeem any real
estate, the sale of the lien so redeemed, and the certificates of
such sale shall be null and void, and the person so redeeming shall
be entitled to have such certificate canceled of record.
3. After the expiration of the redemption period as herein defined, if any part of the premises sold shall remain unredeemed, the City must verify that the property owner has been reimbursed in the amount calculated pursuant to Paragraph 3 of Section
81 above, and that there has been full compliance with the ruling of Tyler v Hennepin County. After such verification, the Common Council shall give to the purchaser, his or her legal representatives or assigns, a conveyance of the premises so remaining unredeemed, which conveyance shall be valid and effectual to convey all the right, title and interest which may have been sold in the manner aforesaid and such conveyance shall be presumptive evidence in all courts and places that the tax assessment for which such lien may have been sold, was legally imposed and that the proceedings to authorize such sale were correct. The grantee named in any such conveyance may obtain possession of the real estate therein described, in the manner prescribed by law in relation to persons holding over demised premises, after the expiration of their terms, without the consent of their landlords, and said grantee, by virtue of such conveyance, shall acquire all the right, title and interest in the real estate therein described, and the right to the possession of the same, and shall have, hold and enjoy such real estate, free and clear from all claims, liens or encumbrances, except such taxes and assessments as may have been charged thereon at the time of such sale, or at any time thereafter.
4. If there exists more than one tax lien against a parcel, the liens
need not be redeemed simultaneously, but may be redeemed in chronological
order, so that the lien with the earliest lien date is redeemed first,
and the lien with the most recent lien date is redeemed last. The
conveyance process described in this Charter shall not take place
unless there is a lien which has been in existence for the entire
two-year redemption period.
5. When one or more liens against a parcel are redeemed as provided
herein, but any lien remains unredeemed, the receipt issued to the
person redeeming shall include a statement in substantially the following
form: "This parcel remains subject to one or more delinquent tax liens.
The payment you have made will not postpone the enforcement of the
outstanding lien or liens. Continued failure to pay the entire amount
owed beyond the expiration of the redemption period will result in
the loss of the property." Failure to include such a statement on
the receipt shall not invalidate any tax lien or prevent the enforcement
of the same as provided by law. Such partial redemption shall entitle
the redeemer to have any certificate of sale canceled pursuant to
the provisions of this Section, provided that such partial redemption
reimburses in full the purchaser at said sale pursuant to the provisions
of this Section.
[Repealed by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
[Repealed by L.L. No. 1-2008]
The city treasurer is hereby required to give proper receipts
for payments made to him under any of the preceding sections, and
any receipts taken for payments provided for therein, acknowledged
or proven in due form of law to entitle conveyance of real estate
to be recorded, shall be evidence of such payments, and may be recorded
and indexed in the clerk's office of Orange county, as deeds of real
estate are required by law to be recorded and indexed.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
All the provisions of law relating to the redemption of lands
sold under executions, and which are not inconsistent with the provisions
of this act, shall apply to the sales and redemption of lands, which
may be sold for taxes or assessments, as provided in this act; and
all payments which may be required to entitle other persons to redeem,
according to the provisions of said law, may be made to the city treasurer.
In case any person having a mortgage, judgment, decree or claim,
on lands about to be sold for any tax or assessment shall stop such
sale by paying the amount of the tax or assessment, fees and interest,
as herein provided, then, and in that event, the person making such
payment shall have a further lien on said lands for the amount so
paid by him, which shall be added to his said mortgage, judgment,
decree or claim, and become a part thereof; and such further lien
shall be of even date with said mortgage, judgment, decree or claim.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-1945; L.L. No. 1-2008; L.L. No. 3-2022; L.L. No. 2-2023]
1. No owner whose deed, or in case he or she holds such property by
descent or device, the deed of his or her ancestor or devisor, shall
have been duly recorded in the office of the clerk of the County of
Orange, before the sale of any lien for any tax or assessment, and
no mortgagee, lessee, lienholder or assignee of either, whose mortgage,
lease, lien or assignment shall have been so recorded, shall be divested
of all rights in such property, by reason of an unpaid lien or tax
sale conducted pursuant to this title, unless ninety (90) days notice
in writing of such conveyance, shall have been given by the City or
the purchaser of the lien or those claiming under him or her, to such
owner, mortgagee, lessee or assignee, by depositing such notice in
the post office of said City, by certified mail return receipt requested
and by regular mail, directed to the owner, mortgagee, or lessee or
assignee at his or her place of residence as stated in the deed, lease,
mortgage or assignment of such mortgage or lease, and, in the case
of an owner, directed to any address of such owner on file in the
Office of the Assessor.
2. In addition to the written notice provided for herein, any property
to be conveyed pursuant to this title must be posted with notice of
such conveyance no later than thirty (30) days prior to such conveyance.
3. In the event that notice as required herein is not sent to any of
the persons herein mentioned entitled to such notice, in such event
the time within which any such person or those claiming under him
or her may redeem such property is extended to within three (3) years
from the lien date. In case of failure to redeem within said three
years from the lien date, the sale and conveyance thereof shall become
absolute and all persons barred forever.
4. Upon expiration of the redemption period and completion of the procedures
required herein, including the reimbursement required by Tyler v Hennepin
County , and upon execution by the City of a deed to a tax-delinquent
parcel to the City or to a qualifying purchaser of an unpaid tax lien,
the City or qualified purchaser shall be seized of an estate in fee
simple absolute in such parcel and all persons, including the State,
infants, incompetents, absentees and non-residents, except as specifically
exempted by law, who may otherwise have had any right, title, interest,
claim, lien, or equity of redemption in or upon such parcel shall
be barred and forever foreclosed of any such right, title, interest,
claim, lien or equity of redemption, and the City or qualified purchaser
may hold such parcel for itself or sell or release such parcel as
provided by law.
5. Sale to previous owner. After conveyance of title as provided herein,
the City or qualified purchaser may convey the subject parcel to the
previous owner. Such a conveyance shall restore all parties, including
owners, mortgagees and any and all lienors, receivers and administrators
and encumbrancers, to the status they held at the time the City or
qualified purchaser acquired title to the subject parcel, as if the
title had never been conveyed, and shall render the subject parcel
liable for all taxes, deficiencies, management fees and liens, penalties,
interest, and other charges which had accrued prior to the conveyance
of title and which continued to accrue after the conveyance of title.
6. Conveyance prohibited to certain City officials, officers and employees.
No City of Middletown elected official, nor any officer or employee
in the Offices of the Assessor, Corporation Counsel, or Treasurer
may bid for or acquire or purchase any parcel of real property which
is offered for sale by the City in any manner as a result of the tax
delinquency of such parcel. This prohibition shall include a prohibition
against such City officials, officers or employees bidding upon or
acquiring or purchasing such properties directly or through an agent,
representative, attorney or other third party, including but not limited
to a spouse or child. It shall be presumptive proof of a violation
of this Section if such City official, officer or employee shall have
acquired any interest whatsoever, including but not limited to the
holding of a mortgage, lien or other financial interest, in any such
property, howsoever acquired, either directly or through any third
parties, within two (2) years of the date upon which such property
was sold or conveyed by the City of Middletown. This provision may
be enforced by disciplinary action or by an appropriate action at
law or in equity in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 1-2008]
It shall be the duty of the person serving such notice and posting
such property, or causing the same to be served and posted, to file
and record a copy of the notice served, together with the affidavit
of the person making such service and posting, who shall be at least
eighteen years of age, in the office of the Corporation Counsel.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 2-2023]
The city of Middletown may become the purchaser at any sale which may be made under the provisions of this act, and in case the said city shall be vested with the same rights as any other purchaser, but in no case shall the city at such sale bid a sum or become the purchaser for a greater amount than sufficient to pay the tax or assessment, with interest, including the costs and expenses of such sales, and in all cases of such sales the said city shall bid a sum sufficient to pay such tax or assessment, interest, cost and expenses. The mayor or other person designated by the common council shall attend all such sales and make such bid. The city must comply with the ruling in Tyler v Hennepin County by undertaking the obligations set forth in Paragraph 3 of Section
81, above. Any sale made in violation of this provision shall be void.
The term "mortgagee," as used in this act shall be construed
to include assignees or mortgagees whose assignment shall be duly
recorded, and personal representatives, and the term "purchaser" shall
be construed to include assignees and real and personal representatives,
as the case may be.
[Repealed by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613; L.L. No. 1-2008]
All property exempt from taxation by law, and all property belonging
to the city, shall be exempt from state, county, city, library and
business improvement district taxes.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
Whenever any person or corporation shall refuse or neglect to
pay any tax or assessment duly assessed, according to any of the provisions
of this act, against any such person or corporation, the same may
be collected by action in the name of the city, against such person
or corporation, but such action shall not operate to release any lien
upon property for such tax or assessment, until the judgment rendered
in such suit shall have been fully satisfied.
Whenever any real estate in said city shall be owned by two
or more persons jointly, or as tenants in common, a notice served
on one of such persons shall be sufficient notice to all for any purpose
requiring a notice under this act.
[Amended by L. 1922, Ch. 613; L. 1943, Ch. 710]
The said council shall not create any pecuniary obligation whatever
on the part of the city which shall not be payable within the year,
and which cannot be discharged from the income of the same year, except
as otherwise provided by the local finance law and except as herein
otherwise specifically provided.
[Repealed by L. 1922, Ch. 613]
Whenever any tax or assessment which may be imposed on any real
estate owned by two or more tenants in common, shall be paid by one
or more of such owners, the person or persons making such payment
shall have a right of action against the remaining owner or owners
to recover his, her or their proper share of such payment.
Whenever any assessment made under the provisions of this act
shall be set aside or be decided by any court having jurisdiction
thereof, to have been improperly or illegally made, or whenever it
shall be ascertained that the proceedings under which said assessment
may be made, shall have been so far irregular and erroneous as to
make the collection of such assessment illegal, then, and in that
case, a reassessment may be made in the manner prescribed by this
act, with the same force and effect as if it had been an original
assessment.
[Added by L.L. No. 1-1955]
Every tax deed executed, and delivered by the City of Middletown
pursuant to the Charter provisions of the City of Middletown, or any
tax deed executed and delivered pursuant to any general or special
law providing for the foreclosure of a tax lien by action in rem,
shall be presumptive evidence that the action and all proceedings
therein and all proceedings prior thereto from and including the assessment
of the lands affected and all notices required by law were regular
and in accordance with all provisions of law relating thereto. After
two years from the date of the recording of such deed the presumption
shall be conclusive, unless at the time this section takes effect,
the two year period since the recording of the deed has expired or
less than six months of such period of two years remains unexpired,
in which case the presumption shall become conclusive six months after
this section takes effect. No action to set aside such deed may be
maintained unless the action is commenced and a note of pendency of
the action if filed in the office of the Orange County Clerk prior
to the time that the presumption becomes conclusive as hereinabove
provided.