420-b. Nonprofit organizations; permissive class. 1. (a) Real property owned by a corporation or association which is organized exclusively for bible, tract, benevolent, missionary, infirmary, public playground, scientific, literary, bar association, medical society, library, patriotic or historical purposes, for the development of good sportsmanship for persons under the age of eighteen years through the conduct of supervised athletic games, for the enforcement of laws relating to children or animals, or for two or more such purposes, and used exclusively for carrying out thereupon one or more of such purposes either by the owning corporation or association, or by another such corporation or association as hereinafter provided, shall be exempt from taxation; provided, however, that such property shall be taxable by any municipal corporation within which it is located if the governing board of such municipal corporation, after public hearing, adopts a local law, ordinance or resolution so providing. None of the following subdivisions of this section providing that certain properties shall be exempt under circumstances or conditions set forth in such subdivisions shall exempt such property from taxation by a municipal corporation whose governing board has adopted a local law, ordinance or resolution providing that such property shall be taxable pursuant to this subdivision.
(b) No local law, ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall provide for the taxation of any particular property or owner. Any such local law, ordinance or resolution shall apply alike to all property owned by any corporation or association organized for one or more of the purposes specified in such local law, ordinance or resolution, and used for carrying out thereupon one or more of such purposes. Any purpose so specified in the local law, ordinance or resolution must be one of the purposes listed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, but the purposes so specified in the local law, ordinance or resolution need not include all the purposes listed in said paragraph. Any local law, ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this subdivision may be amended or repealed.
(c) Real property such as specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall not be exempt if any officer, member or employee of the owning corporation or association shall receive any pecuniary profit from the operations thereof, except reasonable compensation for services in effecting one or more of such purposes, or as proper beneficiaries of its strictly charitable purposes; or if the organization thereof for any such avowed purposes be a guise or pretense for directly or indirectly making any other pecuniary profit for such corporation or association or for any of its members or employees; or if it be not in good faith organized exclusively for one or more of such purposes.
2. If any portion of such real property is not so used exclusively to carry out thereupon one or more of the purposes listed in subdivision one of this section, but is (a) leased or (b) otherwise used for other purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining portion only shall be exempt; provided, however, that such real property shall be fully exempt from taxation although it or a portion thereof is used (a) for purposes which are exempt pursuant to this section or sections four hundred twenty-a, four hundred twenty-two, four hundred twenty-four, four hundred twenty-six, four hundred twenty-eight, four hundred thirty or four hundred fifty of this article by another corporation which owns real property exempt from taxation pursuant to such sections or whose real property if it owned any would be exempt from taxation pursuant to such sections, (b) for purposes which are exempt pursuant to section four hundred six or section four hundred eight of this chapter by a corporation which owns real property exempt from taxation pursuant to such section, (c) for purposes which are exempt pursuant to section four hundred sixteen of this chapter by an organization which owns real property exempt from taxation pursuant to such section or whose real property if it owned any would be exempt from taxation pursuant to such section or (d) for purposes relating to civil defense pursuant to the New York state defense emergency act, including but not limited to activities in preparation for anticipated attack, during attack, or following attack or false warning thereof, or in connection with drill or test ordered or directed by civil defense authorities; and provided further that such real property shall be exempt from taxation only so long as it or a portion thereof, as the case may be, is devoted to such exempt purposes and so long as any moneys paid for such use do not exceed the amount of carrying, maintenance and depreciation charges of the property or portion thereof, as the case may be.
3. Such real property from which no revenue is derived shall be exempt though not in actual use therefor by reason of the absence of suitable buildings or improvements thereon if (a) the construction of such buildings or improvements is in progress or is in good faith contemplated by such corporation or association or (b) such real property is held by such corporation or association upon condition that the title thereto shall revert in case any building not intended and suitable for one or more of such purposes shall be erected upon such premises or some part thereof.
4. Such real property shall be so exempt although it is used as a polling place upon days of registration and election.
5. Such real property outside a city owned by a free public library or held in trust by an educational corporation for free library purposes shall be so exempt from taxation although a portion thereof is leased or otherwise used for purposes of income, if such income is necessary for and is actually applied to the maintenance and support of such library.
6. Real property exempt pursuant to this section from taxation by all municipal corporations within which it is located shall also be exempt from special ad valorem levies and special assessments to the extent provided in section four hundred ninety of this chapter. Real property which is taxable by one or more, but not all, of the municipal corporations within which it is located, pursuant to subdivision one of this section shall also be exempt from such levies and assessments to the same extent except that:
such real property taxable by a town shall be subject to any such levies and assessments which are imposed to defray the costs of improvements or services furnished by the town or by a special district established pursuant to the town law;
such real property taxable by a county shall be subject to any such levies and assessments which are imposed to defray the costs of improvements or services furnished by the county or by a special district established pursuant to the county law; and
such real property taxable by a city shall be subject to any such levies and assessments which are imposed to defray the cost of improvements or service furnished by the city.
7. An exemption may be granted pursuant to this section only upon application made by the owner of the property on a form prescribed by the commissioner. The application shall be filed with the assessor of the appropriate county, city, town or village on or before the taxable status date of such county, city, town or village.
Last modified: February 3, 2019