Bill Text: NY A09028 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to the dissolution of union free school district number 13 in the town of Greenburgh.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-11-21 - signed chap.446 [A09028 Detail]
Download: New_York-2013-A09028-Amended.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 9028--C I N A S S E M B L Y March 10, 2014 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- reported and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means -- reported and referred to the Committee on Rules -- Rules Committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to the Committee on Rules -- again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to providing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, in relation to eliminating reference to such union free school district number 13; and to repeal chapter 559 of the laws of 1972, relating to establishing union free school district number 13 in the town of Greenburgh in the county of Westchester THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Chapter 559 of the laws of 1972, relating to establishing 2 union free school district number 13 in the town of Greenburgh in the 3 county of Westchester, is REPEALED. 4 S 2. Any funds remaining in the possession of the union free school 5 district number 13, town of Greenburgh, county of Westchester, after all 6 of its debts and obligations have been paid, shall be paid over to the 7 board of cooperative educational services of the sole supervisory 8 district of the county of Westchester (Southern Westchester BOCES) for 9 the services provided to such union free school district pursuant to 10 section three of this act. Though such union free school district 11 number 13 be dissolved, section 1518 of the education law shall be 12 deemed to apply, and it shall continue to exist in law for the purpose 13 of providing for and paying all its just debts; provided that the board 14 of cooperative educational services of the sole supervisory district of 15 the county of Westchester (Southern Westchester BOCES) shall be author- 16 ized to act on behalf of the school district pursuant to section three 17 of this act. EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08713-19-4 A. 9028--C 2 1 S 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, 2 during any period in which there is no duly constituted board of educa- 3 tion of union free school district number 13, town of Greenburgh, county 4 of Westchester, Southern Westchester BOCES shall be authorized to take 5 any actions on behalf of the school district that are reasonably neces- 6 sary to complete the closedown and dissolution of the district that the 7 board of education would have, including but not limited to, the power 8 to enter contracts, pay outstanding debts from reimbursable costs 9 incurred for closedown of the school district under this section, 10 provided however that the southern Westchester BOCES shall not pay for 11 outstanding debts using its own funds and shall not be liable for any 12 outstanding debt incurred by the union free school district number 13, 13 Town of Greenburgh, sell school district property if any, with approval 14 of the commissioner, and to bill for and receive any reimbursement due 15 and owing for tuition pursuant to article 81 of the education law or any 16 other provision of law for services rendered to students on or before 17 the school district ceased operation on July 1, 2011 and reimbursement 18 for closedown costs determined pursuant to this section. The Southern 19 Westchester BOCES shall review the business records of the school 20 district, including any claims, invoices and bills submitted to the 21 school district during any period in which there was no duly constituted 22 board of education and shall audit any expenses or claims, based on 23 invoices, bills or other documentation, that were not included in an 24 audited financial statement or financial reports submitted to the 25 department of education by the school district, to determine if such 26 expenses or claims are duplicative of claims previously submitted for 27 reimbursement and, if not, whether they are supported by documentation 28 that would substantiate a claim that the expense was incurred by the 29 school district or is otherwise an outstanding debt of the school 30 district. Such audit may be conducted by the claims auditor of the BOCES 31 or, with the approval of the commissioner of education, by an independ- 32 ent auditor retained by the BOCES. The BOCES shall report to the depart- 33 ment of education any audited claims that were not included in an audit- 34 ed financial statement or financial report, together with the 35 documentation supporting such claims. Reimbursement for costs incurred 36 for closedown of the school district shall include only: (i) any allow- 37 able costs approved by the commissioner of education that were included 38 in the audited financial statement and financial reports submitted by 39 the school district in conformity with the financial reporting require- 40 ments; (ii) additional allowable costs, incurred in the 2010-2011 school 41 year or subsequently during the closedown period, that are approved by 42 the commissioner of education in accordance with the reimbursable cost 43 manual in effect for the 2010-2011 school year and relate to claims that 44 were audited by the Southern Westchester BOCES pursuant to this section 45 and are based on supporting documentation that would substantiate a 46 claim that the expense was incurred by the school district and not 47 duplicative of claims previously reimbursed; and (iii) the actual docu- 48 mented cost to the Southern Westchester BOCES of carrying out its duties 49 under the provisions of this section to close down the school district, 50 which includes, but is not limited to, the costs related to the need for 51 Southern Westchester BOCES to undertake borrowing to meet the require- 52 ments of this act, as approved by the commissioner of education based on 53 documentation that such costs were necessary to carry out such duties, 54 shall be included in a closedown rate payable by each school district or 55 social services district responsible for tuition for students attending 56 the special act school district in the 2010-2011 school year. Notwith- A. 9028--C 3 1 standing any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, 2 such closedown rate may be payable in three installments which shall be 3 as equal as practicable, over three consecutive years after the close- 4 down rate is established; provided that any reimbursement costs due to 5 Southern Westchester BOCES for carrying out its administrative duties 6 under this act may be paid in the first installment. In such capacity, 7 such board of cooperative educational services and its officers and 8 employees shall be entitled to defense and indemnification by the state 9 pursuant to section 18 of the public officers law. Services provided by 10 the Southern Westchester BOCES under this act shall not result in any 11 additional costs being imposed on component school districts, except 12 those costs imposed on a component school district pursuant to a close- 13 down rate calculated under this section. 14 S 4. The records of union free school district number 13, town of 15 Greenburgh, county of Westchester, shall be forwarded to the district 16 superintendent of schools of the Southern Westchester BOCES for preser- 17 vation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, such 18 records shall be deemed to be records of the Southern Westchester BOCES 19 for purposes of the management and disposition of such records and local 20 government records management grants pursuant to section 57.35 of the 21 arts and cultural affairs law. 22 S 5. The territory comprising the union free school district number 23 13, town of Greenburgh, county of Westchester, shall revert to and 24 become part of the Irvington union free school district in the county of 25 Westchester. 26 S 6. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid- 27 ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, 28 as amended by chapter 478 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as 29 follows: 30 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b 31 of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such 32 school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or 33 under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is 34 hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu- 35 al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be 36 computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and 37 four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the 38 town of Dryden, Tompkins county; union free school district number eight 39 of the town of Canaan, Columbia county; union free school districts 40 numbers ten, eleven[,] AND twelve [and thirteen] of the town of Green- 41 burgh, Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and 42 four of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free 43 school district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, West- 44 chester county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district 45 of the town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school 46 district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school 47 district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; the 48 Hopevale union free school district, town of Hamburg, Erie county; and 49 union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk 50 county. 51 S 7. Section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, relating to provid- 52 ing for the apportionment of funds to certain special school districts, 53 as amended by chapter 213 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as 54 follows: 55 Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 3602 and 3602-b 56 of the education law, and in lieu of any apportionments to which such A. 9028--C 4 1 school districts might otherwise be entitled under such sections or 2 under any other provisions of law, the commissioner of education is 3 hereby authorized to include the following school districts in the annu- 4 al apportionment of public moneys and such apportionment shall be 5 computed in accordance with the provisions of sections two, three and 6 four of this act: union free school district number twenty-seven of the 7 town of Dryden, Tompkins county; union free school district number eight 8 of the town of Canaan, Columbia county; union free school districts 9 numbers ten, eleven[,] AND twelve [and thirteen] of the town of Green- 10 burgh, Westchester county; union free school districts numbers three and 11 four of the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester county; union free 12 school district number six, Blythedale, town of Mount Pleasant, West- 13 chester county; and Randolph Children's Home union free school district 14 of the town of Randolph, Cattaraugus county; West Park union free school 15 district number two, town of Esopus, Ulster county; common school 16 district number seven of the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau county; and 17 union free school district number three, town of Riverhead, Suffolk 18 county. 19 S 8. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend- 20 ments to section 1 of chapter 566 of the laws of 1967, made by section 21 seven of this act, shall take effect on the same date and in the same 22 manner as section 5 of chapter 213 of the laws of 2011, takes effect.