Environment DEC
From the May 2007 issue
Owners of Flood-Damaged Property to Receive Tax Relief
Governor Eliot Spitzer has signed into law legislation that will provide tax relief to owners whose property sustained significant damage from last summer's floods. In June and July of 2006, severe flooding hit many areas of upstate New York, including central New York, the Southern Tier and the Mohawk Valley, and a federal disaster was declared in 20 counties.
Hardest Hit Counties
More than 8,600 homes were destroyed or received significant damage due to flooding in summer 2006
The State Emergency Management Office (SEMO) estimated that in the hardest hit counties of Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Orange, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan, Tioga and Ulster, more than 8,600 homes were destroyed or received significant damage. The Flood Assessment Relief Act of 2007 will offer property owners in these counties the option to seek reductions in their assessments.
Eligible Property Owners
In the tax jurisdictions that choose to participate, taxpayers whose property was "catastrophically impacted" by the flooding-property that lost at least 50 percent of its value-would be entitled to seek adjustment of the assessed value of such property, either by requesting a review by their local board of assessment or by seeking administrative correction of the tax roll. In this way, taxpayers could recoup some of the taxes they paid on property that was assessed prior to the floods but that did not retain its value due to significant damage.
