On February 1, 2019, Governor Cuomo signed into law Senate Bill 2523/Assembly Bill 2852, which amends the Real Property Tax Law (“RPTL”) to extend the time in which furloughed or designated non-paid federal employees can pay real property taxes without interest or penalty.
The legislation adds a new §925-e to the RPTL, the terms of which permit municipalities to grant an extension of time for payment of real property taxes to property owners, their spouses or domestic partners affected by the federal government shutdown without interest or penalty. Section 925-e of the RPTL provides that if a real property tax bill, including school, town, city, village, county or special district taxes or an installment agreement for the payment of real property taxes, becomes due and payable during the time of a lapse in discretionary appropriations by the federal government and the property owner, their spouse or domestic partner is furloughed by the federal government, the property owner can seek an extension to pay real property taxes without interest or penalty. The extension must be sought by no later than thirty (30) days after the last day to pay the tax bill or installment payment, without interest.
Municipalities may extend the deadline for payment of real property taxes for a period of ninety (90) days after the end of such lapse in discretionary appropriations by the federal government, provided that a local resolution authorizing such an extension has been adopted.
This extension applies to:
- Federal employees furloughed by the federal government
- Designated non-paid federal employees
- Spouses of federal employees furloughed or designated non-paid federal employees
- Domestic Partners of federal employees furloughed or designated non-paid federal employees
It is not clear whether an entity such as an LLC, whose member(s) has/have been affected by the federal government shutdown will be able to benefit from this extension.
More information can be obtained by contacting the municipal attorneys at Keane & Beane. For more information, contact Judson K. Siebert at jsiebert@kblaw.com. You may also request to be added to future Legal Alerts on this topic.
