Mayor Byron W. Brown has endorsed a plan to provide tax relief to some lower-income senior citizens who may be impacted by the city’s reassessment.
“I want to thank Council President Darius Pridgen, who worked with my administration on this, for introducing the local enabling legislation and I urge the Common Council to pass it as quickly as possible,” Brown said in a prepared statement.
Brown was referring to a proposal Pridgen introduced into the Common Council allowing Buffalo to take advantage of a state law permitting municipalities to freeze property taxes for elderly citizens in certain areas. The state law was sponsored by Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Sen. Timothy Kennedy, both D-Buffalo, and was approved in the 2018-19 legislative session.
In Buffalo’s case, the law would impact some elderly homeowners in targeted census tracts where median income does not exceed $16,056.
Brown said Pridgen’s proposal will help approximately 350 Buffalo homeowners.