Budget & Taxes (Fees & Licensing)

This bill reduces the fee utilities pay to cover state department costs from 1% to one-third of one percent (0.333%) of their gross operating revenue. It applies to most public utilities and the Long Island Power Authority, but excludes entities regulated solely for safety or the power authority itself. Telephone companies pay the reduced rate only on revenue exceeding $500,000 annually. The change takes effect immediately upon enactment.

This bill allows New York municipalities to eliminate fees and surcharges for licensing service dogs (including guide, hearing, therapy, and working dogs). It requires local governments to exempt these specific dogs from standard licensing costs related to animal control. Licenses for exempted dogs must be clearly marked with their purpose (e.g., "Service Dog"). The policy change directly affects service dog owners by removing a financial barrier to legal licensing.

This bill exempts residents of lower Manhattan and Staten Island from New York City's congestion pricing surcharge when using for-hire transportation services (like taxis or ride-sharing). It amends tax law to specifically exclude trips where the passenger resides in the congestion zone (lower Manhattan) or Staten Island, removing the surcharge requirement for those trips. The exemption takes effect 30 days after the bill becomes law, with immediate rule changes authorized for implementation.

S 2362 exempts residents of lower Manhattan and Staten Island from the city's congestion surcharge when using for-hire transportation services like taxis or ride-hailing. The bill adds a new provision to the tax law, ensuring the surcharge does not apply to trips for passengers who live in those specific areas. This directly affects local residents who regularly commute or travel within these boroughs using such services. The exemption applies to all for-hire vehicle trips originating or ending in the exempted zones, not to visitors or other transportation types.

Requires the public service commission establish a grid modernization surcharge imposed on utilities for the energy use of data centers and high-intensity data centers which meet a specified threshold of electricity or information-technology load; establishes the grid modernization fund to finance investments in system reliability, capacity expansion, and integration of clean energy resources.

Imposes an additional tax surcharge on certain non-primary residence class one and class two properties in a city with a population of one million or more.

Enacts into law major components of legislation which are necessary to implement the state fiscal plan for the 2025-2026 state fiscal year; relates to establishing an inflation refund credit (Part A); provides for a middle-class tax cut; extends the temporary personal income tax high income surcharge (Part B); enhances the empire state child credit for three years (Part C); relates to the eligibility for the New York state low income housing tax credit program; increases the aggregate amount of the allocable tax credit (Part D); relates to tax credits for the rehabilitation of historic properties (Part E); establishes a 90-day waiting period for the purchase of residential real property by certain purchasers (Subpart A); provides for depreciation and interest deduction adjustments for properties owned by institutional investors in residential properties (Subpart B); requires the secretary of state to provide public notice of real property solicitation cease and desist zones (Subpart C)(Part F); relates to the excelsior jobs program; establishes the semiconductor research and development program; establishes tax credits for participation in such program; establishes the semiconductor manufacturing workforce training incentive program; establishes tax credits for participation in such program; repeals the employee training incentive program (Subpart A); amends provisions relating to application of the empire state jobs retention program on or after June 1, 2025 (Subpart B) (Part H); relates to film production and post-production credits; creates the Empire state independent film production credit (Part I); relates to eligibility under the newspaper and broadcast media jobs program (Part J); relates to calculation and application of the empire state digital gaming media production credit; permits carryover of unused credits (Part K); extends portions of the New York city musical and theatrical production tax credit (Part L); clarifies that the accessing of notices by a taxpayer shall not give the taxpayer the right to a hearing in the division of tax appeals (Part M); relates to tax warrants and warrant-related records (Part N); provides that where property is owned solely by a person or persons who received the STAR exemption for three consecutive years without having filed returns for the applicable income tax years, but who demonstrated their eligibility for the exemption to the commissioner of taxation and finance's satisfaction by filing statements, such person or persons shall be presumed to satisfy the applicable income-eligibility requirements each year thereafter and shall not be required to continue to file such statements in the absence of a specific request therefor from such commissioner (Part O); increases the estimated tax threshold under article nine-a of the tax law to five thousand dollars beginning January 1, 2026 (Part R); establishes a tax credit for organ donation (Part S); relates to extending the estate tax three-year gift addback rule (Part T); expands the credit for employment of persons with disabilities to the first five thousand dollars of first-year wages (Part U); provides for reporting of federal partnership adjustments for state personal income tax (Subpart A); provides for reporting of federal partnership adjustments for city personal income tax (Subpart B)(Part V); establishes a credit against the tax on personal income of certain residents of a city having a population of one million or more inhabitants beginning in the 2025 tax year (Part W); extends the clean heating fuel tax credit for three years (Part Y); extends the alternative fuels and electric vehicle recharging property credit for three years (Part Z); extends the sales tax exemption for vending machine transactions (Part AA); extends the workers with disabilities tax credit (Part BB); extends the hire a vet tax credit until 2029 (Part CC); extends the musical and theatrical production credit (Part DD); relates to extending the financial institution data match system for state tax collection purposes (Part EE); simplifies the parimutuel tax rate system; repeals provisions relating thereto (Subpart A); relates to licenses for simulcast facilities, sums relating to track simulcast, simulcast of out-of-state thoroughbred races, simulcasting of races run by out-of-state harness tracks and distributions of wagers; extends certain provisions relating to simulcasting, and the imposition of certain taxes (Subpart B); provides for amounts of market origin credits and fees, and the state's use of funds collected thereunder (Subpart C)(Part FF); sets rates for tax on certain gaming revenues (Part GG); relates to the utilization of funds in the Capital off-track betting corporation's capital acquisition fund for certain purposes (Part HH); provides for research to enhance the health and safety of thoroughbred race horses (Part II); extends the farm workforce retention credit (Part JJ); relates to the farm employer overtime credit (Part KK); provides technical corrections relating to amended returns under Article 28 (Part LL); relates to vendor fees paid to certain vendor tracks; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof (Part MM); relates to the terms of members of the franchised corporation appointed by the New York racing association, and licensing requirements of such members (Part NN); provides that the amount of mobile sports tax revenue used for problem gambling education and treatment shall be equal to six million dollars for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2026 and twelve million dollars for each fiscal year thereafter, provided that this amount may only be expended pursuant to a plan approved by the director of the budget (Part OO); extends the duration of certain brownfield redevelopment and remediation tax credits with respect to a site located within the Renaissance Commerce Park situate within the city of Lackawanna, Erie county (Part PP); relates to the commissioner's authority to deny certain relief from sales tax liability provided to certain limited partners and members of limited liability companies (Part QQ); simplifies the real property tax credit (Part RR); authorizes an occupancy tax in the city of Auburn not to exceed 5%; provides for the expiration and repeal of such provisions on December 31, 2027 (Part SS); authorizes a hotel and motel tax in the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie (Part TT); relates to geothermal energy systems tax credits; allows excess amounts to be received as refunds for certain taxpayers (Part UU); relates to the metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax and the rates of tax and the distribution of revenue therefrom (Part VV); divides revenues from the sales and compensating use taxes for the metropolitan commuter transportation district; directs that 85% of the certified revenues be deposited in the dedicated mass transportation fund with 85% of such amount being allocated to the New York city transit authority and its subsidiaries and 15% of such amount shall be allocated to the Long Island Rail Road Company and Metro North commuter railroad company (Part WW); relates to the aggregate principal amount of bonds, notes or other obligations for the metropolitan transit authority, the Triborough bridge and tunnel authority and the New York city transit authority (Part XX).

Extends the authority of the county of Nassau to impose hotel and motel taxes; extends the expiration of certain provisions relating to a surcharge on tickets to places of entertainment in such county, a charge for copying and searching for police accident reports, and receipt of service charges by the Nassau county traffic and parking violations agency; extends the authority of Nassau County to impose additional sales and compensating use taxes and local government assistance programs in Nassau County.

Removes language requiring the state from moving public safety surcharge funds into the state general fund; increases from seventy-five million dollars to one million dollars available for grants or reimbursements to counties for the development, consolidation, or operation of public safety communications systems or networks designed to support statewide interoperable communications for first responders.

Establishes and funds the close the waitlist fund by utilizing a tax surcharge to pay for providing senior services to individuals who have been waitlisted to receive such senior services.