S 2684: Prohibits a member of the board of trustees and the mayor from being appointed to the board of assessors for a village.
The proposed law aims to reform the village governance structure in New York State. It allows the board of trustees to act as the board of assessors, either by consolidating the offices of clerk, treasurer, and assessor or by appointing a member from their own ranks. Villages with existing local laws governing assessment will not have an assessor in the same year the law is in effect. The mayor, trustees, and village justices will be elective officials, while other officers will be appointed by the mayor with the approval of the board of trustees. The law also prohibits the mayor or a trustee from being appointed as a member of the board of assessors. The law will take effect on January 1 of the following year, and the necessary rules and regulations for its implementation will be established immediately.
| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT |
| Jan. 22, 2025 | REFERRED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT |
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2684 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 22, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government AN ACT to amend the village law, in relation to removing the ability of a board of trustees and mayor to act as the board of assessors The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph b of subdivision 2 and subdivision 3 of section 2 3-301 of the village law, paragraph b of subdivision 2 as amended by 3 chapter 735 of the laws of 1983, are amended to read as follows: 4 b. assessor or assessors, provided, however, that the board of trus- 5 tees by resolution or local law may consolidate the offices of clerk, 6 treasurer, and assessor or any two of such offices. [The board of trus-7tees may also determine, by local law or resolution, that such board of8trustees shall act as the board of assessors or may appoint such board9from their members.] Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this 10 paragraph, a village which has enacted a local law as provided in subdi- 11 vision three of section fourteen hundred two of the real property tax 12 law shall not have an assessor or assessors in any year in which such 13 local law is in effect. 14 3. The mayor, trustees and village justices shall be elective offi- 15 cers. All other officers shall be appointed by the mayor, subject to 16 the approval of the board of trustees; provided, however, no member of 17 the board of trustees or mayor shall be appointed a member of the board 18 of assessors for the same village. 19 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed- 20 ing the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, 21 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces- 22 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 23 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD04762-01-5