§ 967. Division of taxes by governmental bodies. (a) The governing
board of any city, town, village or county in which an empire zone is
located is hereby authorized and empowered to:

(i) adopt a local law providing that any taxes levied by or on behalf
of such city, town, village or county upon taxable real property in such
zone shall be divided based on the area's original taxable value and its
incremental value as determined in subdivisions (c) and (f) of this
section, provided however, that no city, town, village or county may
adopt a local law providing for such a division of taxes if:

(A) the original taxable value of the zone involved exceeds a figure
equal to twenty percent of the total assessed value of that
municipality, exclusive of any incremental values for such areas; or

(B) the land area of the zone involved exceeds a figure equal to
twenty percent of the total land area of the municipality.

(ii) adopt a local law establishing a special empire zone tax
increment fund and providing for the deposit of moneys into such fund
pursuant to subdivision (g) of this section.

(b) In no event shall the division of taxes pursuant to this section
be construed as relieving property owners within the designated area of
their obligation for paying the taxes, if any, levied upon the assessed
value of their taxable real property.

(c) As soon as possible after any local legislative body has adopted a
local law as provided for in subparagraph (i) of subdivision (a) of this
section, the assessor who prepares the assessment roll used for the levy
of such county, city, town and village taxes shall certify the "original
taxable value" of each lot and parcel of taxable real property in the
area involved. For the purposes of this section, "original taxable
value" shall be the assessed value as of the last taxable status date
before the date on which a local law authorizing the division of taxes
was adopted.

(d) Whenever any property in such an area is owned by the city, town,
village or county involved and is leased to any person or persons, such
property shall be assessed and taxed in the same manner as privately
owned property, and the lease or contract between the city, town,
village or county involved and such person or persons shall provide that
the lessee shall pay taxes upon the assessed value of the entire
property and not merely upon the assessed value of his, her or its
leasehold interest.

(e) In each year subsequent to the determination of the original
taxable value of each lot and parcel of taxable real property in such an
area in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (c) of this
section, the assessor shall compute and certify the net amount by which
the taxable value of all such lots and parcels has increased or
decreased in comparison with the original taxable value of all such lots
and parcels. The net amount of the increase or decrease is referred to
in this section as the "incremental value" or the "lost value" for that
year, as the case may be.

(f) In any year when there is an incremental value, the tax levying
body shall extend the taxes of each city, town, village or county, which
has adopted a local law pursuant to this section, against the
incremental value as well as the original taxable value, and the amount
of taxes received from such extension against the incremental value is
referred to in this section as the tax increment for that year.

(g) The city, town, village or county official responsible for
receiving real property tax payments shall segregate each year all tax
increments from the designated area and transmit such increments to the
city, town, village or county treasurer who shall deposit such monies in
a special empire zone tax increment fund from which the local
legislative body may authorize payments for infrastructure improvements
authorized in such municipality's empire zone development plan for the
area involved.

(h) In the event that any state or local law governing the
classification of real property and thereby determining the percentage
of market value to be assessed for real property taxation purposes is
amended hereafter, the increase or decrease in assessed valuation
resulting therefrom shall be applied proportionately in each year
thereafter to the original taxable value and incremental value of the
area involved.

(i) The local legislative body of the city, town, village or county or
its designated agency may invest any funds in the special empire zone
tax increment fund not required for immediate disbursement, in property
or securities in which public bodies may invest funds subject to their
control.

(j) In any year when there is a lost value, the provisions of this
section shall not apply.