Tax Reform to help NY developers.Developers of affordable housing in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of State will have a new tool to assist them when the Affordable Housing Property Tax Reform Act goes into effect on January 1, 2006. The culmination of three years of work by the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, the law requires that assessors use the income approach to assess affordable rental projects. This legislation represents a victory for affordable housing developers, because the income approach, as opposed to the cost or market approaches, will often result in lower taxes for affordable properties. The act, which adds Section 581-a to the New York State Real Property Tax Law, was signed last month by Governor Pataki In order to qualify, at least 20% of the residential units must be covered by a municipal, state or federal regulatory agreement. Thus, any property developed with financing from federal or state low income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bond Tax-exempt bond A bond usually issued by municipal, county, or state governments whose interest payments are not subject to federal and, in some cases, state and local income tax. tax-exempt bond See municipal bond. financing or any of the capital budget programs administered by the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal would qualify. In addition to mandating the use of the income approach, the new law also requires that assessors exclude the value of any subsidies or tax credit syndication See syndication format. proceeds in determining project income. NYSAFAH began the effort to draft and pass this legislation after learning that many affordable projects were receiving market rate assessments that could not be sustained by the buildings' restricted incomes. As a result, developers would be forced to apply for higher rents or risk default. The efforts to address this problem were led in the legislature by senators Dean Skelos Dean Skelos represents District 9 in the New York State Senate, which is comprised of Elmont, Rockville Centre, Malverne, East Rockaway and Lawrence, among other towns within Long Island. and Joseph Robach and Assembly members Ron Canestrari and Vito Lopez Vito J. Lopez (b. 1940) represents District 53 in the New York State Assembly, which is comprised primarily of Bushwick and other neighborhoods within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Lopez holds a BS in Business administration from Long Island University and an M.A. . "This legislation will remove a tremendous obstacle to the development of affordable housing in New York State," said NYSAFAH executive director Bernie Carr CARR Carrier CARR Customer Acceptance Readiness Review CARR Carrollton Railroad CARR Corrective Action Request and Report CARR City Area Rural Rides (Texas) CARR Configuration Audit Readiness Review CARR Customer Acceptance Requirements Review . "We appreciate the support of the legislature and the Governor and the technical assistance we received from our friends at DHCR DHCR Division of Housing and Community Renewal ." |
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