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Administrative History

Flooding resulting from Hurricane Agnes in June 1972 caused real property damage in 26 Hudson Valley, Central, and Southern Tier counties of New York. The following year, the Legislature passed a law providing tax relief for affected property owners and localities.

Property owners applied to the State Board of Equalization and Assessment for tax abatements for damaged real property. As the supervising agency for assessments on taxable real property, the Board's responsibilities include coordinating assessments for use in distributing state aid and advising localities on real property tax problems. Upon receipt of an application for tax abatement for flood-damaged property, the Board inspected the property and determined the percentage of loss. Local assessors then calculated the actual tax abatement. The Board also determined the amount of additional state aid to be paid to municipalities and special districts to compensate for the tax loss (except for school districts, for which the amount was determined by the Commissioner of Education).