[Adopted 2-12-1992 by L.L. No. 1-1992]
Recognizing that home improvements made by physically impaired residents to accommodate their disabilities are made out of necessity in order to achieve a functional living environment, the Town Board of the Town of Liberty finds it to be in the public interest to enact a local law which would grant exemptions on such home improvements.
Pursuant to § 459 of the Real Property Tax Law, any real property used solely for residential purposes as a one-, two- or three-family residence shall be exempt from taxation to the extent of any increase in value attributable to any improvement that is made for the purpose of facilitating and accommodating the use and accessibility of such real property by:
A. 
A resident owner of the real property who is physically disabled; or
B. 
A member of the resident owner's household who is physically disabled, if such household member resides at the subject real property.
To qualify as physically disabled for purposes of this article, the resident owner shall submit to the Town Assessor a certified statement from a physician licensed to practice in the State of New York on a form prescribed and made available by the State Board which states that the individual or a member of the individual's household has a permanent physical impairment which substantially limits one or more of such individual's major life activities; except that an individual who has obtained a certificate from the State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped stating that such individual is legally blind may submit such certificate in lieu of a physician's certified statement.
Such exemption shall be granted only upon application by the owner or all of the owners of the real property on a form prescribed and made available by the State Board. The applicant or applicants shall furnish such information as the Board shall require. The application shall be filed, together with the appropriate certified statement of physical disability or certificate of blindness, with the Town Assessor on or before the first day of May.
If the Town Assessor is satisfied that the improvement is necessary to facilitate and accommodate the use and accessibility by a resident who is physically disabled and the applicant is entitled to an exemption, the Town Assessor shall approve the application and enter the taxable assessed value of the parcel for which an exemption has been granted on the assessment roll with the taxable property, indicating the amount of the exemption as determined by the Town Assessor. Said exemption shall continue on the subject real property until the improvement ceases to be necessary to facilitate and accommodate the use and accessibility of said real property by the resident who is physically disabled.
To enable the Town Assessor to ascertain that the improvement continues to be necessary to facilitate and accommodate the use and accessibility by the physically disabled, the applicant owner or owners shall be required to renew their application for the exemption at three-year intervals. Said renewal procedure shall involve a resubmission of the original application and an updated physician's certificate.
Said exemption shall also apply to improvements constructed prior to the effective date of this article.