Exempts veterans organizations in New York city, as defined in section 452 of the real property tax law, from payment of city sewer and water charges.
Summary
This bill amends the Public Authorities Law to exempt veterans organizations located in New York City from paying city sewer and water charges. The exemption applies to veterans organizations as defined in section 452 of the Real Property Tax Law, and it overrides any inconsistent provision of law. Under the bill, these organizations would no longer be treated as tax-exempt organizations subject to the existing charge provisions for water and sewer service in the city.
The bill also preserves the broader legal framework governing the city water board’s authority to impose and collect charges, including liens, interest, foreclosure, and service shutoff procedures for unpaid bills. Its practical effect is to carve out a specific category of nonprofit or tax-exempt property users—veterans organizations in New York City—from those charges while leaving the rest of the enforcement and rate-setting structure intact. The bill would take effect on January 1 following enactment.
Impact
The bill would amend section 1045-j of the Public Authorities Law to create a statutory exemption from sewer and water charges for veterans organizations in New York City. This would reduce operating costs for qualifying veterans posts and similar organizations, while limiting the city water board’s ability to bill them for these services. The measure does not alter the general rules for liens, collections, or service termination for other users, but it would require the water board and related city agencies to treat covered veterans organizations differently from other tax-exempt entities.
Sentiment
There is no recorded committee transcript or vote history in the provided materials, so no formal debate or roll-call sentiment is available. Based on the bill’s text and caption, the measure appears to be a targeted supportive benefit for veterans organizations, suggesting a generally favorable policy intent. The absence of opposition or recorded amendments in the provided context means the level of support or concern cannot be assessed from legislative history here.
Contention
The main potential point of contention is the creation of a special exemption for one class of tax-exempt organizations—veterans organizations—while other nonprofit or tax-exempt entities remain subject to sewer and water charges. Questions could arise about fairness, revenue loss to the city water system, and whether similar exemptions should be extended to other charitable or community organizations. Another possible issue is the interaction with existing charge-collection rules, since the bill expressly overrides inconsistent laws but does not otherwise change the enforcement framework for non-exempt users.