KINGSTON, N.Y.—The Frequent Council unanimously accredited a $23,100 fee to the State Division of Housing and Group Renewal for administering the Emergency Tenant Safety Act (ETPA), which the town opted into in 2022, with plans to recoup the cash from landlords of buildings ruled by the housing statute.
Each unit ruled by the ETPA in Kingston, 1,115 unfold throughout 59 buildings in accordance with Director of Housing Initiatives Bartek Starodaj, is charged a $20 charge by the state. Because of the deliberate bill, the switch technically may have no monetary affect on the town.
“Every municipality has the choice of charging every constructing proprietor for this price,” Starodaj stated in a July letter to the Frequent Council.
Representatives of the Division of Housing and Group Renewal informed the town’s Lease Tips Board that lower than half of landlords registered their ETPA-governed buildings in 2022.
Kingston opted into the ETPA in 2022 after the town declared a housing emergency primarily based on a emptiness examine carried out by Starodaj. The validity of the town’s actions was referred to as into query by the Hudson Valley Property House owners Affiliation (HVPOA) and native landlords who stated the examine was accomplished incorrectly and that it resulted in a depressed emptiness price.
Landlords introduced go well with final 12 months and the case is at present within the State Appellate Court docket as landlords argue that the ETPA shouldn’t have been allowed to enter impact and the town’s Lease Tips Board argues {that a} destructive hire adjustment vacated in February ought to be allowed to remain. Because of the ongoing litigation, the Lease Tips Board accredited a hire price freeze in order to not complicate calculations for future leases.
At an Aug. 9 Finance and Audit Committee, Starodaj stated that he deliberate to ship invoices to landlords as quickly because the Frequent Council accredited the switch to the state.
Kingston was in a position to decide into the ETPA because of the passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Safety Act of 2019 within the State Legislature, which prolonged the applicability of the ETPA and hire management past the New York Metropolis Metropolitan Space.
