02/06/2023 Assessment Community Weekly
2023 Tentative Oil and Gas Values
The 2023 tentative unit of production values are now available online. For details, see the 2023 Tentative Oil and Gas Unit of Production Values Letter. For general oil and gas information, see Valuation and Assessment of Oil and Gas Producing Property in New York State.
Please bear with us as the Assessor/Director Hotline undergoes some changes
The Assessor/Director Hotline recently had a sudden exodus of staff to accept promotions in other areas. We wish them the best, but we ask for your patience as we build the team back up. We have added a voicemail to the Hotline. If you call 518-457-9053 and get our voicemail, please leave a message and we will get back to you within 48 hours.
Thank you for your patience during this transition period.
Track new RPT-related legislation on our website
The State Legislature is off and running with three bills that have already passed both houses. To track the status of these and similar bills, bookmark Current status of property tax-related legislation.
Pro tip: For bill text and an explanation (also known as a bill memo) of a particular piece of legislation, visit New York State Legislature. (You’ll also find a link to that page on the top of our Current Status page.) But don’t include the period in the bill number when searching. For example, A977 will work; A.977 won’t.
Your RPTL 466-a questions answered
Please refer any additional questions to your municipal attorney.
Q1. If both spouses in a married couple are volunteer firefighters or ambulance workers, can we process two applications and exemptions?
A. In our non-binding opinion, if the property has multiple owners who qualify, each may receive the exemption. See Opinion of Counsel, Vol. 11, No. 51.
Q2. What happens if both owners volunteer and file taxes jointly? Can one owner get the exemption and the other get the $200 state income credit?
A. From the instructions on page 2 of the form: If you receive this exemption, you cannot claim a New York State income tax credit for the same volunteer service; however, if the property has multiple owners, the owner(s) whose volunteer service was not the basis of the exemption are eligible to claim that credit.
Q3. Is the state reaching out to all the school district superintendents and boards of education to advise them of the new law they can adopt?
A. Yes. The email notice sent on December 22 included school superintendents, business managers, and board presidents. We cc’d assessors and county RPT directors. For details, see the text of the communication.
Q4. Does the exemption require that recipients reapply annually?
A. From the instructions on page 2 of the form: Once the exemption is granted, the exemption may continue for the authorized period provided that the eligibility requirements continue to be satisfied. It is not necessary to reapply after the initial year for the exemption for it to continue.
Q5. For the apportionment of taxes, should the new 466-a exemption be added back into the taxable assessed value?
In our non-binding opinion, the answer depends on whether the county or school district has opted to add this exemption to taxable assessed value (TAV) when apportioning its tax. If it has, then yes, it should be added. If it hasn’t, then no it shouldn’t.
There are only a few exemptions that must be added to taxable AV for apportionment purposes:
- counties and school districts must both add the clergy exemption (RPTL 460) and the exemption for incorporated associations of volunteer firefighters (RPTL 466);
- counties must add the eligible funds exemption for veterans (RPTL 458);
- school districts must add the STAR exemption (RPTL 425).
With any other partial exemption (including the alternative veterans exemption authorized by section 458-a and the Cold War veterans exemption authorized by section 458-b), it’s a local option whether to add it or not. (See RPTL 844(1), 1314(1)(a).)
Note: The exemption for volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers authorized by RPTL section 466-a is an entirely different exemption from the exemption for incorporated associations of volunteer firefighters authorized by section 466. As a result, it’s subject to local option and should not be added to the taxable AV during the tax apportionment process unless the county or school district has formally opted to do so.