Tell Governor Cuomo To Support Community Living By Including the Home Modification, or Visitability Tax Credit In The Final Budget!
This action alert is from the New York Association on Independent Living ...
Basic home modifications can make the difference between the ability to live one's life in the community and being homebound, or worse, sent into an institution. The legislature acknowledges this fact and have included the Visitability Tax Credit in both the Senate and Assembly's one house budget proposals! The Visitability Tax Credit helps people with the costs of modifying one's home to make it more accessible, and to promote aging in place. We need your help to make sure the tax credit is included in the final budget!
Action:
Call Governor Cuomo today at 518-474-8390 and urge him to support the inclusion of the Senate and Assembly's proposal for a Visitability Tax Credit in the final budget!
Rather than leaving a message, press # 3 to ask to speak to an assistant.
Say:
"Hello, as a person with a disability, I am calling to urge Governor Cuomo to support the inclusion of the Visitability Tax Credit, which was included in both the Senate and Assembly's one house budget proposals. This tax credit would help people with disabilities and older New Yorkers with the costs of making their homes more accessible and would allow people to age in place "
Background:
The disability community has long advocated for New York to increase the accessible housing stock across the State by incentivizing the use of "visitability" design standards. This includes basic accessible features, including:
- One no-step entrance
- An accessible path to the door
- Hallways and doorways wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair
- An accessible bathroom on the first floor
The NYS legislature passed similar legislation in 2015 and 2016. Governor Cuomo vetoed this legislation twice, indicating his support for the concept, but stating it had to be done in the context of the Budget. Unfortunately, Governor Cuomo didn't include this in his proposed Executive Budget.
Last year, it was determined that there was a need to better understand the cost estimates for such a program. For this reason, the sponsors included a $1 million cap per year in aggregate to A.9303/S.6943. As the program would now be considered a pilot project, the State has five years to determine whether this cap is sufficient to meet the needs of the population.
Due to the high cost of home modifications, many people cannot afford to make changes to their homes to make them more accessible, or to move to a more accessible home. Most prefer to remain at home rather than move to nursing facilities or different, more accessible housing as their needs change. However, many are forced out because their homes are no longer safe or practical for them to live in. This tax credit will help to ensure that people with disabilities and older New Yorkers are able to afford these modifications and remain in their homes.
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