Permits senior citizens whose spouses are deceased to substitute a more recent income for purposes of determing eligibility for the enhanced school tax relief (STAR) exemption.

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S658-2011 Actions

• Apr 17, 2012: REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
• Jan 4, 2012: REFERRED TO AGING
• Jun 24, 2011: COMMITTED TO RULES
• May 18, 2011: ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
• May 17, 2011: 2ND REPORT CAL.
• May 16, 2011: 1ST REPORT CAL.650
• Jan 24, 2011: REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE
• Jan 5, 2011: REFERRED TO AGING

S658-2011 Meetings

Aging: Jan 24, 2011, Aging: Apr 17, 2012, Finance: May 17, 2011

S658-2011 Calendars

Floor Calendar: May 17, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 18, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 23, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 24, 2011 , Floor Calendar: May 25, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 1, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 2, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 6, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 7, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 13, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 14, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 15, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 16, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 17, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 21, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 22, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 23, 2011 , Floor Calendar: Jun 24, 2011

S658-2011 Votes

S658-2011 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S658

TITLE OF BILL:
An  act  to amend the real property tax law, in relation to permitting
senior citizens whose spouses are deceased to substitute a more recent
year's income for purposes of determining eligibility for the enhanced
exemption for school tax relief

PURPOSE:
This amendment would enable widows/widowers to submit proof  by  April
30th  to  their  local assessors' office informing them that they have
experienced a drastic decrease in income due to the loss of a  spouse.
If  information  is  valid,  the assessor would base the widowers STAR
exemption on their most recent income tax form  rather  than  the  tax
form from two years prior.

JUSTIFICATION:
To  validate  star  eligibility,  an assessor goes back two years on a
persons income tax form. The reason being that the  STAR  deadline  is
March  1st,  and  most  people  do  not  have their most current taxes
complete and filed until the April 15th Federal tax deadline.   So  it
is  practical  for  assessors  to  base eligibility on the most recent
filed state income tax forms, which are the forms from two years prior
to  the  current  year.  However,  this  practice   for   establishing
eligibility  means  that  a widow or widower who has seen their income
cut dramatically with the loss of a spouse could conceivably  not  see
an increase in star benefit for more than three years.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2007-08: S.5363
2009-10: S.1602

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

S658-2011 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                     658

                         2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                                 (PREFILED)

                               January 5, 2011
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by Sens. VALESKY, KLEIN, OPPENHEIMER, HASSELL-THOMPSON, DIAZ
    -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
    the Committee on Aging

  AN ACT to amend the real property tax law,  in  relation  to  permitting
    senior citizens whose spouses are deceased to substitute a more recent
    year's income for purposes of determining eligibility for the enhanced
    exemption for school tax relief

    THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section 1. Subparagraph (i) of  paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision  4  of
  section  425  of  the  real  property tax law is amended by adding a new
  clause (C-1) to read as follows:

    (C-1) NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF CLAUSE (C)  OF  THIS  SUBPARA-
  GRAPH,  IN THE EVENT THAT A SENIOR CITIZEN WHO, AS A RESULT OF THE DEATH
  OF HIS OR HER SPOUSE, EXPERIENCES A SUFFICIENT DECREASE IN INCOME DURING
  THE TAX YEAR IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF  MAKING  APPLICATION  FOR
  THE  EXEMPTION, THEN FOR THE PURPOSES OF DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR THE
  ENHANCED EXEMPTION, SUCH SENIOR CITIZEN MAY USE HIS OR  HER  INCOME  FOR
  SUCH  YEAR;  PROVIDED  THAT THE INCOME TAX RETURN FOR SUCH YEAR HAS BEEN
  FILED WITH THE APPROPRIATE STATE OR FEDERAL AGENCY, OR OTHER  DOCUMENTA-
  TION OF INCOME ELIGIBILITY HAS BEEN FILED WITH THE ASSESSOR OF APPROPRI-
  ATE JURISDICTION, PRIOR TO APRIL THIRTIETH.
    S 2. This act shall take effect immediately.



   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD03498-01-1