N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 22 § 202.60

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 50, December 11, 2024

Section 202.60 - Tax assessment review proceedings in counties within the City of New York; special rules

(a) Applicability. This section shall apply to every tax assessment review proceeding brought pursuant to title 1 of article 7 of the real Property Tax Law in a county within the City of New York.

(b) Preliminary conference.

(1) Any party to a tax assessment review proceeding may demand, by application served on all other parties and filed with the court, together with proof of such service, a preliminary conference, or the court on its own motion may direct a preliminary conference. The court, in its notice to the parties setting the date for the conference, shall direct the petitioner to serve upon the respondent by a date certain before the date of the conference, the completed statement of income and expenses required by this section, together with any ancillary papers or documents that may be necessary. No note of issue may be filed until a preliminary conference has been held.

(2) The judge presiding at the preliminary conference shall take whatever action is warranted to expedite final disposition of the case, including but not limited to:

(i) directing any party to utilize or comply by a date certain with any pretrial disclosure or bill of particulars procedure authorized by the Civil Practice Law and Rules;

(ii) directing the parties to obtain appraisals and sales reports, and to exchange and file appraisal reports and sales reports by dates certain before the trial;

(iii) directing the filing of a note of issue and certificate of readiness;

(iv) fixing a date for trial, or by which the parties must be ready for trial;

(v) signing any order required;

(vi) conducting conferences for the purpose of facilitating settlement; and

(vii) limiting issues and recording stipulations of counsel.

(3) Failure to comply with any order or directive of the court authorized by this subdivision shall be subject to appropriate sanctions.

(4) Where parties are represented by counsel, only attorneys fully familiar with the action and authorized to make binding stipulations or commitments, or accompanied by a person empowered to act on behalf of the party represented, shall appear at the conference.

(c) Statement of income and expenses. Before the note of issue and certificate of readiness may be filed, the petitioner shall have served on the respondent, in triplicate, a statement that the property is not income-producing or a copy of a verified or certified statement of the income and expenses of the property for each tax year under review. If the property is income-producing, the petitioner must serve the statement of income and expenses on forms provided by the Tax Certiorari Division of the Office of the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York. The petitioner shall complete all items listed on such form. A copy of such completed form shall also be filed with the note of issue and certificate of readiness. For the purposes of this section, a cooperative or condominium apartment building shall be considered income-producing property; an owner-occupied business property shall be considered income-producing as determined by the amount reasonably allocable for rent, but the petitioner is not required to make an estimate of rental income.

(d) Audit. Within 60 days after the first preliminary conference, the respondent, for the purpose of substantiating petitioner's completed statement of income and expenses, as required by subdivision (c) of this section, may request in writing an audit of the petitioner's books and records for the tax years under review. If requested, the audit must be completed within 120 days after the request has been made unless the court, upon good cause shown, extends the time for the audit. Failure of the respondent to request or complete the audit within the time limits shall be deemed a waiver of such privilege. If an audit is requested and the petitioner fails to furnish its books and records within a reasonable time after receipt of the request, or otherwise unreasonably impedes or delays the audit, the court, on motion of the respondent, may dismiss the petition or petitions or make such other order as the interest of justice requires.

(e) Filing note of issue and certificate of readiness; additional requirements.

(1) A note of issue and certificate of readiness shall not be filed unless all disclosure proceedings have been completed and the statement of income and expenses has been served and filed. A note of issue and certificate of readiness may not be filed in any action where a preliminary conference was requested or was directed by the court until the conference has been held and there has been compliance with any orders or directives of the court or stipulations of counsel made at such conference.

(2) A separate note of issue shall be filed for each property for each tax year.

(f) Consolidation or joint trial. Consolidation or joint trial of real property tax assessment review proceedings in the discretion of the court shall be conditioned upon service having been made of the verified or certified income and expense statement, or a statement that the property is not income-producing, for each of the tax years under review.

(g) Exchange and filing of appraisal reports.

(1) Upon the filing of the note of issue and certificate of readiness, the court, if it has not previously so directed, shall direct that appraisal reports and sales reports be obtained and that appraisal reports and sales reports be exchanged and filed by a date certain a specified time before the date scheduled for trial.

(2) The exchange and filing of appraisal reports shall be accomplished by the following procedure:

(i) the respective parties shall file with the clerk of the trial court one copy, or in the event that there are two or more adversaries, a copy for each adversary, of all appraisal reports intended to be used at the trial.

(ii) When the clerk shall have received all such reports, the clerk forthwith shall distribute simultaneously to each of the other parties a copy of the reports filed.

(iii) Where multiple parties or more than one parcel is involved, each appraisal report need be served only upon the taxing authority and the party or parties contesting the value of the property which is the subject of the report. Each party shall provide an appraisal report copy for the court.

(3) The appraisal reports shall contain a statement of the method of appraisal relied on and the conclusions as to value reached by the expert, together with the facts, figures and calculations by which the conclusions were reached. If sales, leases or other transactions involving comparable properties are to be relied on, they shall be set forth with sufficient particularity as to permit the transaction to be readily identified, and the report shall contain a clear and concise statement of every fact that a party will seek to prove in relation to those comparable properties. The appraisal reports also shall contain photographs of the property under review and of any comparable property that specifically is relied upon by the appraiser, unless the court otherwise directs.

(4) Where an appraiser appraises more than one parcel in any proceeding, those parts of the separate appraisal reports for each parcel that would be repetitious may be included in one general appraisal report to which reference may be made in the separate appraisal reports. Such general appraisal reports shall be served and filed as provided in paragraph (1) of this subdivision.

(5) Appraisal reports shall comply with any official form for appraisal reports that may be prescribed by the Chief Administrator of the Courts.

(h) Use of appraisal reports at trial. Upon the trial, expert witnesses shall be limited in their proof of appraised value to details set forth in their respective appraisal reports. Any party who fails to serve an appraisal report as required by this section shall be precluded from offering any expert testimony on value; provided, however, upon the application of any party on such notice as the court shall direct, the court may, upon good cause shown, relieve a party of a default in the service of a report, extend the time for exchanging reports, or allow an amended or supplemental report to be served upon such conditions as the court may direct. After the trial of the issues has begun, any such application must be made to the trial judge and shall be entertained only in unusual and extraordinary circumstances.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 22 § 202.60