Thiele Floats Property Tax Relief

Nonprofit organizations like the Peconic Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy would be exempt from state real estate transfer taxes under legislation recently proposed by State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr, although the affected purchase would have to be of a property that will be used as open space or a park, or preserved for its historic value.

Mr. Thiele said in a press release that nonprofit environmental and historical organizations currently have to pay both a general transfer tax, at $2 per $500 of the sale price, and a 1-percent tax on purchases of more than $1 million.

Such transactions are exempt from the 2-percent Community Preservation Fund transfer tax. But if a conservation organization were to purchase a nature preserve for $5 million, for example, the organization would have to pay $70,000 in the two other taxes to the state.

“On Eastern Long Island, most conservation sales are over $1 million and subject to both taxes,” Mr. Thiele said in the release. “It makes no sense to tax transactions where private conservation organizations are doing the public good. The money can do more good for preservation than it can in the state general fund.”

Mr. Thiele also introduced legislation that would increase maximum income levels for a senior citizen property tax exemption that local governments can choose to offer, which has not been raised in seven years.

As set by the state, the eligible combined income of the property owners would rise from $29,000 to $50,000 for a 50-percent tax exemption, which is the highest level, then taper down to 10 percent as income rises to no more than $57,500.

A second proposal would increase the senior property tax exemption from 50 to 100 percent for people older than 70 who have a combined income of no more than $50,000, who have lived in the same school district for at least 10 years, and who do not have children attending school in the district. This, too, is an exemption local municipalities can choose to offer, and it would apply to “high-appreciation municipalities” like those on Long Island and New York City, where the cost of living is especially high.

“In those cases where longtime local residents have carried their share of the tax burden for many years, they should be eligible for an additional exemption,” Mr. Thiele stated.