Section 488-A. Rehabilitation of certain class B multiple dwellings and class A multiple dwellings used for single room occupancy

1.
  Definitions.  For the purposes of this section the following terms shall
  have the meaning specified in this subdivision:
    a. "Eligible real property" shall mean:
    (i) any class B multiple dwelling;
    (ii) any class A multiple dwelling  used  for  single  room  occupancy
  pursuant to section two hundred forty-eight of the multiple dwelling law
  which  contains  no more than twenty-five percent class A dwelling units
  which contain lawful sanitary and kitchen facilities within the dwelling
  unit, provided that in the case of a multiple  dwelling  containing  ten
  dwelling units or less, up to forty percent of the dwelling units may be
  class A units.
    Notwithstanding  the  foregoing,  eligible  real  property  shall  not
  include college and school dormitories, club houses, or residences whose
  occupancy is restricted to an institutional use such as housing intended
  for use primarily or exclusively by the employees of a single company or
  institution. A  building  is  an  eligible  real  property  only  if  it
  qualifies  as  such  after  completion of the eligible improvements, but
  need not have been an eligible  real  property  prior  to  the  eligible
  improvements.
    (iii) not-for-profit institutions with sleeping accommodations.
    b.   "Eligible   improvements"  shall  be  limited  to  the  following
  catogories of  work,  provided  further  that  such  work  shall  be  in
  conformity with all applicable laws:
    (i) replacement of a boiler or burner or installation of an entire new
  heating system;
    (ii) replacement or upgrading of electrical system;
    (iii) replacement or upgrading of elevators;
    (iv)  installation or replacement or upgrading of the plumbing system,
  including water main and risers;
    (v) replacement or installation of walls,  ceilings,  floors  or  trim
  where necessary;
    (vi)  replacement  or  upgrading  of  doors,  installation of security
  devices and systems;
    (vii) installation, replacement or upgrading of smoke detectors,  fire
  alarms, fire escapes, or sprinkler systems;
    (viii) replacement or repair of roof, leaders and gutters;
    (ix) replacement or installation of bathroom facilities;
    (x) installation of wall and pipe insulation;
    (xi) replacement or upgrading of street connections for water or sewer
  services;
    (xii)  replacement  or  installation  of  windows,  or installation of
  window gates or guards;
    (xiii) installation or replacement of boiler smoke stack;
    (xiv) pointing, waterproofing and cleaning of entire building exterior
  surface;
    (xv) improvements designed to conserve the use of fuel, electricity or
  other energy sources;
    (xvi) improvements unique to congregate living facilities, as  defined
  by  rules  and  regulations  promulgated  by  the  local housing agency,
  pursuant to subdivision seven of this section; and
    (xvii) work necessary to effect compliance with  all  applicable  laws
  including  but  not  limited  to the multiple dwelling law, the New York
  city housing maintenance code and the New York city building code.
    c. "Local housing agency". Local housing agency shall  have  the  same
  meaning  as  the  term  "agency"  under  section five hundred two of the
  general municipal law, except that in cities  of  over  one  million  in

  population  the  term  shall mean the department of housing preservation
  and development.
    d.  "Permanent  resident".  Permanent resident shall mean a person who
  has resided in eligible real property for six  months  or  more,  has  a
  lease  with  a  term  of  six  or  more months, or has requested a lease
  pursuant to the provisions of the rent stabilization  code  for  housing
  accommodations located in hotels.
    2.  Local  legislative action. Any city to which the multiple dwelling
  law is applicable, acting through its local legislative  body  or  other
  governing  agency, is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt and amend
  local laws or ordinances up to and including December thirty-first,  two
  thousand  eleven,  to provide that any increase in assessed valuation of
  eligible real property shall be exempt from taxation for local  purposes
  and  to  provide  for  the abatement of taxes on eligible real property,
  including the land, in accordance with this section.
    3. Tax exemption. Any increase in assessed valuation of eligible  real
  property  resulting  from  eligible  improvements  shall  be exempt from
  taxation for local purposes for a period of thirty-two  years,  provided
  that:
    (i) the eligible improvements are commenced after July first, nineteen
  hundred eighty, but prior to December thirty-first, two thousand eleven,
  and are completed within thirty-six months of commencement;
    (ii)  the  eligible  improvements  are  approved  by the local housing
  agency with respect to their  cost  and  their  qualifications  for  the
  benefits of this section;
    (iii)  the  exemption  may  commence  no  sooner  than  the July first
  following the filing with the local agency responsible for real property
  tax assessment of a certification of eligibility  issued  by  the  local
  housing  agency  for  such  exemption;  provided,  however,  that if the
  rehabilitation is carried out with substantial government assistance  as
  part  of a program for affordable housing, the exemption may commence no
  sooner than the July first following the commencement of construction of
  eligible improvements;
    (iv) immediately  prior  to,  and  during,  the  construction  of  the
  eligible  improvements,  fifty  or more percent of the dwelling units in
  such  eligible  real  property  are  occupied  by  permanent  residents;
  provided  that  such  occupancy requirement shall not apply to a vacant,
  governmentally owned,  multiple  dwelling,  nor  to  a  privately  owned
  multiple  dwelling  which  had  been  vacant for not less than two years
  prior to the commencement of construction of eligible improvements,  nor
  to  a  vacant  multiple  dwelling  where  the  eligible improvements are
  carried  out  with  the  substantial  assistance  of  grants,  loans  or
  subsidies  from any federal, state or local agency or instrumentality or
  any  not-for-profit  philantropic  organization  one  of  whose  primary
  purposes is providing low or moderate income housing;
    (v)  there  shall be no outstanding real estate taxes, water and sewer
  charges, payments in lieu of taxes or other municipal  charges  due  and
  owing  as  of  the tax quarter prior to commencement of tax exemption to
  this section;
    (vi) except in the case of eligible real property which  is  receiving
  or  has  received  assistance  pursuant  to  a governmental rent subsidy
  program, or which is owned by  a  not-for-profit  corporation  or  by  a
  wholly  owned  subsidiary  of  a not-for-profit corporation and which is
  receiving or has received assistance pursuant  to  a  governmental  loan
  subsidy  program, as defined by the rules and regulations promulgated by
  the local housing agency, pursuant to subdivision seven of this section,
  for the construction of eligible improvements, the initial  rent,  after
  completion  of  eligible  improvements,  for ninety percent of the total

  number of dwelling units occupied by permanent residents in a class A or
  class B multiple dwelling other than apartments  shall  not  exceed  the
  greater  of  either  the  amount  of  any governmental rental assistance
  received  by  an  occupant  or seventy-five percent of the rent which is
  permitted  to  be  charged  for  zero-bedroom  units  on  the   moderate
  rehabilitation  fair  market  rent  schedule as determined by the United
  States department of housing  and  urban  development  for  the  housing
  assistance  payments program under section eight of the national housing
  act;
    (vii) no person who lives in  the  eligible  real  property  shall  be
  required  by  the owner to vacate the eligible real property in order to
  perform the eligible improvements or any related work.
    4. Tax abatement. Eligible real property which qualifies for exemption
  from taxation for local purposes for eligible improvements shall also be
  eligible for an abatement of real property taxes in an amount no greater
  than twelve and one-half percent of  the  reasonable  cost  of  eligible
  improvements  certified by the local housing agency, which abatement may
  commence on the first day of the first tax quarter following the  filing
  with  the local agency responsible for real property tax assessment of a
  certification of eligibility issued by the local housing agency for such
  abatement; provided, however that if the rehabilitation is  carried  out
  with  substantial  government  assistance  as  part  of  a  program  for
  affordable housing the abatement may commence no sooner than  the  first
  day  of the first tax quarter following the commencement of construction
  of eligible improvements, provided that:
    (i) the  annual  abatement  shall  not  exceed  the  amount  of  taxes
  otherwise payable in the corresponding tax year;
    (ii)  the  period  during  which such abatement is effective shall not
  exceed twenty consecutive years  from  the  date  such  abatement  first
  becomes effective; and
    (iii)  the  total abatement shall not exceed the lesser of one hundred
  fifty percent of the certified reasonable costs of eligible improvements
  or the actual costs as determined by the local housing  agency  pursuant
  to its rules and regulations.
    5.  Continuing  requirements.  During  the  period of tax exemption or
  abatement pursuant to this section, exemption  and  abatement  shall  be
  conditional upon continuing compliance with the following requirements:
    (i)  compliance  with  all applicable provisions of law, including but
  not limited to the multiple dwelling law, the local  building  code  and
  the local housing maintenance code;
    (ii) all dwelling units, except owner occupied units, shall be subject
  to the emergency housing rent control law or the local emergency housing
  rent  control  act,  or  the emergency tenant protection act of nineteen
  seventy-four, or any local laws enacted pursuant thereto,  or  the  rent
  stabilization law of nineteen hundred sixty-nine; provided, however that
  the  department  of housing preservation and development may exempt from
  this requirement dwelling units  that  are  not  occupied  by  permanent
  residents in those buildings owned by a not-for-profit corporation or by
  a  wholly owned subsidiary of a not-for-profit corporation and which are
  improved with the aid of a rehabilitation  loan  from  any  governmental
  agency  or  instrumentality  or  operated  pursuant to a contract with a
  governmental entity;
    (iii) it  shall  not  receive  tax  exemption  or  tax  abatement  for
  rehabilitation or new construction under any other provision of law; and
    (iv)  the eligible improvements shall not be used as the basis for any
  application for rent increases and the owner shall file a  statement  to
  such  effect  with the local housing agency and with any applicable rent
  agency, provided, however, that rents of units improved with the aid  of

  a  rehabilitation  loan  from any governmental agency or instrumentality
  may within the limitations established  by  this  section  be  increased
  pursuant to the rules and regulations of the local housing agency; and
    (v)  a  minimum of seventy-five percent of the dwelling units shall be
  rental units occupied by permanent residents,  provided,  however,  that
  the  local  housing  agency  may  exempt  from  this  requirement  those
  buildings improved with the  aid  of  a  rehabilitation  loan  from  any
  government  agency or instrumentality or operated pursuant to a contract
  with a governmental entity.
    6. Revocation. The benefits of this section may be revoked or  reduced
  upon a finding by the local housing agency or local finance agency that:
    (i) the application for benefits hereunder or the annual certification
  required hereunder contains a false statement or false information as to
  a material matter or omits a material matter;
    (ii)  real  estate taxes, water and sewer charges, payments in lieu of
  taxes or other municipal charges are due and owing  for  more  than  one
  year; or
    (iii)  the  eligible real property fails to comply with one or more of
  the provisions or requirements of this section.
    7. Rules and regulations. The local  agencies  of  government  charged
  with  the  administration  of  this  section  may  promulgate  rules and
  regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.
    8. Annual  certification.  During  the  period  of  tax  exemption  or
  abatement  pursuant  to  this  section, the owner shall submit an annual
  certification to the local housing agency in a form to be prescribed  by
  such  agency.    Failure  to  submit  such  certification  may result in
  revocation of benefits. Such certification shall include the following:
    (i) the total number  of  dwelling  units  within  the  eligible  real
  property  and  the  number  of  dwelling  units  occupied  by  permanent
  residents;
    (ii) the number of dwelling units subject to  the  provisions  of  the
  emergency  housing rent control act, the emergency tenant protection act
  of nineteen seventy-four or any local laws enacted pursuant thereto, the
  emergency housing rent control law or  the  rent  stabilization  law  of
  nineteen hundred sixty-nine; and
    (iii) all such other information required by the local housing agency.