New York, November 16, 2007 — Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced that more than 600 Southern Tier property owners who suffered catastrophic property damage during the 2006 floods are receiving property tax relief totaling more than $1 million.
As a result of the floods in the early summer of 2006, a federal disaster was declared for twenty counties. Thousands of New Yorkers saw their homes and businesses damaged and destroyed, significantly reducing property values.
“Without the state’s approval of these important funds real estate taxes would unfairly burden property owners affected by this disaster,” said Governor Spitzer. “This relief is critical and deserved in the face of such misfortune.”
The Flood Assessment Relief Act of 2007 provided the counties hardest hit by the June/July 2006 floods with the option of allowing property owners in flood-impacted municipalities to seek reductions in their assessed property value. Without this measure, 2006 school taxes and January 2007 property taxes for the owners of flood-damaged properties were based upon the pre-flood values of their homes.
To compensate counties, cities, towns, villages and school districts for providing tax relief under this program, the 2007-08 State Budget provided funding to taxing jurisdictions that opted into the program.
Five counties – Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Sullivan, and Tioga – offered the flood assessment relief program to taxpayers. The Office of the State Comptroller and the State Office of Real Property Services have approved reimbursements totaling more than $1 million to those counties. On average, the owner or owners of each eligible property will receive more than $1,600 in tax relief.
