Bill Text: NY A00959 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to annual and special fire district elections and repeals certain provisions of the town law relating thereto.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to election law [A00959 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A00959-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                           959
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 10, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. GALEF, LAWRENCE -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Election Law
        AN ACT to amend the election law, the general municipal law,  the  local
          finance  law  and the town law, in relation to annual and special fire
          district elections; and to repeal certain provisions of the  town  law
          relating thereto
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Legislative intent. The county  boards  of  elections  will
     2  assume  the  responsibility for overseeing fire district elections. Such
     3  elections will take place on the days of village and town elections  and
     4  in  the  registered  voters'  regular  polling  place. The fire district
     5  governing boards will provide the county boards of  elections  with  the
     6  information necessary to administer such fire district elections.
     7    Voter  access  to  fire  district  elections will increase as the fire
     8  district elections will take place on a date and  location  familiar  to
     9  all  voters,  additional  voting  hours are provided and absentee ballot
    10  applications will be available. This legislation upholds and strengthens
    11  the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) since  the  electronic  marking
    12  ballot device would be accessible to all persons with disabilities.
    13    § 2. Subdivisions 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 of section 175, sections 175-a and
    14  175-b, subdivisions 3, 6, 7, 8, and 29 of section 176 and section 179 of
    15  the town law are REPEALED.
    16    § 3. The election law is amended by adding a new article 18 to read as
    17  follows:
    18                                 ARTICLE 18
    19                           FIRE DISTRICT ELECTIONS
    20  Section 18-100. Annual and special elections.
    21          18-102. Nominating petitions.
    22          18-104. Vacancies.
    23          18-106. Certificates.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02880-01-7
        A. 959                              2
     1    §  18-100.  Annual  and  special elections. 1. Annual and special fire
     2  district elections shall be governed by  the  rules  and  procedures  of
     3  articles one, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten of this
     4  chapter  and  shall  take place on the Tuesday next succeeding the first
     5  Monday in November.
     6    2.  The  county boards of election will consult with fire districts to
     7  establish the voting process by which eligible electors  for  each  fire
     8  district vote at their election district polling place.
     9    §  18-102.  Nominating  petitions.  Notwithstanding subdivision two of
    10  section 6-142 of this chapter with respect to nominating  petitions  and
    11  signatures,  candidates  for  fire  district offices shall file with the
    12  county board of elections a nominating petition  subscribed  by  twenty-
    13  five  voters of the fire district in the form set forth in section 6-140
    14  of this chapter.
    15    § 18-104. Vacancies. 1. Any vacancy in an elective office which exists
    16  on or before September nineteenth shall be filled at the  next  November
    17  general  election  held  thereafter,  for the remainder of the unexpired
    18  term and shall take office on January first of the following year.   The
    19  board  of  fire  commissioners  of a fire district, or a majority of the
    20  members thereof in office may appoint  a  qualified  person  to  fill  a
    21  vacancy  until  December thirty-first after an election has been held to
    22  fill said vacancy.
    23    2. Whenever a vacancy  shall  occur  in  an  appointed  fire  district
    24  office,  the  board  of fire commissioners, or a majority of the members
    25  thereof in office may appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy for
    26  the remainder of the unexpired term.
    27    § 18-106. Certificates. A fire district, at least eight months  before
    28  each general election, shall make and transmit to the board of elections
    29  a  certificate stating each fire district office to be voted for at each
    30  such election. If any such office is for an unexpired term, the  certif-
    31  icate shall so state.
    32    §  4.  The  opening  paragraph  of subdivision 4 of section 6-g of the
    33  general municipal law, as separately amended by chapters 234 and 235  of
    34  the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
    35    Any  resolution  of  the  board  of fire commissioners authorizing the
    36  establishment of a reserve fund shall not take effect until approved  by
    37  the affirmative vote of a majority of the electors of such fire district
    38  affected, qualified to vote at an annual election of fire district offi-
    39  cers,  voting on such proposition. Any special election shall be held in
    40  the manner provided in [section one hundred  seventy-nine  of  the  town
    41  law] article eighteen of the election law, as amended from time to time.
    42    §  5.  Subdivision  6  of section 6-h of the general municipal law, as
    43  amended by chapter 592 of the laws  of  1957,  is  amended  to  read  as
    44  follows:
    45    6.  The  governing  board of a municipal corporation may, subject to a
    46  permissive referendum, authorize the transfer of a  portion  or  all  of
    47  such  reserve  to a capital reserve fund established pursuant to section
    48  six-c of [the general municipal law] this article.
    49    The board of fire commissioners of a fire district may, subject to the
    50  approval of the  voters  at  a  regular  or  special  election  in  such
    51  district, in the manner provided in [section one hundred seventy-nine of
    52  the town law] article eighteen of the election law, authorize the trans-
    53  fer of a portion or all of such reserve to a capital reserve fund estab-
    54  lished pursuant to section six-g [hereof] of this article.
    55    §  6. Paragraph a of section 38.00 of the local finance law is amended
    56  to read as follows:
        A. 959                              3
     1    a. A bond resolution or a  capital  note  resolution  adopted  by  the
     2  finance  board  of  a fire district shall not become effective unless it
     3  shall have been approved at  a  regular  or  special  election  of  such
     4  district in the manner provided in [section one hundred and seventy-nine
     5  of  the  town law] article eighteen of the election law, as amended from
     6  time to time.
     7    § 7. Subdivision 16, the second undesignated paragraph of  subdivision
     8  18, and subdivision 23 of section 176 of the town law, subdivision 16 as
     9  amended  by  chapter  211  of  the laws of 1958, the second undesignated
    10  paragraph of subdivision 18 as amended by chapter  28  of  the  laws  of
    11  1969,  and subdivision 23 as amended by chapter 430 of the laws of 2016,
    12  are amended to read as follows:
    13    16. May contract to provide outside of  the  fire  district  (1)  fire
    14  protection,  (2)  emergency  service in case of accidents, calamities or
    15  other emergencies, or (3) general  ambulance  service  pursuant  to  the
    16  provisions  of  section two hundred nine-b of the general municipal law,
    17  upon such terms as the board of fire commissioners may determine proper,
    18  provided that such service can be supplied without undue hazard  to  the
    19  fire  district  furnishing  the service. Whenever the fire department or
    20  fire company of a fire district provides any  such  service  to  outside
    21  territory  pursuant  to  a  contract,  as  aforesaid,  the board of fire
    22  commissioners of such fire district may pay to the  fire  department  of
    23  such  fire  district,  or  to any fire company or companies of such fire
    24  district, performing the service, such portion of the contract price  as
    25  such  board  may deem proper, but not in any event to exceed thirty-five
    26  per centum of such contract price. The amount received pursuant  to  any
    27  such  contract may be expended without being included in the amount that
    28  may be expended annually without the adoption of a proposition  therefor
    29  as  provided  in subdivision [numbered] eighteen of this section [and in
    30  section one hundred seventy-nine of this chapter].
    31    In addition to such expenditures, the board of fire  commissioners  of
    32  any  fire  district may, without the adoption of a proposition therefor,
    33  expend from the first district revenues for any fiscal year for purposes
    34  authorized by or pursuant to law not to exceed two thousand dollars  and
    35  in  districts  having a full valuation of real property taxable for fire
    36  district purposes in excess of one million dollars an additional  amount
    37  equivalent to one mill for each dollar of full valuation of taxable real
    38  property  in  excess  of  the first million dollars of full valuation of
    39  such taxable real property. Such full valuation shall, for the  purposes
    40  of  this  subdivision, be computed by dividing the assessed valuation of
    41  the real property subject to taxation by the fire district, as shown  on
    42  the  assessment  roll  for  the fire district which was completed in the
    43  second calendar year prior to that in which the  expenditure  is  to  be
    44  made,  by  the  town  equalization rate established for such roll by the
    45  state board of equalization and assessment. Where,  in  the  case  of  a
    46  newly-created  fire district, there is no such completed assessment roll
    47  for such fire district, full valuation  shall  be  determined  from  the
    48  assessment  roll  upon  which  the  real  property  included  within the
    49  district was assessed for town purposes and which was completed  in  the
    50  second  calendar  year  prior  to that in which the expenditure is to be
    51  made. In any fire district the foregoing limitations  provided  in  this
    52  subdivision  may be exceeded if a proposition has been adopted [pursuant
    53  to paragraph (d) of subdivision one of section one hundred  seventy-nine
    54  of this chapter].
    55    23. May sell or otherwise dispose of real and personal property of the
    56  district  no  longer  necessary for any of its uses or purposes if, when
        A. 959                              4
     1  and in the manner and to the extent authorized so to do in a proposition
     2  which is duly submitted and adopted or approved at a special  or  annual
     3  fire  district  election  in the manner provided by [section one hundred
     4  seventy-nine  of  this]  article eighteen of the election law for voting
     5  upon appropriations, except that if a  proposition  shall  be  submitted
     6  [pursuant to the provisions of said section] for the purchase of appara-
     7  tus or if a proposition shall be submitted pursuant to the local finance
     8  law  for  the approval of a bond resolution or a capital note resolution
     9  for obligations to be issued for the purchase of apparatus, such  propo-
    10  sition  may specify that apparatus or equipment owned by the district or
    11  the proceeds of the sale thereof is to be used in part payment  for  new
    12  apparatus  and the adoption of such proposition shall authorize the sale
    13  or such other disposition of such apparatus or equipment, or if  appara-
    14  tus or equipment is to be purchased without the submission of a proposi-
    15  tion  as  aforesaid  apparatus or equipment owned by the district may be
    16  used as part payment for new apparatus or equipment without the adoption
    17  of a proposition therefor, and  except  also  that  the  board  of  fire
    18  commissioners  may  at  any  time  sell or otherwise dispose of real and
    19  personal property of the district no longer necessary  for  any  of  its
    20  uses or purposes if valued at less than one hundred thousand dollars but
    21  not below twenty thousand dollars, if, when and in the manner and to the
    22  extent  authorized  so to do in a resolution which shall be subject to a
    23  permissive referendum governed in the  manner  provided  in  subdivision
    24  four  of section six-g of the general municipal law and except also that
    25  the board of fire commissioners  may  at  any  time  sell  or  otherwise
    26  dispose  of  real and personal property of the district no longer neces-
    27  sary for any of its uses or purposes without the adoption of a  proposi-
    28  tion  therefor  if the value of such real and personal property does not
    29  exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars.
    30    § 8. Subdivision 3 of section 186 of the town law, as amended by chap-
    31  ter 774 of the laws of 1952, is amended to read as follows:
    32    3. Every incorporated fire company, and every town fire company estab-
    33  lished and existing on June first, nineteen hundred thirty-three, pursu-
    34  ant to sections three  hundred  ten,  three  hundred  eleven  and  three
    35  hundred twelve of article fourteen of chapter sixty-three of the laws of
    36  nineteen  hundred nine, entitled "An act relating to towns, constituting
    37  chapter sixty-two of the consolidated laws," and acts amendatory thereof
    38  and supplemental thereto, which shall have its headquarters in any water
    39  district, water supply district, or highway district, and providing fire
    40  protection in such district on the first day of June,  nineteen  hundred
    41  thirty-three, shall continue to exist and may provide fire protection in
    42  such districts or any of them, and each such district shall constitute a
    43  fire protection district and be subject to all of the provisions of this
    44  chapter relating to fire protection districts, so far as the same do not
    45  conflict  with  the  provisions  of this subdivision. However, any water
    46  district, governed by district commissioners, providing fire  protection
    47  pursuant  to  this  subdivision shall constitute and be a fire district,
    48  with all powers and limitations of a fire district so far as the same do
    49  not conflict with the provisions of this subdivision. The town board  of
    50  the  town  in  which  any such district is located may contract with any
    51  such incorporated fire company or town fire company for  the  furnishing
    52  of  fire  protection  within  such  district  and the amount of any such
    53  contract shall be assessed and levied upon the taxable property in  such
    54  district  and collected in the same manner as town charges are assessed,
    55  levied and collected. The funds  so  collected  shall  be  paid  by  the
    56  collector  to  the  supervisor  of  the town who shall apply the same in
        A. 959                              5
     1  payment of the amount of such contract. The board of  water  commission-
     2  ers,  in  the case of water districts to which the provisions of article
     3  thirteen of this chapter apply, or the town board of  the  town  in  the
     4  case  of  the other districts hereinbefore specified, shall have and may
     5  exercise any and all of the powers and duties of fire  district  commis-
     6  sioners  as  provided  in  subdivisions nine to twenty-five inclusive of
     7  section one hundred seventy-six of this chapter, and may purchase, equip
     8  and operate an ambulance  for  the  benefit  of  the  residents  of  the
     9  district and may, upon its own motion and shall, upon petition, cause to
    10  be  submitted at a special or annual district election a proposition [in
    11  the manner and for any of the purposes specified in section one  hundred
    12  seventy-nine  of  this  chapter].  The  board of water commissioners, if
    13  there be any, in the case of water districts, and the town board in  the
    14  case  of other districts shall annually prepare and file with the super-
    15  visor and town clerk of each town in which such district is located,  an
    16  itemized  and verified statement of the amount of moneys necessary to be
    17  raised in such district for fire purposes and the amount  thereof  shall
    18  be  assessed  and  levied  on the taxable property of such district, and
    19  collected, all in the manner provided in section one hundred  eighty-one
    20  of  this  chapter. An annual financial statement setting forth in detail
    21  the receipts and expenditures of such district for fire  purposes  shall
    22  be  filed  by  the board of water commissioners, if there be any, in the
    23  case of water districts and by the town board, in the case of all  other
    24  districts, in the manner provided in section one hundred eighty-one.
    25    § 9. This act shall take effect two years after it shall have become a
    26  law.