104. Electronic real property tax administration. 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the commissioner is hereby authorized to establish standards for electronic real property tax administration (E-RPT). Such standards shall set forth the terms and conditions under which the various tasks associated with real property tax administration may be executed electronically, dispensing with the need for paper documents. Such tasks shall include:
(a) The filing of exemption applications;
(b) The filing of petitions for administrative review of assessments;
(c) The filing of petitions for judicial review of assessments;
(d) The filing of applications for administrative corrections of errors;
(e) The issuance of statements of taxes;
(f) The payment of taxes, subject to the provisions of sections five and five-b of the general municipal law;
(g) The provision of receipts for the payment of taxes;
(h) The issuance of taxpayer notices required by law, including sections five hundred eight, five hundred ten, five hundred ten-a, five hundred eleven, five hundred twenty-five and five hundred fifty-one-a through five hundred fifty-six-b of this chapter; and
(i) The furnishing of notices and certificates under this chapter relating to state equalization rates, residential assessment ratios, special franchise assessments, railroad ceilings, taxable state lands, advisory appraisals, and the certification of assessors and county directors or real property tax services.
2. Such standards shall be developed after consultation with local government officials, the office of court administration and the office of the state comptroller.
3. (a) Taxpayers shall not be required to accept notices, statements of taxes, receipts for the payment of taxes, or other documents electronically unless they have so elected. Taxpayers who have not so elected shall be sent such communications in the manner otherwise provided by law.
(b) Assessors and other municipal officials shall not be required to accept and respond to communications from the commissioner electronically.
(c) The governing board of any municipal corporation may, by local law, ordinance or resolution, determine that it is in the public interest for such municipal corporation to provide electronic real property tax administration. Upon adoption of such local law, ordinance or resolution, such municipal corporation shall comply with standards set forth by the commissioner.
(d) The standards prescribed by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall provide for the collection of electronic contact information, such as e-mail addresses and/or social network usernames, from taxpayers who have elected to receive electronic communications in accordance with the provisions of this section. Such information shall be exempt from public disclosure in accordance with section eighty-nine of the public officers law.
4. When a document has been transmitted electronically in accordance with the provisions of this section and the standards adopted by the commissioner hereunder, it shall be deemed to satisfy the applicable legal requirements to the same extent as if it had been mailed via the United States postal service.
Last modified: February 3, 2019