NY A00248

Municipalities may enact local laws allowing building code and fire code fines to be treated as delinquent taxes and subject to tax liens, but only for properties that are not primary residences.

Fines must be finally adjudicated through a judicial process with appeal rights available to property owners before being converted to tax liabilities.

Property owners must receive at least 10 days written notice before municipal action is taken, and the notice must inform them that a tax lien may be imposed if the fine remains unpaid.

Municipalities cannot declare a fine as unpaid taxes until at least one year after final adjudication and exhaustion of all appeals, and any adjudication expenses may be included with the fine on the tax roll.

Clarifies that unpaid fines deemed to be taxes under this law are included in the collecting officer's account of unpaid delinquent taxes and are subject to the standard five percent addition applied to unpaid taxes.