The Legislature, by a 12-2 vote, scheduled a public hearing for its next meeting November 7 on a proposed Local Law that, if approved, would enact a new real property tax exemption for capital improvements to residential properties. The hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. on November 7, at Legislature Chambers, located in the Governor Daniel D. Tompkins Building, 121 E. Court Street, Ithaca. The exemption, enacting New York State Real Property Tax Law Section 421-F, would provide for an eight-year exemption that would phase in the increased value for capital improvements made to residential properties.
Such an exemption is currently in place within the City of Ithaca and the Town of Dryden. Legislator Lane said he voted no in committee because the experience in those two municipalities has shown that very few people have taken advantage of it, and that he thinks it would require more work for the Assessment Department for an expected limited benefit.