[Adopted 11-12-2002 by L.L. No. 10-2002]
A.
Only towns in the County of Westchester are required
to independently collect delinquent taxes that accrue on real property
located in within the town. In all other communities of the state,
the county government is charged with this responsibility.
B.
Over the past few years, the State Legislature has
revised the process by which towns and other municipalities enforce
tax liens against properties and to either obtain payment of same
or to acquire the properties upon which the liens have accrued and
sell them to generate payment to the communities for the unpaid tax
liens.
C.
The State Legislature has enacted § 1184
of the Real Property Tax Law, which allows the Town Board to establish
and provide for the installment payment of eligible delinquent taxes.
It is the Town Board's intention to allow the provisions of § 1184
of the Real Property Tax Law to be applicable in the Town of Cortlandt
and, thus, adopts this article to effectuate the same.
Only residential properties located within the
Town of Cortlandt shall be eligible for an installment payment agreement
for eligible delinquent taxes.
Any residential property owner who is eligible,
pursuant to this article, for the payment of eligible delinquent taxes
in installments shall enter into an installment agreement which shall
be prepared and in a form approved by the Town Attorney. Said installment
agreement, once approved by the Town Attorney and found to be in compliance
with this article, may be entered into on behalf of the Town by the
Receiver of Taxes of the Town of Cortlandt, who is the enforcing officer.
Said agreement must be signed by the eligible property owner and must
be delivered to the Town together with any down payment required thereunder.
Any agreement for the installment payment of
eligible delinquent taxes shall contain the following terms:
A.
The maximum term of said agreement shall not exceed
24 months.
B.
The payment schedule shall be monthly. The payments
required thereunder shall be monthly.
C.
An initial down payment of 25% of the eligible delinquent
taxes shall be required upon the signing of the agreement.
D.
A representation that the subject property is residential
and that the property owner has never entered into a delinquent payment
agreement before.
E.
That the property owner is not the owner of any other
tax parcels within the Town on which there is a delinquent tax lien.
F.
That the property owner had not been the owner of
any real property in which a tax lien has been foreclosed within three
years of the date hereof.
The amount due under this installment agreement
shall be the eligible delinquent taxes plus the interest that is to
accrue on each installment payment, up to and including the date on
which each payment is to be made. The agreement shall provide that
the amount due shall be paid as nearly as possible in equal amounts
on the first day of each month. Each installment payment shall be
due on the 30th day of the month on which it is to be paid.
A.
The rate of interest in effect on the date the agreement
is signed shall remain constant during the entire period of the agreement.
B.
If an installment is not paid on or before the date
it is due, interest shall be added at the applicable rate for each
month or portion thereof until paid. In addition, if an installment
is not paid by the end of the 15th calendar day after the payment
due date, a late charge of 5% of the owed due payment shall be added.
Any eligible owner who shall have entered into
an agreement for the partial payment of delinquent taxes shall be
deemed to be in default on the following terms:
A.
Nonpayment of any installment within 30 days of the
due date.
B.
Nonpayment of any tax, special ad valorem levy or
special assessment which is levied subsequent to the signing of the
agreement by the tax district and which is not paid prior to the receipt
of a return of unpaid taxes by the enforcing officer, or default of
the eligible owner on another agreement made and executed pursuant
to this article.
Any term or condition of § 1184 of
the Real Property Tax Law not set forth herein shall be deemed to
be in full force and effect with respect to interpretation of the
terms and conditions of said agreements.
The definitions as set forth in § 1184
of the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York at the time
of the adoption of this article shall be deemed to be the same definitions
applicable to any terms set forth herein.
