Bill Text: NY A07576 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Relates to industrial development agencies; provisions relating to such agencies' representation, public hearings, notices of agenda, and school board reporting.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to local governments [A07576 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A07576-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7576 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. RYAN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to industrial development agencies The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 854 of the general municipal law is amended by 2 adding a new subdivision 21 to read as follows: 3 (21) "Labor organization" -- shall mean any organization which exists 4 and is constituted for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective 5 bargaining, or of dealing with employers concerning grievances, terms or 6 conditions of employment, or of other mutual aid or protection and which 7 is not a company union. 8 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 856 of the general municipal law, as 9 amended by chapter 356 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as 10 follows: 11 2. An agency shall be a corporate governmental agency, constituting a 12 public benefit corporation. Except as otherwise provided by special act 13 of the legislature, an agency shall consist of not less than three nor 14 more than seven members who shall be appointed by the governing body of 15 each municipality and who shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing 16 authority. Such members [may] shall include [representatives] at least 17 one representative of [local government,] a local labor organization and 18 at least one school [boards, organized labor and business] board member 19 of a school district within the jurisdiction of the agency. A member 20 shall continue to hold office until his successor is appointed and has 21 qualified. The governing body of each municipality shall designate the 22 first chairman and file with the secretary of state a certificate of 23 appointment or reappointment of any member. Such members shall receive 24 no compensation for their services but shall be entitled to the neces- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10067-05-9A. 7576 2 1 sary expenses, including traveling expenses, incurred in the discharge 2 of their duties. 3 § 3. Section 859-a of the general municipal law, as added by chapter 4 356 of the laws of 1993 and subdivisions 4, 5 and 6 as added by chapter 5 563 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows: 6 § 859-a. Additional prerequisites to the provisions of financial 7 assistance or payments in lieu of taxes. Prior to providing any finan- 8 cial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes of more than one hundred 9 thousand dollars to any project, the agency must comply with the follow- 10 ing prerequisites: 11 1. The agency must adopt a resolution describing the project and the 12 financial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes that the agency is 13 contemplating with respect to such project. Such assistance or payments 14 in lieu of taxes shall be consistent with the uniform tax exemption 15 policy adopted by the agency pursuant to subdivision four of section 16 eight hundred seventy-four of this chapter, unless the agency has 17 followed the procedures for deviation from such policy specified in 18 paragraph (b) of such subdivision. 19 2. The agency must hold a public hearing with respect to the project 20 and the proposed financial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes being 21 contemplated by the agency. Said public hearing shall be held in a city, 22 town or village where the project proposes to locate. At said public 23 hearing, interested parties shall be provided reasonable opportunity, 24 both orally and in writing, to present their views with respect to the 25 project. 26 3. The agency must give at least ten days published notice of said 27 public hearing and shall, at the same time, provide notice of such hear- 28 ing to the chief executive officer of each affected tax jurisdiction 29 within which the project is located, each school board of each school 30 district within which the project is located, and to all state senators 31 and members of the state assembly who represent any portion of any 32 affected tax jurisdiction that is subject to the proposed financial 33 assistance or payments in lieu of taxes. The notice of hearing must 34 state the time and place of the hearing, contain a general, functional 35 description of the project, describe the prospective location of the 36 project, identify the initial owner, operator or manager of the project 37 and generally describe the financial assistance or payments in lieu of 38 taxes contemplated by the agency with respect to the project. 39 4. Each agency shall develop a standard application form, which shall 40 be used by the agency to accept requests for financial assistance or 41 payments in lieu of taxes from all individuals, firms, companies, devel- 42 opers or other entities or organizations. The standard application form 43 shall be submitted by or on behalf of the applicant, and subscribed and 44 affirmed under the penalties of perjury by the applicant, or on behalf 45 of the applicant by the chief executive officer or such other individual 46 that is duly authorized to bind the applicant, as true, accurate and 47 complete to the best of his or her knowledge. The standard application 48 form shall include the following, and may include such other supple- 49 mental information as determined to be necessary and appropriate by the 50 agency, including supporting documents and information provided by or on 51 behalf of the applicant: 52 (a) the name and address of the project applicant; 53 (b) a description of the proposed project for which financial assist- 54 ance or payments in lieu of taxes is requested, including the type of 55 project, proposed location and purpose of the project;A. 7576 3 1 (c) the amount and type of financial assistance or payments in lieu of 2 taxes being requested, including the estimated value of each type of tax 3 exemption sought to be claimed by reason of agency involvement in the 4 project; 5 (d) a statement that there is a likelihood that the project would not 6 be undertaken but for the financial assistance or payments in lieu of 7 taxes provided by the agency or, if the project could be undertaken 8 without financial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes provided by 9 the agency, a statement indicating why the project should be undertaken 10 by the agency; 11 (e) an estimate of capital costs of the project, including all costs 12 of real property and equipment acquisition and building construction or 13 reconstruction, financed from private sector sources, an estimate of the 14 percentage of project costs financed from public sector sources, and an 15 estimate of both the amount to be invested by the applicant and the 16 amount to be borrowed to finance the project[.]; 17 (f) the projected number of full time equivalent jobs that would be 18 retained and that would be created if the request for financial assist- 19 ance or payments in lieu of taxes is granted, the projected timeframe 20 for the creation of new jobs, the estimated salary and fringe benefit 21 averages or ranges for categories of the jobs that would be retained or 22 created if the request for financial assistance or payments in lieu of 23 taxes is granted, and an estimate of the number of residents of the 24 economic development region as established pursuant to section two 25 hundred thirty of the economic development law or the labor market area 26 as defined by the agency, in which the project is located that would 27 fill such jobs. The labor market area defined by the agency for this 28 purpose may include no more than six contiguous counties in the state, 29 including the county in which the project is to be located; 30 (g) a statement to the effect that the provisions of subdivision one 31 of section eight hundred sixty-two of this chapter will not be violated 32 if financial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes is provided for the 33 proposed project; 34 (h) a statement that the owner, occupant or operator receiving finan- 35 cial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes is in substantial compli- 36 ance with applicable local, state and federal tax, worker protection and 37 environmental laws, rules and regulations; and 38 (i) a statement acknowledging that the submission of any knowingly 39 false or knowingly misleading information may lead to the immediate 40 termination of any financial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes and 41 the reimbursement of an amount equal to all or part of any tax 42 exemptions claimed by reason of agency involvement in the project. 43 5. Each agency shall develop, and adopt by resolution, uniform crite- 44 ria for the evaluation and selection for each category of projects for 45 which financial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes will be 46 provided. At a minimum, the criteria shall require that, for each 47 project, the following must occur prior to the approval of the provision 48 of financial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes: 49 (a) an assessment by the agency of all material information included 50 in connection with the application for financial assistance or payments 51 in lieu of taxes, as necessary to afford a reasonable basis for the 52 decision by the agency to provide financial assistance or payments in 53 lieu of taxes for the project; 54 (b) a written cost-benefit analysis by the agency that identifies the 55 extent to which a project will create or retain permanent, private 56 sector jobs; the estimated value of any tax exemptions to be provided;A. 7576 4 1 the amount of private sector investment generated or likely to be gener- 2 ated by the proposed project; the likelihood of accomplishing the 3 proposed project in a timely fashion; and the extent to which the 4 proposed project will provide additional sources of revenue for munici- 5 palities and school districts; and any other public benefits that might 6 occur as a result of the project; 7 (c) a statement by the applicant that the project, as of the date of 8 the application, is in substantial compliance with all provisions of 9 this article including, but not limited to, the provisions of this 10 section and subdivision one of section eight hundred sixty-two of this 11 chapter; and 12 (d) if the project involves the removal or abandonment of a facility 13 or plant within the state, notification by the agency to the chief exec- 14 utive officer or officers of the municipality or municipalities in which 15 the facility or plant was located. 16 6. Each agency shall develop a uniform agency project agreement that 17 sets forth terms and conditions under which financial assistance or 18 payments in lieu of taxes shall be provided. The uniform agency project 19 agreement shall be used by the agency and no financial assistance or 20 payments in lieu of taxes shall be provided in the absence of the 21 execution of such an agreement. The uniform agency project agreement 22 shall, at a minimum: 23 (a) describe the project and the financial assistance or payments in 24 lieu of taxes, including the amount and type, to be provided, and the 25 agency purpose to be achieved; 26 (b) require each project owner, occupant or operator receiving finan- 27 cial benefits or payments in lieu of taxes to provide annually a certi- 28 fied statement and documentation: (i) enumerating the full time equiv- 29 alent jobs retained and the full time equivalent jobs created as a 30 result of the financial assistance or payments in lieu of taxes, by 31 category, including full time equivalent independent contractors or 32 employees of independent contractors that work at the project location, 33 and (ii) indicating that the salary and fringe benefit averages or rang- 34 es for categories of jobs retained and jobs created that was provided in 35 the application is still accurate and if it is not still accurate, 36 providing a revised list of salary and fringe benefit averages or ranges 37 for categories of jobs retained and jobs created[.]; 38 (c) indicate the dates when PILOT payments are to be made and provide 39 an estimate of the amounts for each affected tax jurisdiction of any 40 payments in lieu of taxes that are included as part of the transaction, 41 or formula or formulas by which those amounts may be calculated. In lieu 42 of providing such information, a copy of an executed payment in lieu of 43 tax agreement that contains the same information may be attached to the 44 uniform agency project agreement; 45 (e) provide for the suspension or discontinuance of financial assist- 46 ance or payments in lieu of taxes, or for the modification of any 47 payment in lieu of tax agreement to require increased payments, in 48 accordance with policies developed by the agency pursuant to section 49 eight hundred seventy-four of this title; 50 (f) provide for the return of all or a part of the financial assist- 51 ance or payments in lieu of taxes provided for the project, including 52 all or part of the amount of any tax exemptions, which shall be redis- 53 tributed to the appropriate affected tax jurisdiction, as provided for 54 in policies developed by the agency pursuant to section eight hundred 55 seventy-four of this title, unless agreed to otherwise by any local 56 taxing jurisdiction or jurisdictions; andA. 7576 5 1 (g) provide that the owner, occupant or operator receiving financial 2 assistance or payments in lieu of taxes shall certify, under penalty of 3 perjury, that it is in substantial compliance with all local, state and 4 federal tax, worker protection and environmental laws, rules and regu- 5 lations. 6 § 4. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section 7 859-c to read as follows: 8 § 859-c. Notice of agenda. A printed calendar of items to be heard, 9 which may be subject to later amendment, shall be made available to the 10 public and forwarded to the members and chairman of the industrial 11 development agency at least three days in advance of the meeting. Where 12 an industrial development agency maintains a website, the notice of 13 agenda shall also be posted on such industrial development agency's 14 website. 15 § 5. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new section 16 859-d to read as follows: 17 § 859-d. School board reporting. Every industrial development agency, 18 continued or created by this chapter or any other law of the state shall 19 submit to the local school board or boards overlapping with an indus- 20 trial development agency, within ninety days after the end of its fiscal 21 year, a copy of the report required by subdivision two of section twen- 22 ty-eight hundred of the public authorities law and the audits required 23 by subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred two of the public 24 authorities law. 25 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
