Volume 2 - Opinions of Counsel SBEA No. 109
County Director of Real Property Tax Services (filing of information) - Real Property Tax Law, §§ 574, 804, 1532:
A county legislative body may authorize the transfer of existing reports affecting real property from the office of the clerk of the county legislative body to the office of the director of real property tax services, and may direct that future reports be similarly filed with the said director.
We have received an inquiry from a director of real property tax services. He states that local assessors currently file real property transfer reports (LA-23) with the clerk of the county board of legislators, and he asks whether the county may legally provide for the transfer of files containing previous reports to his office, and authorize future reports to be filed with his office.
Section 574 of the Real Property Tax Law requires that assessors file real property transfer reports with the county equalization agency. In many counties the county legislative body acts as the county equalization agency pursuant to subdivision 2 of section 804 of the Real Property Tax Law. The purpose of requiring such reports to be filed with the county equalization agency is to assist that agency in the annual determinations of county equalization rates pursuant to Article 8 of the Real Property Tax Law.
Paragraph 2(a) of section 1532 of the Real Property Tax Law as added by chapter 957 of the Laws of 1970 provides that the director of real property tax services shall provide the county equalization agency with such information from his office as may be useful in the operation of that agency. Paragraph 3 (b) of said section provides that the director of real property tax services shall, when authorized by resolution of the county legislative body, perform the duties imposed upon the recording officer of the county by section 574 in relation to reports of transfers of real property. It is the opinion of this office, therefore, that the county legislative body may authorize the transfer of existing reports from the office of the clerk of the county legislative body to the office of the director of real property tax services, and may direct that future reports be filed by local assessors with the director of real property tax services.
June 6, 1972