S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10935
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              August 17, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Cusick) --
   read once and referred to the Committee on Cities
 
 AN ACT relating to enacting the New York City truth in budgeting act
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  This act shall be known and may be cited as the "New York
 City truth in budgeting act".
   § 2. Definitions. As used in this act:
   (a) "Property tax levy" shall mean the overall property tax raised  by
 the city of New York in a given fiscal year.
   (b) "Assuming zero growth" shall mean the presumption that the proper-
 ty tax levy has not increased relative to the prior fiscal year.
   (c) "Proposed tax rates" shall mean the tax rates of each of the prop-
 erty tax classes as proposed in the budget of the city of New York.
   (d) "City" shall mean the city of New York.
   §  3.  The city of New York shall levy a tax on real estate no greater
 than an amount equal to two percent of the amount raised by such tax  in
 the  prior  fiscal  year unless such city meets the requirements of this
 section.
   (a) The city shall issue a report to both the  state  legislature  and
 the  New  York city council which contains, within the first five pages,
 the words "PROPOSED TAX INCREASE" in bold  upper-case  font  no  smaller
 than  18  point,  followed  by  the  fiscal  year  for which such report
 applies. Such report shall then detail the growth of the amount  of  the
 property  tax  levy  as proposed in the city's budget, the growth of the
 assessed value of each of the property tax classes as such  classes  are
 defined  in section 1802 of the real property tax law, and the growth of
 the proposed tax rates of each property tax class, both compared to  the
 prior  fiscal year and within the context of the prior ten fiscal years.
 Such report shall include a clear and concise comparison of the tax rate
 for each property tax class assuming zero growth  in  the  property  tax
 levy  to  the  tax rates for each property tax class as proposed in such
 city's budget.

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

                                                            LBD16693-03-0

 A. 10935                            2
 
   (i) Such report shall be delivered to the  legislature  and  the  city
 council  prior to the dates of the hearings described in subdivision (c)
 of this section and shall be  made  publicly  available  on  the  city's
 website.
   (ii)  Nothing  in  this subdivision shall be construed to prohibit the
 city from including any additional information related to property taxes
 in such report.
   (b) Such city shall publish a notice in no less than three  newspapers
 of  general  circulation  within  the  city with the words "PROPOSED TAX
 INCREASE" in bold upper-case font no smaller than 18 point. Such  notice
 shall  compare the proposed tax rates with the tax rates for each of the
 property tax classes assuming zero growth in the property tax levy. Such
 notice shall compare, for each of the property tax classes,  the  impact
 that  such  city's  proposed  tax rates would have on a property owner's
 final property tax bill to the impact on such bill of a tax  rate  which
 assumes  zero growth in the property tax levy, using examples of proper-
 ties in each of the property tax classes  which  are  fictionalized  but
 representative of taxable assessed values in each property tax class.
   (c)  Such  notice shall further include the dates, times and locations
 of the public hearings described in subdivision (d) of this  section  on
 such city's proposed tax rates.
   (i)  Nothing  in  this  subdivision shall be construed to prohibit the
 city from including any additional information related to property taxes
 in such notice.
   (ii) It is the intent of the legislature that such notice be published
 in both electronic and print format in newspapers  of  general  interest
 and readership to the population of such city.
   (d)  Prior  to the adoption of the city's budget and subsequent to the
 publication of the notice described in subdivision (b) of this  section,
 such  city  shall  hold  a series of public hearings on the proposed tax
 increases described in such notice. Such hearings shall  take  place  at
 hours of convenience to the general public and at geographically diverse
 locations  throughout  such city.  Such hearings shall be subject to all
 provisions of this state's open meetings law.   Notwithstanding  section
 110  of  the  public  officers  law,  however, where there is a conflict
 between the provisions of this act and the provisions of the open  meet-
 ings law this act shall prevail.
   §  4.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to the
 fiscal year next succeeding the date on which it  shall  have  become  a
 law.