§ 65-31. Exemption granted.

A. 

Pursuant to the provisions of § 459 of the Real Property Tax Law, improvements to residential real property that serve to facilitate the use and accessibility of such property by physically disabled residents are exempt from taxation to the extent of any increase in value attributable to such improvements as follows, but are liable for special ad valorem levies and special assessments:

(1) 

Property must be owned either by a physically disabled person or by a person having a physically disabled member in the household.

(2) 

Property must be occupied by the physically disabled owner of the property or occupied by a member of the resident owner's household, who is physically disabled, if such member resides in the real property. The disabled person must have a permanent physical impairment that substantially restricts one or more of his or her major life activities and such impairment must be certified by a qualified physician licensed to practice in New York State. In the case of a blind person, certification by the State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped may be obtained in lieu of certification by a physician.

(3) 

The improvement to the property must be one which facilitates the disabled person's use of and accessibility to the property.

(4) 

Property must be a one-, two- or three-family residence.