Section 459-B. Physically disabled crime victims

1. Where the resident
  owner of real property used solely for residential purposes  as  a  one,
  two  or three family residence, a member of a resident owner's household
  or a resident of such property is a victim of  a  crime  as  defined  in
  subdivision  five  or  good samaritan as defined in subdivision seven of
  section six hundred twenty-one of the executive law and  was  physically
  disabled  as  a  result  of such crime, any improvement to real property
  shall be exempt from taxation to the extent of  any  increase  in  value
  attributable  to  such improvement if such improvement is used primarily
  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  and  accommodating  the   use   and
  accessibility of such real property.
    2.  To qualify as a physically disabled crime victim or good samaritan
  for the purposes of this section, an  individual  shall  submit  to  the
  assessor  a certified statement from a physician licensed to practice in
  the state of New York on a form prescribed and  made  available  by  the
  state  board  which  states that the individual has a permanent physical
  impairment which substantially limits one or more of  such  individual's
  major  life  activities,  except  that  an individual who has obtained a
  certificate from  the  state  commission  for  the  blind  and  visually
  handicapped  stating  that  such  individual is legally blind may submit
  such certificate in  lieu  of  a  physician's  certified  statement.  In
  addition,  a  copy of a police report pertaining to the crime from which
  the injury resulted, a report from the  crime  victims  board  or  other
  evidence  or  documentation  which  would  tend  to  substantiate that a
  physical disability was inflicted upon an individual as the result of  a
  crime shall also be submitted to the assessor.
    3.  Such exemption shall be granted only upon application by the owner
  or all the owners of the real property on a  form  prescribed  and  made
  available   by  the  state  board.  The  applicant  shall  furnish  such
  information as the board shall require. The application shall  be  filed
  together with the appropriate certified statement of physical disability
  or  certificate  of  blindness  and  police report, crime victim's board
  report or other substantiating documentation 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.
    3-a. Notwithstanding the provisions  of  this  section  or  any  other
  provision  of law, in a city having a population of one million or more,
  applications for the exemption authorized pursuant to this section shall
  be considered timely filed if they are filed on or before the  fifteenth
  day of March of the appropriate year.
    4.  If  the assessor is satisfied that the improvement is necessary to
  facilitate and accommodate the use and accessibility by a resident crime
  victim or good  samaritan  who  is  physically  disabled  and  that  the
  applicant  is  entitled  to  an  exemption pursuant to this section, the
  assessor shall approve the application and enter  the  taxable  assessed
  value  of the parcel for which an exemption has been granted pursuant to
  this section on the assessment roll with the taxable property, with  the
  amount  of  the  exemption  as determined pursuant to subdivision one of
  this section in a separate column. Once  granted,  the  exemption  shall
  continue  on  the  real  property  until  the  improvement  ceases to be
  necessary to facilitate and accommodate the use and accessibility of the
  property  by  the  resident  crime  victim  or  good  samaritan  who  is
  physically disabled.