Greenburgh Town Board approves tax relief for victims of floods who suffered significant losses

TAX RELIEF APPROVED BY GREENBURGH TOWN BD FOR THOSE WHO EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT LOSSES AFTER FLOODS OR OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS
Greenburgh first in state to implement law
The Greenburgh Town Board adopted legislation at our last Town Board meeting that would help victims of storms and other disasters obtain tax relief if they experienced significant property losses.
The NYS Legislature and Governor authorized local governments in NYS to adopt this legislation which was originally proposed by the Town of Greenburgh after Hurricane Ida left some residents homeless. We worked hard to get the legislation approved and are grateful to Senator Cousins and Assemblywoman Shimsky for introducing the legislation and to the Governor for signing the legislation into law. Greenburgh is the first community in NYS that plans to implement this authorization to help victims of natural disasters including flooding. Sadly, some residents of Hurricane Ida are still homeless—three years after the Hurricane impacted Greenburgh.

This recently approved law allows a property tax exemption to residential property owners whose property has been damaged by a major or local disaster declared by the President, Governor or me on or after January 1, 2020, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, epidemics, etc. Typically, a homeowner has one shot a year to have their taxes reduced, but this law applies all year round.

To be eligible, an owner must submit a timely application with the Assessor’s Office and have damages equal to or greater to 50% of the improved value of the property. The Town will exempt upwards of $10,000 per year of Town taxes for timely completed and accepted applications. An owner must submit an application within 90 days of a disaster which occurs after the enactment of this law, or must file within 90 days of the enactment of this law if the disaster occurred prior to enactment.

Members of the Town Board who approved this local law are Councilmembers Joy Haber, Gina Jackson, Francis Sheehan, Ellen Hendrickx and myself. Town Assessor Edye McCarthy and Town Attorney Joe Danko also assisted in writing the law.

Please read the entire law for the specifics here:
http://agendaquick.greenburghny.com:8085/agenda_publish.cfm?dsp=agm&seq=10776&rev=0&id=0&form_type=AG_MEMO&beg_meetmth=7&beg_meetyr=2025&end_meetmth=10&end_meetyr=2025&mt=ALL&sstr=climate%20change&dept=ALL&hartkeywords=&sortby=f.form_num,%20f.rev_num&fp=ADVSRCH&StartRow=1#

PAUL FEINER Greenburgh Town Supervisor