Assessor Manuals, Exemption Administration: RPTL Section 412

Exemption Administration Manual—Part 1: New York State Government

Section 4.02 - RPTL Section 412: Public authorities & Pub Auth L

Exemption code(s):

Public authorities exempt from real property taxes under RPTL §412 and the Public Authorities Law are of two types: state and local. State public authorities are those which have a governing board whose membership is required by law to consist entirely of members who are appointed by the Governor or another state officer or who serve as members of the board as ex officio state officers [Public Lands Law §19-a(9)]. Authorities having a different type of governing board are considered to be local authorities.

Different exemption codes are used to distinguish between state and local public authorities. In addition, several codes are needed to show the variations in authorities' liability for special district charges. For the exemption code to use for each authority, see Coding of Exemption on Assessment Roll below.

Year originally enacted:

RPTL §412: 1958
Individual public authorities: See Table 1.

Related statutes:

RPTL §545
See also Table 1.

Summary:

There are currently 98 public authorities that are allowed a specific property tax exemption by the Public Authorities Law sections that created them. Another 21 lack the power to hold title to real property, but may acquire property in the name of the state or a county, city, town, or village; these authorities are the following:

Summary

The property of the above authorities is exempt under RPTL §§404(1), 406, or Gen Muny L §411 (see the Exemption Profiles for these statutes).*

Real property of such authorities that satisfies the statutory ownership, location, and use requirements (see Table 2 - Eligibility Requirements) is wholly exempt from taxation. In addition, certain public authorities are exempt from special ad valorem levies and special assessments (see Table 3 - Extent of Exemption). Payments in lieu of taxes, which may be voluntarily entered into by any of the public authorities, are required of five of the authorities for certain property (see Payments in Lieu of Taxes below).

Auburn and Troy Industrial Development Authorities:

Prior to financing any new property improvement project, the authority must establish a uniform tax exemption policy, with input from affected taxing jurisdictions, that provides guidelines for the claiming of property tax exemptions. In adopting a tax exemption policy, the authority must consider such issues as (1) the extent to which the project will create or retain permanent, private sector jobs, (2) the estimated value of any tax exemptions to be provided, (3) whether affected taxing jurisdictions will be reimbursed by the project occupant if the project does not fulfill the purposes for which an exemption was provided, (4) the impact of the proposed project on existing and proposed businesses and economic development projects in the vicinity, (5) the amount of private sector investment generated or likely to be generated by the proposed project, (6) the demonstrated public support for the proposed project, (7) the likelihood of accomplishing the proposed project in a timely fashion, (8) the effect of the proposed project on the environment, (9) the extent to which the proposed project will require the provision of additional services (including, but not limited to, additional educational, transportation, police, emergency, medical, or fire services), and (10) the extent to which the proposed project will provide additional sources of revenue for municipalities and school districts. In addition, the authority must establish a procedure for deviation from the uniform tax exemption policy, must set forth in writing the reasons for deviation, and must notify the affected taxing jurisdictions of the proposed deviation and the reasons therefore.

Eligibility requirements

Ownership requirements:

See Table 2 - Eligibility Requirements. Note that there are no indicated property use requirements on property owned by public authorities listed in the table.

Local option

Generally, no. A limited local option exists in the case of property owned by the Cayuga County, Dutchess County, Livingston County, Orange County, Saratoga County, or Wayne County Water Authority, the Greater Troy Area Solid Waste Management Authority, the Town of Clifton Park Water Authority, the Town of Wilton Water and Sewer Authority, the Clifton-Fine Health Care Corporation, or the Long Island Market Authority located outside the district and administered by the authority. Such property is exempt from taxes, special ad valorem levies, and special assessments only pursuant to and to the extent provided by an agreement with the governing body of the municipality in which the property is located.

Limitations on exemption

Exemptions are generally not limited in amount or duration. For a description of the extent of exemption by taxing purpose, see Table 3 - Extent of Exemption.

Payments in lieu of taxes

Eleven public authorities are required by law to make payments in lieu of taxes: six transportation authorities, three water supply, waste disposal, and/or resource recovery authorities, and two power authorities.

1. Albany County Airport Authority.

The authority is liable for payments in lieu of taxes as follows:

1. Property owned or acquired and subsequently developed, improved, or used for non-transportation purposes is subject to payments in lieu of taxes based on current assessed value and equal to the full amount of taxes that would be levied if the property were not exempt.
2. The authority is liable for payments in lieu of taxes on any property used for other than public aviation purposes. Examples of such non- aviation uses are hotels, motels, restaurants, and retail stores and concessions not located within a terminal building.

2. Capital District Transit Authority.

3. Central New York Regional Transportation Authority.

4. Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

The authority is required to make payments in lieu of taxes to municipalities and school districts as follows:

1. Property owned or acquired and subsequently developed, improved, or used for non-transportation purposes is subject to payments in lieu of taxes based on current assessed value and equal to the full amount of taxes that would be levied if the property were not exempt.
2. Vacant property, property acquired for non-transportation purposes but intended for future transportation use, and property acquired for transportation purposes and used as such are not subject to payments in lieu of taxes.
3. The authority may voluntarily make payments in lieu of taxes on any of its property. If it agrees to do so, however, such payments must not exceed the sum last paid as taxes on the property prior to its acquisition by the authority.
   
   

5. Rochester-Genesee Transportation Authority.

These three transportation authorities are liable for payments in lieu of taxes as follows:

1. Property acquired for transportation purposes, but subsequently used for non-transportation purposes: liable for payments in lieu of taxes to county, city, and/or school district in an amount equal to that which would ordinarily be imposed as taxes. 
   
   
2. Property acquired for non-transportation purposes, e.g. for future transportation purposes, but not developed or improved by the authority: liable for payments in lieu of taxes to county, city, town, and/or school district in an amount equal to the sum last paid as taxes upon such property prior to its acquisition by the authority.
   
   
3. Property acquired for non-transportation purposes and developed and improved by the authority for non-transportation purposes: liable for payments in lieu of taxes to county, city, and/or school district in an amount fixed by the municipality based on the assessment of such property (at the prevailing method of determining assessments).

6. Syracuse Regional Airport Authority.

The authority is liable for payments in lieu of taxes as follows:

1. The authority must continue to make payments in lieu of taxes under prior agreements to the Towns of Cicero, Dewitt and Salina, and also to the North Syracuse Central and Syracuse-Minoa Central school districts.
2. The authority is liable for payments in lieu of taxes on any property used for other than public aviation purposes. Examples of such non-aviation uses are hotels, motels, restaurants, and retail stores and concessions not located within a terminal building.

7. NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation.

Payments in lieu of taxes, special ad valorem levies, and special assessments are required of real property owned by the corporation if:

• such property is used for or in connection with a project of the corporation,
• such property is located outside the contracting municipality or municipalities, and
• such property was subject to taxation, special ad valorem levies, or special assessments on the latest final assessment roll preceding the acquisition by the corporation.

8. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority.

The authority is required to make payments in lieu of taxes and assessments to municipalities and school districts in an amount equal to the taxes and assessments which would have been paid on the unimproved, i.e., land, value of the property if the property had been owned by someone who was subject to real property taxation.

9. Upper Mohawk Valley Regional Water Board.

The Water Board must make payments in lieu of taxes to each municipality and each school district located in the board's service area and to any other municipalities in which board property is located, as follows:

1. To Oneida County, in each year that the Utica Memorial Auditorium (as reconstructed, enlarged, modified, or replaced by a building serving a similar function at a different location within the service area) is operated as an auditorium for the benefit of the residents of Oneida County: an annual sum of $500,000, which must be increased every 6th year by 10%, for a period of 40 years, and thereafter as determined by the Water Board.
2. To the City of Utica, $200,000 annually for 10 years, $350,000 in each of the following 5 years, $450,000 in each of the next 5 years, $350,000 in each the next 5 years, $425,000 in each of the next 5 years, $475,000 in each of the next 5 years, $525,000 in each of the next 5 years, and thereafter as determined by the Water Board.
3. To each town that the Water Board annually determines will provide services to the board during the next calendar year: an annual sum of $74,737, which must be increased every 6th year by 5%, for a period of 40 years, with the following exceptions. The Town of Trenton must initially receive $60,000 of the initial aggregate amount, with the remainder distributed to the Town of Russia ($9,500), the Town of Norway ($4,318), Town of Ohio ($894), and the Town of Salisbury ($25); each of these amounts must be increased by 5% every 6th year.
4. To all school districts annually determined by the Water Board to have lost property tax revenues as a result of the transfer of previously taxable property by either a municipality or its board of water supply to the Water Board: in the first fiscal year, the sum of $975,000; in each of the next 22 years, the sum paid in the preceding year reduced by $42,391. The amount paid to each individual school district, to be determined annually by the Water Board, must be in proportion to the amount of property taxes received by each school district from the board of water supply in fiscal year 1993-1994.

10. Long Island Power Authority.

The authority is required to make payments in lieu of taxes to municipalities and school districts as follows:

• For property that is acquired by the authority from the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) and as a result is removed from the tax rolls, annual payments must equal 100% of the taxes that would have been received by each taxing jurisdiction if the acquisition had not occurred,  provided, however, that for the calendar year starting on January 1, 2015, and for each calendar year thereafter, such payments in lieu of taxes may not exceed the in lieu tax payments made to municipalities and school districts in the immediately preceding year by more than two percent.

11. North Country Power Authority.

The authority is required to make payments in lieu of taxes to municipalities and school districts equal to the taxes and the assessments which would have been received from year to year by such jurisdictions.

Other public authorities may make payments in lieu of taxes voluntarily, through agreements with taxing jurisdictions. For two public authorities, the Auburn Industrial Development Authority and the Troy Industrial Development Authority, the form of such agreements is specified by law. The agreement must be in writing and must specify: (1) the amount due annually to each affected taxing jurisdiction (or a formula by which the amount can be calculated), (2) the name and address of the person, office, or agency to which payment must be delivered, (3) the date on which payment will be made, and (4) the date on which payment will be considered delinquent if not paid. Unless otherwise agreed to by the affected taxing jurisdictions, the agreement must provide that payments will be allocated among the taxing jurisdictions in proportion to the amount of real property tax and other taxes that would have been received by each jurisdiction had the project not been tax exempt. In the absence of any such written agreement, payments in lieu of taxes must be allocated in the same proportion as they had been prior to January 1, 1993.

Note: Since they are not collected by the tax collector, payments in lieu of taxes should not be entered on the tax roll. Such payments are collected in the same manner as are other payments due the municipality under contract.

See also Section 4.02, RPTL Section 404(1).

Calculation of exemption

General municipal and school district taxes:

100% of assessed value.

Special ad valorem levies and special assessments:

100% of assessed value or other basis of assessment for those authorities which are exempt from such levies and assessments (see Table 3 - Extent of Exemption).

See note under Local Option section above regarding the authorities with possibly different percentages of exemption.

Coding of exemption on assessment roll

Assessment roll section(s)

Exempt (RPS Section 8).

Note: These codes should not be used to identify (1) property that is owned by the state and is exempt under RPTL §404(1), (2) municipally owned property that is exempt under any of the subsections of RPTL §406 or under Gen Muny L §411, or (3) property that is owned by a municipal industrial development agency and is exempt under RPTL §412-a and Gen Muny L §874, or (4) property that is exempt under any of the statutes listed under Similar Exemptions below. For coding of such property, see the Exemption Profile for the statute that applies.

Filing requirements (owner or occupant of property)

None.

Reporting requirements (assessor)

None.

Similar exemptions

Table 1: Year Originally Enacted, Related Statutes, and Duration of Authority

Table 2: Eligibility Requirements

Table 3: Extent of Exemption

*The enabling legislation for the creation of the Albany Heat, Light, and Power Authority provided for exemption of real property, but such public authority was never locally constituted. Therefore, any question of its exemption has become moot.

| Top of Page | Table of Contents | Next Page | Assessors' Manuals |

Please send general questions or comments to ORPTS.