BILL NUMBER: S5622

SPONSOR: MAYER
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the tax law, in relation to extending the period during
which the city of White Plains is authorized to impose an additional
sales and compensating use tax

 
PURPOSE OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to extend, for an additional two years,
White Plains' authority to impose its current tax rate of sales and
compensating use tax.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 extends the authorization of the city of White Plains to main-
tain its current rate of sales and compensating use tax.

Section 2 governs the effectiveness of a sales tax extension adopted by
the local government of White Plains and sets rules for the filing of
              

the local law, ordinance or resolution adopting the extension.

Section 3 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Since 1993, the state has authorized the city of White Plains to impose
an additional one-half of one percent rate of sales tax to replace
revenue lost through local preemption. Since 2008, the state has
approved an additional one-quarter of one percent rate of sales tax
bringing the city of White Plains sales tax rate to two and a quarter
percent. In 2010, in response to the city's fiscal condition and after
its receiving a "negative outlook" from Moody's Investor Services, for
unsatisfactory levels held in reserves, the city asked the state to
enact legislation to permit the city of White Plains to impose an addi-
tional one-quarter of one percent rate of sales tax and to require the
city to pay the proceeds of this 2010 rate increase into a contingency
and tax stabilization reserve fund under section 6-e of the general
municipal law. The law was created in 2010 and has been continued to
date. The negative outlook was revised by Moody's in 2013. Since that
time, the city's budget has been stable with the balance in the reserve
fund growing by nearly ten times compared to 2008 levels. Therefore, the
city of White Plains has determined that it is no longer necessary or
prudent to continue to deposit the one-quarter of one percent portion of
the tax levy into the contingency and tax stabilization reserve fund.

The current sales tax rate of 8.375% in White Plains, of which 2.5% goes
to the city, is equal to that of other municipalities in Westchester
County except for the City of Yonkers which has a higher sales tax rate.
The city knows of no other municipality in Westchester County with such
a restriction on part of their respective sales tax revenues.

As the 2010 request originated from the city of White Plains, and the
city now finds that it is no longer necessary to add to this reserve, it
is appropriate to remove the requirement. Current funds will remain in
the contingency and tax stabilization reserve fund.

This bill will permit the city of White Plains to continue to impose
each of these additional tax rates through August 31, 2025 while elimi-
nating the requirement that the city pay the proceeds from the one-quar-
ter of one percent tax increase first authorized by chapter seventy-four
of the laws of 2010 into the contingency and tax stabilization reserve
fund.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021: S3501 (Mayer)/A4588(Paulin), signed, ch. 109

2019: S2669 (Mayer)/A5246(Buchwald), signed, ch. 33

2017: S2961 (Latimer)/A2930(Buchwald), signed, ch. 28

2015: S723 (Latimer)/A222(Buchwald), signed, ch. 17

2013: S3406 (Latimer)/A3883(Buchwald), signed, ch. 44

2011: S3796 (Oppenheimer)/A6105(Paulin), signed, ch. 30

2010: S6868A (Oppenheimer)A9965A(Paulin), signed, ch. 74

2009: S1087 (Oppenheimer)/A3129(Bradley), signed, ch. 37

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.