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The Senate staff issued a report in December to the New York State Select Committee on Budget and Tax Reform on the needs for and costs of the state’s property tax exemptions. The Select Committee is chaired by Senator Liz Krueger of the 26th District, Manhattan. Carol LaGrasse, President of the Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc., was invited to participate in a roundtable meeting in Albany on October 12, 2009 to discuss the questions that the committee would address.
As a member of the Select Committee, Ms. LaGrasse emphasized the need for clear guidelines for proportional assessment exemptions when nonprofits that own significant tracts of land and when institutions such as hospitals that own high value structures utilize only a portion of the real property for the tax-exempt purpose.
Referring to “LaGrasse’s recommended proportionality method,” the report quotes her remark, “If part of the land is held and clearly used for purposes of nonprofit then that fraction should be tax exempt, but the remaining fraction should pay a portion of the tax.”
The report includes a legal discussion of her “proportionality method.”
Ms. LaGrasse also pointed out the adverse impact that extensive state and nonprofit acquisitions of land are having on the tax base of some regions such as parts of the Hudson River valley. She also spoke about the issue of state payment of taxes on its lands within the Forest Preserve.
The conclusions of the report include a finding that, in spite of the Legislature’s effort to curtail the growth of exemptions claimed by religious, educational and moral and mental health nonprofit organizations, the number of these groups has grown throughout the state. The report found that the Legislature had a track record for adding to the property tax crisis by creating or expanding property tax exemptions. Chairwoman Krueger has introduced legislation to establish a circuit breaker tax credit to give relief to the middle class.
A copy of the report, “Staff Report to the New York State Senate Select Committee on Budget and Tax Reform on Evaluating the Needs for and Costs of New York State Property Tax Exemptions,” is available from the committee office of Senator Krueger, Chair, or from the Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc.
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