[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006]
The Common Council must annually cause to be levied and raised by general tax upon all taxable real property in the city, according to the valuation upon the final assessment roll applicable to tax levies for the current year, including any corrections to date:
1. 
The amount of taxes for state and county purposes certified to the Common Council of the city by the Board of Supervisors of the county of Chenango, to be assessed upon the real property within the city;
2. 
The amount of all interest and any installment of principal falling due upon the indebtedness of the city, which shall which shall be kept in a separate fund to be called the debt service fund; and
3. 
The amount required to be raised for city purposes for the next fiscal year as authorized and provided by this Act.
If the Common Council recommend, or if the owners of ten per centum (10%) of the value of the property appearing upon the last assessment roll of the city shall petition for, an extraordinary capital expenditure to be made for any purpose for the benefit of the city, or for any purpose for which bonds may be issued, or it, upon its own motion, the Common Council shall resolve by an affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Aldermen that an extraordinary capital expenditure ought for the benefit of the city to be made for any specific purpose set forth in the resolution, it shall make an estimate of the sum necessary therefor and for all such purposes, if there be more than one (1), and publish such resolution and estimate for at least two (2) weeks in the official city newspaper printed in the city, together with a notice that at a time and place therein specified it will decide whether the amount of such expenditure shall be raised by tax. The Common Council shall designate four (4) of their number to act as Inspectors at such election and they shall also appoint a Poll Clerk and a Ballot Clerk and shall fill all vacancies occurring among them. All provisions of law prescribing the duties of Inspectors of Election and their powers with reference to preserving order at elections and false swearing and fraudulent voting thereat shall, so far as applicable, apply to the special election held thereunder. Every person who owns any real property which shall have been assessed and taxed upon the last assessment roll of the city before such special election, and no other person, shall be entitled to vote at such election. The election shall be by ballot, and each ballot shall contain a brief statement of each purpose for which such expenditure is required and the amount thereof, and be in form required by the Election Law for voting upon questions submitted. The Inspectors shall, at the time and place designated as aforesaid, sit without intermission from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. to receive the ballots cast at such special election, and shall deposit the same in a suitable box to be provided by the city. If the right to vote of any citizen offering to vote at such special election be challenged by any other person entitled to vote thereat, an Inspector of Election shall administer to him the following oath: "You do swear that you are the owner of property assessed upon the last assessment roll of the City of Norwich and that you have not voted at this election?" After he shall take such oath, and if he owns property assessed upon the assessment roll aforesaid, his vote shall be received. The Inspectors shall canvass the votes received immediately after the closing of the polls and immediately make a certificate, signed by them, stating the whole number of ballots voted at such election, the whole number in favor of each special tax, and the whole number against each special tax, and deliver the same forthwith to the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall deliver the same to the Common Council at its next meeting, and it shall cause the result of the said election thus certified to be entered in its minutes, and if the whole number of votes received at such election for any such special tax exceeds the whole number of votes against the same, the Common Council shall, except as hereinafter provided, cause the sum or sums of money thus voted to be assessed, levied and raised with and in addition to other taxes in and upon the next assessment roll.
After such special tax or taxes shall have been authorized as herein provided, the Common Council may proceed to authorize the expenditures of the amount thereof, during the fiscal year for which such tax is to be levied, for the purpose or purposes specified in the published statement aforesaid, and sanctioned by such election.
The provisions of this section shall not be deemed to limit the issue of bonds or capital notes or to prevent the financing of any object or purpose for which a period of probable usefulness is provided in the Local Finance Law.
[Amended 12-16-1997 by L.L. No. 5-1997]
The Director of Finance, under the direction of the Common Council, shall extend and apportion the city tax and, in a separate column, the state and county taxes on the assessment roll delivered to him in each year, and shall file the same in his office. Then and on or before the 15th day of December, or as soon thereafter as practicable, a warrant shall be annexed to the original roll of the taxes extended therein as aforesaid and be signed by the Mayor and the City Clerk under the seal of the city, commanding the Receiver of Taxes to receive and collect the several sums in the tax roll specified as assessed against the property therein mentioned or described with such percentage or penalty and interest as is in this Act provided, in the manner provided by law. Such tax, including city and county, shall become due on the first day of January in each year and shall be payable in two (2) installments, the first installment, together with any annual installment of any assessment, shall be payable on or before the thirty-first day of January in such year, and the second installment shall be payable on or before the thirty-first day of May following. Each of said installments shall be fifty per centum (50%) of said tax. The Receiver of Taxes shall receive and collect the relative proportions of the installments payable on or before the thirty-first day of January and on or before the thirty-first day of May respectively as hereinafter provided. On the first day of January of each year, all taxes assessed and levied upon any real estate shall be a lien upon such real estate for the amount thereof, and the percentages and interest as they accrue shall also be a lien.
[Amended 12-16-1997 by L.L. No. 5-1997; 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006; 9-17-2024 by L.L. No. 3-2024; 12-23-2024 by L.L. No. 4-2024]
After the date of the tax warrant, the Receiver of Taxes shall publish a notice in the official newspaper once a week for two consecutive weeks and shall post such notice in three (3) public places, stating:
1. 
That he has received the warrant for collection of state, county and city taxes; and
2. 
When the taxes are due and payable; and
3. 
The penalties for failure to pay the same on time.
During the fiscal year for which they have been levied, taxes may be paid either in full, or in two equal installments, according to the following schedule:
Total Tax:
May be paid in full from January 1st through March 31st. (If no payments are made prior to April 1st, total tax is past due and payable in full.)
First Installment:
May be paid from January 1st through March 31st. (If not paid prior to April 1st, total tax is past due and payable in full.)
Second Installment:
May be paid after payment of First Installment, through July 31st. (If not paid prior to August 1st, second installment is past due.)
Fees Charged:
On all tax amounts paid within the month of:
Fee Due:
January
0.0%
February
1.5%
March
2.0%
April
2.5%
May
3.0%
June
11.0%
July
12.0%
August
15.0%
September
16.0%
From October 1st through day prior to tax sale:
17.5%
From date of tax sale through date of redemption:
17.5% per annum
The fees and interest provided in this section shall be the property of the city in all cases, including but not limited to those where tax sales are not bid in by the city but are purchased by any other party.
[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006]
Immediately upon receiving any tax, the Receiver of Taxes shall give the person paying the same a receipt therefor and retain a duplicate copy of said receipt in his office according to New York State records retention requirements. Separate receipts shall be issued on each parcel for each tax year being paid.
[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006]
In preparation for enforcement proceedings, after the first day of August of each year during which city and county taxes have been levied or other unpaid taxes have been re-levied, the Receiver of Taxes shall cause a list to be made of any and all such taxes which remain unpaid. Such list shall identify each parcel by its address and the owner's name as listed on the tax roll, and shall indicate the amount of unpaid taxes plus interest and charges against the parcel to date.
[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006]
Whenever any such tax, penalty or interest or any part of either of them shall remain unpaid on the first day of September following the assessment and levy of such tax, the Director of Finance shall proceed to advertise and sell the parcels upon which the same was imposed, for the payment of such tax, penalty or interest, or the part remaining unpaid, and the expense of such sale, as hereinafter prescribed, shall also be charged upon such parcels.
[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006]
The Director of Finance shall cause to be published a notice of such sale, in the official newspaper of the city, containing a list of the parcels to be sold, identifying each parcel by its address and the owner's name as listed on the tax roll, and indicating the amount of unpaid taxes plus interest and charges against the parcel to date, and specifying the time and place of sale, which notice shall be published in the official newspaper of the city designated for that purpose by the Common Council, once a week for at least six (6) successive weeks immediately prior to the day of sale, and shall also post such notice of sale in at least three (3) public places of the city at least forty-two (42) days before the day of sale. On the day named, the Director of Finance shall commence the sale of such parcels and shall continue such sale until the whole thereof be sold. At any time before the sale, the owner of such parcels or his representative or any person interested therein may avoid the sale thereof by paying the tax or taxes to the Director of Finance with all accrued interest, fees, additions and expenses.
[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006]
Each parcel shall be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. The minimum acceptable bid cannot be less than the amount of unpaid taxes plus interest and charges against the parcel to date. The city shall reserve a right of first refusal to match the highest bid made on any parcel. The purchaser or purchasers on such sale shall pay the amounts of their respective bids to the Director of Finance immediately after each parcel shall be struck off. Should there be no bid of the amount due on any parcel of real property to be sold, or should the city exercise its right of first refusal, then the Director of Finance shall, unless otherwise directed by the Common Council as to any or all parcels, thereupon bid in the same for the city in the case of no bids made, or thereupon bid in for the city the matching amount of the highest bid in the case of the city exercising its right of first refusal. The city is hereby authorized to acquire said parcels which remain unredeemed after the expiration of the redemption period as provided under Section 218 of this Title, and the Common Council shall thereafter have the care, management and control of all such parcels and may lease or sell and convey the same. As soon as practicable after the sale, the Director of Finance shall prepare and execute in duplicate, as to each parcel sold, a certificate of such sale, identifying the parcel purchased by indicating its address and the owner's name as listed on the tax roll, stating the fact of the sale, the name of the purchaser, the sum paid therefor, the amount due thereon, and the date of the sale. One (1) of said duplicates shall be delivered to the purchaser, or, in case the parcel was struck off to the city, then it shall be retained and filed in the office of the Director of Finance. The Director of Finance shall deliver the other duplicate certificate to the Clerk of the County of Chenango, who shall file said certificate in his office and record the same in a book to be kept in said Clerk's office for that purpose, and shall index the certificate in the same manner as deeds are required by law to be indexed. The County Clerk shall be entitled to receive an appropriately established and reasonable fee for each certificate so filed and recorded, which fee shall be paid by the Director of Finance and shall be a part of the expenses of the sale of the parcel.
[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006]
The proceeds of the sale of each parcel, other than those struck off to the city, shall be applied to the payment of the expenses of the sale as herein provided and the extinguishment of the tax, penalty or interest for which it was sold, and if there should then be any surplus, the Director of Finance shall hold the surplus until the owner of, or any person interested in or having a lien upon, the parcel at the time of the sale shall redeem it from the sale as herein provided, and the Director of Finance shall pay such owner the said surplus. In all such other cases, the Director of Finance shall hold the surplus until after the period of redemption shall have expired and then he shall pay such surplus, and the person, persons, association or corporation entitled thereto shall be ascertained in the same manner and by the same proceedings as in the case of surplus and statutory foreclosure of a mortgage on real estate. In the case where any subsequent taxes shall be assessed and levied on real estate, which has been previously sold for taxes, and before the redemption of such previous tax sale and where such subsequent taxes remain unpaid, the Director of Finance may deduct the amount thereof from any surplus. If any such subsequent taxes still remain unpaid, the purchaser shall pay the same before he shall receive his conveyance of the real estate.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Section 218, Redemption of real property, as amended 12-16-1997 by L.L. No. 5-1997 and 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006, was repealed 4-16-2024 by L.L. No. 2-2024.
[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006; 4-16-2024 by L.L. No. 2-2024]
Three (3) months before the expiration of the time for the final redemption of any parcels so sold, or as soon thereafter as is practicable, the Director of Finance shall commence the publication in the official newspaper of the city of a notice of redemption from such sales, which shall show the year when the sale took place and the last day for the redemption of the parcels not already redeemed, without other or further description, except that the notice shall state the office or place within the City of Norwich where the money for such redemption can be paid and the amount necessary to redeem the same, and such notice shall be published at least twice in each of said three (3) months in the official city newspaper. On or before the first day of the publication of the notice above set forth, a copy of such notice shall be served personally by means of sending it by certified mail to the owner of the parcels, and to any other person or entity, whose right, title, or interest was recorded in the Chenango County Clerk's Office as of the date of such notice, which right, title, or interest will be affected by the termination of the redemption period, and whose name and address are reasonably ascertainable from such record. This notice shall also include the process to obtain any surplus funds from the sale of the property shall the owner fail to redeem the property before the redemption period closes and the City later sells the property. The failure of an intended recipient to receive any such notice in such manner as above set forth shall not invalidate any tax or related charges or prevent the enforcement of the same or of any provision of this Title. The service of such notice as herein prescribed shall be deemed to be equivalent to the service of a notice of petition pursuant to section four hundred three of the civil practice law and rules of the state of New York. The publication and service of such notice shall bar and preclude any and all persons and entities except the purchaser on such sale, or his assigns, from claiming any interest in or lien upon such parcels or any part thereof in case the said parcels shall not be redeemed from such sale as hereinbefore provided.
[Amended 8-22-2006 by L.L. No. 2-2006; 4-16-2024 by L.L. No. 2-2024]
1. 
If any parcel so sold shall not be redeemed as herein provided, the Director of Finance, following the expiration of the said fifteen (15) months, shall cause to be executed and delivered upon request to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, or to the city or its assigns, as the case may be, a conveyance of the parcel so sold, which conveyance shall vest in the grantee an estate in fee subject only to the liens, if any, of unpaid taxes or assessments thereon. The Director of Finance shall be entitled on behalf of the city to demand and receive from the grantee all reasonable costs for the preparation and execution of such conveyance. Every such conveyance shall be executed by the Director of Finance to the city. In the case of the purchaser being other than the city, the city shall then immediately convey such parcel to said purchaser by quitclaim deed, which shall be executed by the Mayor. The execution of all such conveyances shall be acknowledged before some officer authorized to take and certify acknowledgments of instruments for record in said county, and such conveyance shall be conclusive evidence that the sale and subsequent proceedings were regular and presumptive evidence that all previous proceedings were regular and according to law. Any such conveyances may be recorded in like manner and with like effect as any other conveyance of real estate. The said grantee or his assigns, or the city or its assigns, as the case may be, shall be entitled to have and to possess the granted parcel from and after the execution of such conveyance, and may cause the occupants of such parcel to be removed therefrom and the possession thereof delivered to them in the same manner and by the same proceedings and by and before the same officers as in the case of a tenant holding over after the expiration of his term without permission of his landlord.
2. 
The proceeds of the sale of each parcel struck off by the City to a purchaser of property the City acquired by tax sale, shall be applied to any taxes owed to the Director of Finance in compliance with Section 217 of this Chapter. Any surplus funds after such payments are made to the Director of Finance shall then be applied to any expenses the City acquired due to the sale of the property, any legal fees and any administrative costs due to the tax foreclosure and sale process and any costs the City acquires due to the upkeep of the property from the time the City acquires the property until it is sold to a subsequent purchaser. These costs shall be documented and itemized by the Director of Finance.
3. 
Any surplus, after the above-mentioned costs have been deducted from the sale of the property from the City to a subsequent purchaser, must be held in trust for a period of 90 days. During such a period, the individual or entity who was the previous owner of the property before it was sold at tax sale, may apply, in writing, to the Director of Finance to be paid the surplus funds from the final tax sale from the City to the new owner. The Director of Finance will then provide the former owner an itemized list of expenses that were subtracted from the surplus, along with the payment to the former owner.
4. 
In the event the former owner of the property does not apply to receive the surplus funds from the tax sale within 90 days, the surplus is forfeited and added to the City's general fund.
It shall be the duty of the Director of Finance to pay over to the Treasurer of the County of Chenango at the end of each month during the period that the tax roll and warrant is in his hands, all moneys received by him for state and county taxes. The Director of Finance shall settle with the County Treasurer for such taxes in the manner required by law of Town Collectors. Anything to the contrary notwithstanding, any stay, lawfully granted by any court of competent jurisdiction by injunction or other order or proceeding, of the collection of any state and county taxes existing at the expiration of the period for the collection of such taxes under any certified resolution of the Board of Supervisors in the hands of the Director of Finance for the collection thereof, or existing at the time of the expiration of the term of office of the City Chamberlain holding such certified resolution, shall operate as an extension of the time within which the City Chamberlain may collect such taxes, until such stay is terminated and for a period of thirty (30) days thereafter. The fact of the prevention of the collection of such taxes by reason of such stay shall be certified to by the City Chamberlain to the County Treasurer at the time prescribed herein for the settlement of the taxes not so collected. Upon the final settlement with the County Treasurer, the City Chamberlain shall pay from the general fund of the city the amount of uncollected state and county taxes, except those which he has been prevented from collecting by the above-described stay, in his hands for collection, and thereupon such taxes shall, belong to the City of Norwich.
The Common Council of the city may, in its discretion, release, discharge, remit or commute any portion of the taxes assessed or levied against any property, for an error, irregularity or omission in the levying of said taxes, or in any of the proceedings relating to the same. In case any assessment shall remain unpaid on account of any irregularity, omission or error in any assessment authorized by this Act or the laws in force when such tax is levied, or in case of error in the description of lands or in the description of the owner or occupants, the Common Council may in its discretion, or upon the application of any person interested, proceed to correct such irregularity, mistake or inadvertence in levying or assessing the same, and shall have the power, and it shall be its duty, to cause the same to be reassessed in a proper manner, and likewise it shall be the duty of the Common Council to assess upon the next annual tax roll any property inadvertently omitted from the preceding tax roll, and a tax shall be levied thereon at the ratio of said preceding year. Any sum paid thereon shall be credited upon the tax so reassessed, and if the sum paid shall exceed the amount so reassessed, the excess shall be refunded to the person entitled thereto.
Whenever an assessment shall be ordered for local improvements, the assessment shall be made to resemble in form, as nearly as practicable, the tax list, and be provided with a column in which payments can be entered by the Director of Finance. All provisions relating to the collection of taxes in this Act shall be applicable to the collection of assessments mentioned in this Act, and the amount of all assessments for local improvements in default at the time of the annual tax levy shall be added to the amount assessed against the same land for general city taxes, and shall be collected and enforced in the same manner as in this Act provided.
On or before the first day of December in each year, the Common Council shall cause to be prepared a budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Such budget shall contain an itemized statement of all the estimated expenses and income of each and every department of the city government. In preparing the budget as above provided, it shall be the duty of each and every employee and officer of the city to aid and assist in such process and to provide all the papers and records of the city. Such statement shall contain in detail a statement of all judgments against the city then remaining and an itemized statement of the principal and interest of all bonded and other indebtedness of the city that will fall due during the next fiscal year. The statement shall contain the amount of all unpaid taxes and local assessments theretofore assessed and remaining unpaid and the amount which in his judgment will probably be received by the city therefrom during the next fiscal year; all expenditures made or incurred by the city and chargeable to the property owners or other person and remaining unpaid in the amount which in his judgement will probably be received by the city during the next fiscal year. After such statement and estimates have been prepared, the Common Council shall, at a regular meeting or special meeting called for that purpose, determine the general amounts necessary to be raised to defray all the expense of the city for the ensuing fiscal year.
The Common Council may authorize the expenditure of any surplus moneys for any lawful purpose of the city.
Unexpended balances of appropriations made for the support of the city government, except as otherwise provided by law, may remain upon deposit and be included as a part of the estimated revenues for the succeeding year, or the Common Council may determine to apply such unexpended balances toward and in addition to the funds appropriated for general city purposes.
Upon the completion of the budget, but before its adoption by the Common Council, the Mayor shall cause copies thereof to be prepared and made available for distribution at his office to interested persons. Such copies may be mimeographed, printed or otherwise reproduced.
At the meeting of the Council at which the budget is submitted to the Council, the Council shall determine the time and place of the public hearing on the budget. Notice of such public hearing shall be published in the official newspaper at least five (5) days prior thereto. Such public hearing may be adjourned from time to time by the Council.
Within five (5) days after the budget is finally adopted, it shall be certified by the Mayor and City Clerk as the budget for the ensuing fiscal year and shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk. A reasonable number of copies of the budget, in any event not less than two hundred (200), shall be made available for distribution at the office of the City Clerk. Such copies may be mimeographed, printed or otherwise reproduced.