Schenectady, NY Local Taxes & Fees: Vacancy Tax (2026)

City Code § 167-56 creates the Vacant Building Registration program, administered by the Bureau of Code Enforcement, rather than a tax on vacancy through the assessment roll. Once a building meets the code's definition of vacant, the owner must register within 30 days, schedule an interior inspection within 14 days of registering, and submit a vacant building plan choosing demolition, continued vacancy with securing measures, or rehabilitation. Subsection A(12) attaches escalating annual fees to that registration: the first-year annual fee is $2,500, due within 30 days of the building becoming vacant, plus a separate monitoring fee the Mayor sets based on the actual cost of whatever monitoring service is used.

If the vacancy continues, the fee rises to $3,000 in the second year, $3,500 in the third, $5,000 in the fourth, and $5,500 for the fifth year and every year after, each tier still layered with the monitoring fee. Selling or transferring a vacant building does not reset the clock; the new owner picks up the fee schedule where the prior owner left off. The annual and monitoring fees must be paid in full before the City will issue any building permit other than a demolition permit, and no registration is considered filed until both fees are paid, though a prorated refund is available if the building exits vacant status within 180 days of registering. Extreme hardship cases are directed to the Corporation Counsel's office or a City Councilmember rather than to an automatic waiver.