COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER

STATE OF NEW YORK

1 A local law to authorize the County of Westchester to establish a universal charitable credit
2 against the portion of property tax liability owed to the County of Westchester, New York.

3 Be it enacted by the Board of Legislators of the County of Westchester as follows:

4 Section 1. Section 283.202 of the Laws of Westchester County is established to read as follows:

5 1. The County of Westchester (the “County”) hereby establishes the Westchester County Universal
6 Charitable Property Tax Credit of up to $2,400.00 against property taxes owed the County of
7 Westchester, New York for cash contributions to “qualified charitable organizations” designated exempt
8 from federal income taxation under section 501(c)(3) in the Internal Revenue Code resulting in
9 significant financial and civic benefits for Westchester County.

10 2. A universal charitable property tax credit is allowed against the property taxes imposed by this title
11 for voluntary cash contributions by the taxpayer or on the taxpayer's behalf during the taxable year to
12 qualified charitable organizations not to exceed $2,400.00, or the actual amount of property tax owed
13 to Westchester County, whichever is less.

14 (a) "Qualified charitable organizations" means charitable organizations that are:

15 (1) exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue
16 code, incorporated in the State of New York, in good standing with the New York
17 Department of Taxation and Finance, and

18 (2) not under suspension per section 501(p) of the internal revenue code, or revocation
19 per the Internal Revenue Bulletin at the time of the contribution.

20 3. The credit allowed by this section is in lieu of a deduction pursuant to section 170 of the internal
21 revenue code and taken for local tax purposes.

22 4. Taxpayers taking a credit authorized by this section shall provide the names of the qualified
23 charitable organizations and the amount of the contributions to the Commissioner of Finance, or his
24 designee, on forms provided by the commissioner.

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1 5. The Commissioner of Finance shall compile and make available to the public a list of qualified
2 charitable organizations as defined in this section.

3 6. Taxpayers choosing to make voluntary cash contributions through an umbrella charitable

4 organization that collects donations on behalf of member charities shall designate that the donation be
5 directed only to member charitable organizations that would qualify under this section on a stand-alone
6 basis.

7 7. The allowable tax credit shall be applied against the qualified property tax liability for the year in
8 which it is claimed, but shall not exceed the total liability of the taxpayer for that year.

9 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commissioner of Finance shall settle, assess or
10 determine the tax of an applicant under this subsection within 90 days of the filing of all required final
11 returns or reports in accordance with the New York Revised Statutes.

12 9. This act applies retroactively to taxable years beginning from and after December 31, 2017.

13 10. The Commissioner of Finance, as the Chief Fiscal Officer of the County, is hereby authorized to
14 execute any documents related to the credit and to approve of the inclusion in the official statement or
15 similar document of information relating to the County as may be necessary and appropriate to
16 effectuate the purposes hereof.

17 Section 2. The County Executive or his authorized designee is hereby authorized and empowered to
18 execute all instruments and to take all actions reasonably necessary to effectuate the purposes of this
19 Local Law.

20 Section 3. The Clerk of the Board shall cause a notice of this Local Law to be published at least once a
21 week for two successive weeks, the first publication of which shall be had within ten days after such
22 local law is adopted, in the official newspapers published in the County of Westchester, said notice to
23 contain the number, date of adoption and a true copy of the Local Law, and a statement that this Local
24 Law changes a provision of law relating to the collection of property taxes owed the County of
25 Westchester, New York.

26 Section 4. This local law shall take effect immediately.

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