05/17/2021 Assessment Community Weekly
Two in-person Farm Appraisal courses scheduled
Registration is now open for two Introduction to Farm Appraisal courses:
- Genesee County: September 20-24, 2021
- Delaware County: October 18-22, 2021
To register, see the ORPTS training schedule.
New law impacts relevies of unpaid utility bills
Chapter 106 of the Laws of 2021 was signed into law on May 11. It extends until July 1, 2022 the moratorium on the termination of utility services to COVID-impacted residential customers, which was originally imposed by Chapter 108 of the Laws of 2020. It also extends the moratorium to certain commercial customers, and it makes a variety of administrative changes to the program.
Among those changes, the new law impacts the administration of real property taxes in areas where utility services — such as water, sewer service, or electricity — are provided by a municipal entity. In addition to extending the existing moratorium upon terminating service for non-paying customers, it also provides that no municipality may “place, sell or enforce any lien on the real property”
Though municipal utility billing issues are out of our purview, it is our understanding that when a municipality relevies an unpaid municipal utility bill, it causes a lien to be placed upon the property in question. Therefore, we read the new law as generally precluding the relevy of unpaid municipal utility bills until the legislation expires on July 1, 2022.
Resources
We’ve been tracking this bill on Current status of property tax-related legislation, along with other RPT-related bills that have passed both houses. That page includes a link to New York State Legislature, where you can look up the bill language.
Once on the legislative page, use the dropdown menus and check boxes to enter your search.
If you have questions about the new law, please direct them to the municipal attorney.
Equalization rate update for May 1 and June 1 tentative roll munis
We've made approximately 144 equalization rates. Please keep the following in mind:
- Tentative roll. If you published your tentative roll on May 1, and you haven’t sent it to us or posted it online, please do so immediately. If you will publish your roll on June 1, please send us your roll and post it online as soon as possible.
- Get your rate. We’ll email your rate to you (and the county director) as soon as it’s made. (We’ll also post it online the following day.)
- If ORPTS accepts the LOA as the equalization rate: The rate will immediately become final. ORPTS will not issue a tentative rate.
- If ORPTS doesn’t accept the LOA as the rate: The assessor is required by law to provide notices to the local governing body of any affected:
- town,
- city,
- village,
- county, and
- school district.
The assessor must provide the notice within ten days of the receipt of the tentative equalization rate, or within ten days of the filing of the tentative assessment roll, whichever is later.
The notice will provide the difference in the indicated total full value estimates of the locally stated level of assessment and the tentative equalization rate for the taxable property within each affected jurisdiction listed above.
Reminder: Manufactured home and co-op spreadsheets
If you haven’t done so already, complete and send your manufactured home or co-op spreadsheets immediately.
For detailed instructions, see Send the manufactured home and co-op spreadsheets to the Tax Department.
If we do not receive your spreadsheet, the STAR credit checks for the manufactured home or co-op owners in your municipality will be delayed.
Updated report: Distribution of Parcels by Property Class
Each year we update this report and the associated data in Municipal Profiles (aka MuniPro). If you haven’t browsed this data lately, it’s fascinating!
For instance, of the 5.8 million parcels statewide, how many are classified as diners and luncheonettes? 1,940, and 553 of those are in New York City!
Golfers in the North Country may be interested to know that there are 14 parcels labeled public golf courses in St. Lawrence County alone!
Get on over to Munipro and find your passion in the data! Just select Distribution of Parcels by Property Class at the state, county, or municipal level. You never know what you’ll find!
