STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9144
IN ASSEMBLY
January 31, 2022
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WALLACE -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to establishing
regional industrial development agencies; and to repeal certain
provisions of such law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 856 of the general municipal law, as added by chap-
2 ter 1030 of the laws of 1969, paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 as added by
3 chapter 692 of the laws of 1989 and subdivision 2 as amended by chapter
4 356 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
5 § 856. [Organization] Establishment and organization of regional
6 industrial development agencies. 1. (a) [Upon the establishment of an
7 industrial development agency by special act of the legislature, the
8 governing body of the municipality for whose benefit such agency is
9 established shall file within six months after the effective date of the
10 special act of the legislature establishing such agency or before the
11 first day of July, nineteen hundred sixty-nine, whichever date shall be
12 later, in the office of the secretary of state, a certificate setting
13 forth: (1) the date of passage of the special act establishing the agen-
14 cy; (2) the name of the agency; (3) the names of the members and their
15 terms of office, specifying which member is the chairman; and (4) facts
16 establishing the need for the establishment of an agency in such munici-
17 pality.
18 (b) Every such agency shall be perpetual in duration, except that if
19 (1) such certificate is not filed with the secretary of state within six
20 months after the effective date of the special act of the legislature
21 establishing such agency or before the first day of July, nineteen
22 hundred sixty-nine, whichever date shall be later, or if (2) at the
23 expiration of ten years subsequent to the effective date of the special
24 act, there shall be outstanding no bonds or other obligations thereto-
25 fore issued by such agency or by the municipality for or in behalf of
26 the agency, then the corporate existence of such agency shall thereupon
27 terminate and it shall thereupon be deemed to be and shall be dissolved.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13793-01-1
A. 9144 2
1 (c) On or before March first of each year, the secretary of state
2 shall prepare a list of agencies which failed to file a certificate in
3 accordance with provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivision within
4 the preceding calendar year and transmit a copy of such list to the
5 state comptroller and the commissioner of the department of economic
6 development. On or before March first of each year the commissioner of
7 the department of economic development shall prepare a list of agencies
8 which have dissolved pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision or
9 have ceased to exist pursuant to section eight hundred eighty-two of
10 this chapter and shall transmit a copy of such list to the state comp-
11 troller.] There is hereby established ten regional industrial develop-
12 ment agencies, one for each of the following regions of the state:
13 (i) Long Island (which consists of Suffolk and Nassau counties);
14 (ii) the city of New York (which consists of Bronx, New York, Queens,
15 Brooklyn, and Richmond counties);
16 (iii) the Mid-Hudson region (which consists of Sullivan, Ulster,
17 Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Westchester, and Rockland counties);
18 (iv) the Southern tier (which consists of Steuben, Schuyler, Tompkins,
19 Chemung, Tioga, Chenango, Broome, and Delaware counties);
20 (v) the Capital region (which consists of Warren, Washington, Sarato-
21 ga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Albany, Columbia, and Greene counties);
22 (vi) the Mohawk valley (which consists of Oneida, Herkimer, Fulton,
23 Montgomery, Otsego, and Schoharie counties);
24 (vii) the North country (which consists of Clinton, Franklin, St.
25 Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis, Hamilton, and Essex counties);
26 (viii) the Central region (which consists of Oswego, Cayuga, Onondaga,
27 Madison, and Cortland counties);
28 (ix) the Finger Lakes region (which consists of Orleans, Monroe,
29 Wayne, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Ontario, Seneca, and Yates coun-
30 ties); and
31 (x) the Western region (which consists of Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua,
32 Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties).
33 (b) Any municipal industrial development agency established under the
34 former title two of this article shall consolidate into the regional
35 entity where such municipal industrial development agency was located.
36 2. An agency shall be a corporate governmental agency, constituting a
37 public benefit corporation. Except as otherwise provided by special act
38 of the legislature, an agency shall consist of not less than [three nor
39 more than] seven members who shall be appointed by the governing body of
40 each municipality in a county under the jurisdiction of the agency and
41 who shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. Such
42 members may include representatives of local government, school boards,
43 organized labor and business. A member shall continue to hold office
44 until his or her successor is appointed and has qualified. The [govern-
45 ing body of each municipality] appointed members shall designate the
46 first chairman and file with the secretary of state a certificate of
47 appointment or reappointment of any member. Such members shall receive
48 no compensation for their services but shall be entitled to the neces-
49 sary expenses, including traveling expenses, incurred in the discharge
50 of their duties.
51 3. A majority of the members of an agency shall constitute a quorum.
52 4. Any one or more of the members of an agency may be an official or
53 an employee of [the] a municipality in a county under the jurisdiction
54 of the agency. In the event that an official or an employee of the muni-
55 cipality shall be appointed as a member of the agency, acceptance or
56 retention of such appointment shall not be deemed a forfeiture of his or
A. 9144 3
1 her municipal office or employment, or incompatible therewith or affect
2 his or her tenure or compensation in any way. [The term of office of a
3 member of an agency who is an official or an employee of the munici-
4 pality when appointed as a member thereof by special act of the legisla-
5 ture creating the industrial development agency shall terminate at the
6 expiration of the term of his municipal office.]
7 § 2. Subdivisions 1, 4 and 11 of section 854 of the general municipal
8 law, subdivision 1 as added by chapter 1030 of the laws of 1969, subdi-
9 vision 4 as amended by section 5 of part X of chapter 59 of the laws of
10 2021 and subdivision 11 as added by chapter 803 of the laws of 1980, are
11 amended to read as follows:
12 (1) "Agency" or "IDA"--shall mean [an Industrial Development Agency
13 created pursuant to this act] the regional industrial development agency
14 established in each region of the state, pursuant to subdivision one of
15 section eight hundred fifty-six of this title.
16 (4) "Project" - shall mean any land, any building or other improve-
17 ment, and all real and personal properties located within the state of
18 New York and within or outside or partially within and partially outside
19 the [municipality] region for whose benefit the agency was created,
20 including, but not limited to, machinery, equipment and other facilities
21 deemed necessary or desirable in connection therewith, or incidental
22 thereto, whether or not now in existence or under construction, which
23 shall be suitable for manufacturing, warehousing, research, commercial,
24 renewable energy or industrial purposes or other economically sound
25 purposes identified and called for to implement a state designated urban
26 cultural park management plan as provided in title G of the parks,
27 recreation and historic preservation law and which may include or mean
28 an industrial pollution control facility, a recreation facility, educa-
29 tional or cultural facility, a horse racing facility, a railroad facili-
30 ty, a renewable energy project or an automobile racing facility,
31 provided, however, no agency shall use its funds or provide financial
32 assistance in respect of any project wholly or partially outside the
33 [municipality] region for whose benefit the agency was created without
34 the prior consent thereto by the governing body or bodies of all the
35 [other] municipalities in which a part or parts of the project is and
36 the corresponding agency for such region, or is to be, located, and such
37 portion of the project located outside such [municipality] region for
38 whose benefit the agency was created shall be contiguous with the
39 portion of the project inside such [municipality] region.
40 (11) "Railroad facility"--shall mean, but shall not be limited to,
41 railroad rights-of-way, beds, bridges, viaducts, tracks, switches and
42 rolling stock and any other attendant structure, equipment, facility or
43 property necessary or appropriate to railroading conducted in conjunc-
44 tion with industrial, [commerical] commercial, manufacturing, recre-
45 ational or warehousing operations; provided, however, that (i) no agency
46 shall itself operate a railroad facility for freight or passenger
47 service, but may lease or otherwise make such facility available to an
48 operator, subject to an agreement for the maintenance and operation of
49 such facility for freight or passenger service, provided that passenger
50 service does not constitute the primary purpose of the railroad facili-
51 ty; (ii) prior to undertaking any project involving acquisition,
52 construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, equipping or
53 furnishing of a railroad facility, an agency shall submit its plans for
54 the proposed project to the commissioner of transportation; the commis-
55 sioner shall, within sixty days of his or her receipt of the proposal,
56 submit an analysis of the financial and operational feasibility of the
A. 9144 4
1 proposed project, along with any recommendations for modification for
2 improving the project's viability, to the agency, the governor, the
3 commissioner of commerce, the temporary president of the senate, the
4 speaker of the assembly and the governing body of the municipality in
5 which the [agency] proposed project is located; and (iii) no agency
6 shall enter into any contract for the acquisition, construction, recon-
7 struction, improvement, maintenance, equipping or furnishing of a rail-
8 road facility until fifteen days after the submission of the analysis
9 and recommendations of the commissioner of transportation, or seventy-
10 five days after submission of the agency's plan to the commissioner,
11 whichever is earlier.
12 § 3. The opening paragraph and subdivisions 6, 7 and 8 of section 858
13 of the general municipal law, the opening paragraph as amended by
14 section 6 of part X of chapter 59 of the laws of 2021, subdivision 6 as
15 added by chapter 1030 of the laws of 1969, subdivision 7 as amended by
16 chapter 559 of the laws of 2021 and subdivision 8 as amended by chapter
17 356 of the laws of 1993, are amended to read as follows:
18 The purposes of the agency shall be to promote, develop, encourage and
19 assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, main-
20 taining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, warehous-
21 ing, commercial, research, renewable energy and recreation facilities
22 including industrial pollution control facilities, educational or
23 cultural facilities, railroad facilities, horse racing facilities, auto-
24 mobile racing facilities, renewable energy projects and continuing care
25 retirement communities, [provided, however, that, of agencies governed
26 by this article, only agencies created for the benefit of a county and
27 the agency created for the benefit of the city of New York shall be
28 authorized to provide financial assistance in any respect to a continu-
29 ing care retirement community,] and thereby advance the job opportu-
30 nities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the people of
31 the state of New York and to improve their recreation opportunities,
32 prosperity and standard of living; and to carry out the aforesaid
33 purposes, each agency shall have the following powers:
34 (6) With the consent of [the] a municipality under the jurisdiction of
35 the agency, to use agents, employees and facilities of the municipality,
36 paying the municipality its agreed proportion of the compensation or
37 costs;
38 (7) To appoint officers, agents and employees, to prescribe their
39 qualifications and to fix their compensation and to pay the same out of
40 funds of the agency, provided, however, that an elected officer of [the]
41 a municipality under the jurisdiction of the agency may not serve as a
42 compensated officer, agent or employee of the agency;
43 (8) (a) To appoint an attorney, who may be the counsel of [the] a
44 municipality under the jurisdiction of the agency, and to fix the attor-
45 ney's compensation for services which shall be payable to the attorney,
46 and to retain and employ private consultants for professional and tech-
47 nical assistance and advice;
48 (b) An attorney acting as bond counsel for a project must file with
49 the agency a written statement in which the attorney identifies each
50 party to the transaction which such attorney represents. If bond counsel
51 provides any legal services to parties other than the agency the written
52 statement must describe the nature of legal services provided by such
53 bond counsel to all parties to the transaction, including the nature of
54 the services provided to the agency.
55 § 4. Paragraphs (b) and (e) of subdivision 1 and subdivisions 2 and 3
56 of section 859 of the general municipal law, paragraph (b), the opening
A. 9144 5
1 paragraph of paragraph (e) and subparagraph (v) of paragraph (e) of
2 subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 357 of the laws of 1993, paragraph
3 (e) of subdivision 1 and subdivision 3 as added and subdivision 2 as
4 amended by chapter 356 of the laws of 1993, are amended to read as
5 follows:
6 (b) Within ninety days following the close of its fiscal year, each
7 agency [or authority] shall prepare a financial statement for that
8 fiscal year in such form as may be prescribed by the state comptroller.
9 Such statement shall be audited within such [ninety day] ninety-day
10 period by an independent certified public accountant in accordance with
11 government accounting standards established by the United States general
12 accounting office. The audited financial statement shall include supple-
13 mental schedules listing all straight-lease transactions and bonds and
14 notes issued, outstanding or retired during the applicable accounting
15 period whether or not such bonds, notes or transactions are considered
16 obligations of the agency. For each issue of bonds or notes such sched-
17 ules shall provide the name of each project financed with proceeds of
18 each issue, and whether the project occupant is a not-for-profit corpo-
19 ration, the name and address of each owner of each project, the esti-
20 mated amount of tax exemptions authorized for each project, the purpose
21 for which each bond or note was issued, date of issue, interest rate at
22 issuance and if variable the range of interest rates applicable, maturi-
23 ty date, federal tax status of each issue, and an estimate of the number
24 of jobs created and retained by each project. For each straight-lease
25 transaction, such schedules shall provide the name of each project, and
26 whether the project occupant is a not-for-profit corporation, the name
27 and address of each owner of each project, the estimated amount of tax
28 exemptions authorized for each project, the purpose for which each tran-
29 saction was made, the method of financial assistance utilized by the
30 project, other than the tax exemptions claimed by the project and an
31 estimate of the number of jobs created and retained by each project.
32 (e) If an agency [or authority] shall fail to file or substantially
33 complete, as determined by the state comptroller, the financial state-
34 ment required by this section, the state comptroller shall provide
35 notice to the agency [or authority]. The notice shall state the follow-
36 ing:
37 (i) that the failure to file a financial statement as required is a
38 violation of this section, or in the case of an insufficient financial
39 statement, the manner in which the financial statement submitted is
40 deficient;
41 (ii) that the agency [or authority] has thirty days to comply with
42 this section or provide an adequate written explanation to the comp-
43 troller of the agency's [or authority's] reasons for the inability to
44 comply; and
45 (iii) that the agency's [or authority's] failure to provide either the
46 required financial statement or an adequate explanation will result in
47 the notification [of the chief executive officer of the municipality for
48 whose benefit the agency or authority was created] of [the] such agen-
49 cy's noncompliance with this section. Where such agency [or authority]
50 has failed to file the required statement, the comptroller shall addi-
51 tionally notify the agency [or authority] that continued failure to file
52 the required statement may result in loss of the agency's [or authori-
53 ty's] authority to provide exemptions from state taxes.
54 (iv) If an agency [or authority] after thirty days has failed to file
55 the required statement or the explanation in the manner required by
56 subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, or provides an insufficient explana-
A. 9144 6
1 tion, the comptroller shall notify the [chief executive officer of the
2 municipality for whose benefit the agency or authority was created and
3 the] agency of [the] such agency's [or authority's] noncompliance with
4 this section. Such notice from the state comptroller shall further
5 delineate in what respect the agency [or authority] has failed to comply
6 with this section. If the agency [or authority] has failed to file the
7 required statement, the notice shall additionally state that continued
8 failure to file the required statement may result in loss of the agen-
9 cy's [or authority's] authority to provide exemptions from state taxes.
10 (v) If, thirty days after notification of the [chief executive officer
11 of the municipality for whose benefit the agency or authority was
12 created of the] agency's [or authority's] noncompliance, the agency [or
13 authority] fails to file the required statement, the comptroller shall
14 notify the [chief executive officer of the municipality for whose bene-
15 fit that agency or authority was created and the] agency [or authority]
16 that if such report is not provided within sixty days, that the agency
17 [or authority] will no longer be authorized to provide exemptions from
18 state taxes.
19 (vi) If, sixty days after the notification required by subparagraph
20 (v) of this paragraph, the comptroller has not received the required
21 statement, the agency [or authority] shall not offer financial assist-
22 ance which provides exemptions from state taxes until such financial
23 statement is filed and the comptroller shall so notify the agency [or
24 authority and the chief executive officer of the municipality for whose
25 benefit the agency was created]. Provided, however, that nothing
26 contained in this paragraph shall be deemed to modify the terms of any
27 existing agreements.
28 2. On or before September first of each year, the commissioner of the
29 department of economic development shall prepare and submit to the
30 governor, speaker of the assembly, majority leader of the senate, and
31 the state comptroller, a report setting forth a summary of the signif-
32 icant trends in operations and financing by the agencies [and authori-
33 ties]; departures from acceptable practices by agencies [and authori-
34 ties]; a compilation by type of the bonds and notes outstanding; a
35 compilation of all outstanding straight-lease transactions; an estimate
36 of the total number of jobs created and retained by agency [or authori-
37 ty] projects; and any other information which in the opinion of the
38 commissioner bears upon the discharge of the statutory functions of
39 agencies [and authorities].
40 3. On or before April first, nineteen hundred ninety-six, the commis-
41 sioner shall submit to the director of the division of the budget, the
42 temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the
43 chairman of the senate finance committee, the chairman of the assembly
44 ways and means committee, the chairman of the senate local government
45 committee, the chairman of the senate committee on commerce, economic
46 development and small business, the chairman of the assembly committee
47 on commerce, industry and economic development, the chairman of the
48 assembly local governments committee and the chairman of the assembly
49 real property taxation committee an evaluation of the activities of
50 industrial development agencies [and authorities] in the state prepared
51 by an entity independent of the department. Such evaluation shall iden-
52 tify the effect of agencies [and authorities] on: (a) job creation and
53 retention in the state, including the types of jobs created and
54 retained; (b) the value of tax exemptions provided by such agencies [and
55 authorities]; (c) the value of payments received in lieu of taxes
56 received by municipalities and school districts as a result of projects
A. 9144 7
1 sponsored by such entities; (d) a summary of the types of projects that
2 received financial assistance; (e) a summary of the types of financial
3 assistance provided by the agencies [and authorities]; (f) a summary of
4 criteria for evaluation of projects used by agencies [and authorities];
5 (g) a summary of tax exemption policies of agencies [and authorities];
6 and (h) such other factors as may be relevant to an assessment of the
7 performance of such agencies [and authorities] in creating and retaining
8 job opportunities for residents of the state. Such evaluation shall also
9 assess the process by which the agencies [and authorities] grant
10 exemptions from state taxes and make recommendations for the most effi-
11 cient and effective procedures for the use of such exemptions. Such
12 evaluation shall further include any recommendations for changes in laws
13 governing the operations of industrial development agencies [and author-
14 ities] which would enhance the creation and retention of jobs in the
15 state.
16 § 5. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 862 of the general
17 municipal law, as added by section 1 of part J of chapter 59 of the laws
18 of 2013, is amended to read as follows:
19 (c) With respect to projects authorized pursuant to paragraph (b) of
20 this subdivision, no project shall be approved unless the agency shall
21 find after the public hearing required by section eight hundred fifty-
22 nine-a of this title that undertaking the project will serve the public
23 purposes of this article by preserving permanent, private sector jobs or
24 increasing the overall number of permanent, private sector jobs in the
25 state. [Where the agency makes such a finding, prior to providing finan-
26 cial assistance to the project by the agency, the chief executive offi-
27 cer of the municipality for whose benefit the agency was created shall
28 confirm the proposed action of the agency.]
29 § 6. Section 868 of the general municipal law, as added by chapter
30 1030 of the laws of 1969, is amended to read as follows:
31 § 868. Agreements of the municipality and state. The municipality
32 where a proposed project is located is authorized to, and the state does
33 hereby, pledge to and agree with the holders of the bonds or notes that
34 neither the municipality nor the state, respectively, will limit or
35 alter the rights, hereby vested in the agency to acquire, construct,
36 reconstruct, improve, maintain, equip and furnish the project or
37 projects, to establish and collect rentals, fees and other charges and
38 to fulfill the terms of any agreements made with the holders of the
39 bonds or notes nor in any way impair the rights and remedies of the
40 bondholders or noteholders until the bonds or notes, together with
41 interest thereon, with interest on any unpaid installments of interest
42 and all costs and expenses in connection with any action or proceeding
43 by or on behalf of the bondholders or noteholders are fully met and
44 discharged.
45 § 7. Section 870 of the general municipal law, as added by chapter
46 1030 of the laws of 1969, is amended to read as follows:
47 § 870. State and municipality not liable on bonds or notes. The bonds
48 or notes and other obligations of the [authority] agency shall not be a
49 debt of the state or of the municipality where a proposed project is
50 located, and neither the state nor the municipality shall be liable
51 thereon, nor shall they be payable out of any funds other than those of
52 the agency.
53 § 8. Subdivision 1 and paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of section 875
54 of the general municipal law, as added by section 2 of part J of chapter
55 59 of the laws of 2013, are amended to read as follows:
A. 9144 8
1 1. For purposes of this section: "state sales and use taxes" means
2 sales and compensating use taxes and fees imposed by article twenty-
3 eight or twenty-eight-A of the tax law but excluding such taxes imposed
4 in a city by section eleven hundred seven or eleven hundred eight of
5 such article twenty-eight. "IDA" means [an] a regional industrial devel-
6 opment agency established in each region of the state by subdivision one
7 of section eight hundred fifty-six of this [article or an industrial
8 development authority created by the public authorities law] title.
9 "Commissioner" means the commissioner of taxation and finance.
10 (d) An IDA shall prepare an annual compliance report detailing its
11 terms and conditions described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision and
12 its activities and efforts to recover, recapture, receive, or otherwise
13 obtain state sales and use exemptions benefits described in paragraph
14 (b) of this subdivision, together with such other information as the
15 commissioner and the commissioner of economic development may require.
16 The report required by this subdivision shall be filed with the commis-
17 sioner, the director of the division of the budget, the commissioner of
18 economic development, the state comptroller, [the governing body of the
19 municipality for whose benefit the agency was created,] and may be
20 included with the annual financial statement required by paragraph (b)
21 of subdivision one of section eight hundred fifty-nine of this title.
22 Such report required by this subdivision shall be filed regardless of
23 whether the IDA is required to file such financial statement described
24 by such paragraph (b) of subdivision one of section eight hundred
25 fifty-nine. The failure to file or substantially complete the report
26 required by this subdivision shall be deemed to be the failure to file
27 or substantially complete the statement required by such paragraph (b)
28 of subdivision one of such section eight hundred fifty-nine, and the
29 consequences shall be the same as provided in paragraph (e) of subdivi-
30 sion one of such section eight hundred fifty-nine.
31 § 9. Paragraph e of subdivision 3 of section 859-c of the general
32 municipal law is REPEALED.
33 § 10. Section 861 of the general municipal law is REPEALED.
34 § 11. Section 882 of the general municipal law is REPEALED.
35 § 12. Title 2 of article 18-A of the general municipal law is
36 REPEALED.
37 § 13. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day
38 after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition,
39 amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
40 implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be
41 made and completed on or before such effective date.