Bill Text: NY A02748 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Relates to repair reserve funds for municipal corporations, school districts, boards of cooperative educational services, district corporations and improvement districts.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to education [A02748 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A02748-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2748

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 27, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. ZEBROWSKI, DICKENS, STIRPE, COOK, SAYEGH, CRUZ,
          McDONOUGH, DeSTEFANO, NORRIS, MILLER -- read once and referred to  the
          Committee on Education

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  general municipal law and the education law, in
          relation to the  repair  reserve  funds  for  municipal  corporations,
          school  districts, board of cooperative educational services, district
          corporations and improvement districts

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 6-d of the general municipal law, as added by chap-
     2  ter  383 of the laws of 1950, the section heading and subdivisions 5 and
     3  6 as amended by chapter 693 of  the  laws  of  1952,  subdivision  1  as
     4  amended  by chapter 828 of the laws of 1961, subdivision 2 as amended by
     5  chapter 740 of the laws of 1957, paragraph b of subdivision 3 and subdi-
     6  vision 4 as amended by chapter 140 of the laws of 1996 and subdivision 7
     7  as amended by chapter 424 of the laws of 2001, is  amended  to  read  as
     8  follows:
     9    §  6-d.  Repair  reserve  funds  for  municipal  corporations,  school
    10  districts, board of cooperative educational  services,  district  corpo-
    11  rations and improvement districts. 1. The governing board of any munici-
    12  pal  corporation,  school  district,  board  of  cooperative educational
    13  services, district corporation, or town or county improvement  district,
    14  may  establish a special fund which shall be known as the repair reserve
    15  fund of such municipal corporation, school district,  board  of  cooper-
    16  ative   educational   services,   district  corporation  or  improvement
    17  district. There may be paid into such fund an amount as may be  provided
    18  therefor by budgetary appropriation or such revenues as are not required
    19  by law to be paid into any other fund or account.
    20    2. In cases of emergency, moneys in such fund may be expended pursuant
    21  to  a  resolution approved by not less than two-thirds of the members of
    22  the governing body of such municipal corporation, school district, board

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06875-01-3

        A. 2748                             2

     1  of cooperative educational services, district corporation or improvement
     2  district providing that not less than one-half of the moneys so expended
     3  shall be repaid in the fiscal year immediately following the fiscal year
     4  in  which such moneys were expended and the total amount shall be repaid
     5  not later than the last day of the second  fiscal  year  succeeding  the
     6  fiscal year in which the moneys were expended.
     7    Prior to the adoption of any other resolution, act, ordinance or local
     8  law  by  the  governing  board  of  such  municipal  corporation, school
     9  district, board of cooperative  educational  services,  district  corpo-
    10  ration  or improvement district, appropriating money from such fund, the
    11  governing board shall cause to be published in the official newspaper or
    12  newspapers, if any, or otherwise in a newspaper or newspapers designated
    13  for such purpose, a notice stating in substance that it is  proposed  to
    14  appropriate  a  specified  amount  from  the  repair  reserve fund for a
    15  particular purpose, and that a public hearing on such proposed appropri-
    16  ation will be held at a time and place stated  therein.  At  least  five
    17  days  shall  elapse  between the publication of such notice and the date
    18  specified for the hearing. The hearing shall be held  at  the  time  and
    19  place so specified.
    20    3. Moneys in such fund may be appropriated only:
    21    a. For repairs of capital improvements or equipment, which repairs are
    22  of a type not recurring annually or at shorter intervals.
    23    b.  In  the case of a municipal corporation, to a capital reserve fund
    24  established pursuant to section six-c of this article or to a contingen-
    25  cy and tax stabilization reserve fund established  pursuant  to  section
    26  six-e of this article.
    27    c.  In  the  case of a fire district, to a capital reserve fund estab-
    28  lished pursuant to section six-g of this article.
    29    d. In the case of a school district, to  a  reserve  fund  established
    30  pursuant to section thirty-six hundred fifty-one of the education law.
    31    e.  In  the  case of a board of cooperative educational services, to a
    32  capital repair reserve fund established  pursuant  to  section  nineteen
    33  hundred fifty of the education law.
    34    4.  The  moneys  in  such  fund  shall be deposited and secured in the
    35  manner provided by section ten of this article. The moneys in such  fund
    36  so  deposited  shall  be accounted for separate and apart from all other
    37  funds of the municipal corporation, school district,  board  of  cooper-
    38  ative   educational   services,   district  corporation  or  improvement
    39  district, in the same manner as provided in subdivision ten  of  section
    40  six-c  of  this article. The governing board or the chief fiscal officer
    41  of such municipal corporation, school  district,  board  of  cooperative
    42  educational  services,  district corporation or improvement district, if
    43  the governing board shall delegate such duty  to  him,  may  invest  the
    44  moneys  in  such  fund  in the manner provided in section eleven of this
    45  article. Any interest earned or capital gains realized on the moneys  so
    46  deposited or invested shall accrue to and become part of such fund.
    47    5.  The  members of the governing board of such municipal corporation,
    48  school district, board of  cooperative  educational  services,  district
    49  corporation or improvement district are hereby declared trustees of such
    50  fund and shall be subject to all the duties and responsibilities imposed
    51  by law on trustees, and such duties and responsibilities may be enforced
    52  by  such municipal corporation, school district, district corporation or
    53  improvement district, as the case may be, or by any  board,  commission,
    54  agency, officer or taxpayer thereof.

        A. 2748                             3

     1    6.  The  members of the governing board of such municipal corporation,
     2  school district, board of cooperative educational services  or  district
     3  corporation shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if they:
     4    a.  Authorize  a  withdrawal  from a repair reserve fund for any other
     5  purpose except as provided in this section.
     6    b. Expend any money withdrawn from a repair reserve fund for a purpose
     7  other than that as provided in this section.
     8    7. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this  section,  in  any
     9  town  which  is  located wholly or partly within the Adirondack park and
    10  has within its boundaries state lands subject to  taxation  assessed  at
    11  more  than  thirty per centum of the total taxable assessed valuation of
    12  town as determined from the assessment rolls of the  town  as  completed
    13  from  time  to  time,  or  in  any  district  corporation or improvement
    14  district situated in whole or in part in any such town, a repair reserve
    15  fund shall not be established unless the state comptroller, on behalf of
    16  the state, shall consent thereto, and  in  any  such  town  or  district
    17  corporation  or improvement district no appropriation shall be made from
    18  a repair reserve fund unless the state comptroller,  on  behalf  of  the
    19  state, shall consent thereto.
    20    8.  Moneys of a municipal corporation, school district, board of coop-
    21  erative educational services or district corporation  which,  upon  June
    22  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred fifty, constitute a repair reserve fund of
    23  such municipal corporation, school district, board of cooperative educa-
    24  tional services or district corporation, shall continue to so constitute
    25  a special fund and be known as the repair reserve fund of such municipal
    26  corporation, school district, board of cooperative educational  services
    27  or  district  corporation.  From  and  after such date, payments to, and
    28  appropriations from,  such  fund  shall  be  subject  to  the  foregoing
    29  provisions of this section.
    30    §  2. Subdivision 4 of section 1950 of the education law is amended by
    31  adding a new paragraph l to read as follows:
    32    l. (1) Pursuant to the requirements set forth in section six-d of  the
    33  general  municipal  law,  establish  a capital repair reserve fund. Such
    34  fund shall be used exclusively to make emergency repairs.
    35    (2) In addition to the requirements set forth in section six-d of  the
    36  general  municipal  law,  any  BOCES  that  establishes a capital repair
    37  reserve fund shall provide the following:
    38    (i) Notification to each component district within ten days that  such
    39  emergency  repair  was  required  and  was  completed, the nature of the
    40  repair and the aggregate cost of the repair, and
    41    (ii) Provide an annual report by December thirty-first of each year to
    42  each component district and the commissioner of education regarding  all
    43  emergency  repairs  that  were  completed during the year, the amount of
    44  funds expended for such purpose, and the amount of  funds  remaining  in
    45  the repair reserve fund.
    46    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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