Bill Text: NY S07375 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Revises the process of incorporating a village such as the contents of a petition and the filing process.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-24 - PRINT NUMBER 7375A [S07375 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S07375-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7375--A IN SENATE January 22, 2020 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the village law, in relation to the incorporation of villages; and to repeal section 2-212 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 2-200 of the village law, subdivision 2 as amended 2 by chapter 932 of the laws of 1974, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 2-200 Population and area requirements. 1. A territory containing a 4 population of at least [five] twenty-five hundred persons [who are regu-5lar inhabitants thereof, as hereinafter defined,] may be incorporated as 6 a village under this chapter provided such territory does not include a 7 part of a city or village and further provided the limits of such terri- 8 tory: 9 a. do not contain more than five square miles; or 10 b. are coterminous with the entire boundaries of a school, fire, fire 11 protection, fire alarm, town special or town improvement district; or 12 c. are coterminous with parts of the boundaries of more than one 13 school, fire, fire protection, fire alarm, town special or town improve- 14 ment district, all of which are wholly contained within such limits and 15 within one town; or 16 d. are coterminous with the entire boundaries of a town. 17 2. The [words "regular inhabitants" as used herein and for the purpose18of this article shall include all persons residing in the territory19proposed to be incorporated except such persons who themselves, or who20are persons under the age of eighteen years residing with persons who,21maintain a residence outside such territory which is used as their22address for purposes of voting] population of a territory shall be 23 determined on the basis of the most recent decennial federal census. 24 § 2. Section 2-202 of the village law, subparagraph 2 of paragraph f 25 of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 181 of the laws of 2004, is 26 amended to read as follows: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14166-07-0S. 7375--A 2 1 § 2-202 Petition for incorporation. 1. A proceeding for the incorpo- 2 ration of such territory as a village shall commence with a petition. 3 The requirements for such petition are as follows: 4 a. Petitioners. [Either one or both of the following two groups of5persons may petition for such incorporation:6(1)] At least twenty [per cent] percent of the residents of such 7 territory qualified to vote for town officers in a town in which all or 8 part of such territory is located shall sign such petition. 9 [(2) The owners of more than fifty percent in assessed valuation of10the real property in such territory assessed upon the last completed11assessment roll of the town in which such territory is located. However,12if such territory is located in more than one town it shall be required13in computing such percentage to equalize the assessed valuations for14each town; furthermore, in such case, the petition must be signed by the15owners of more than fifty percent in full valuation of the real property16in each part of each town in such territory and computed separately for17each such part, and assessed upon the last completed assessment rolls of18the towns in which any part of such territory is located. Full valuation19shall be determined by applying the appropriate equalization rate to20such assessed valuations. If real property in such territory is owned by21tenants in common, joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, each such22tenant, as a signer of such petition shall, for the purpose of ascer-23taining the percentage of the assessed valuation upon which the petition24is based, be considered as the owner of an interest in such real proper-25ty equal to the result reached by dividing the assessed valuation by the26number of owners thereof and shall be credited to that extent with part27of the total assessed valuation thereof. In the event such real property28is part of a parcel of land partially situated within such territory,29the town assessor or assessors shall, for the purposes of this section30make an apportionment of the assessed value of such part as is in such31territory. In such a case, only the apportioned value attributed to such32part shall be considered.] 33 b. Contents of petition. The petition shall contain the following 34 information: 35 (1) An allegation [of the basis on which the petition is signed] that 36 at least twenty percent of the residents qualified to vote for town 37 officers have signed such petition. 38 (2) The name of the proposed village. 39 (3) An allegation that such territory contains a population of at 40 least [five] twenty-five hundred [regular inhabitants] persons according 41 to the most recent decennial census. 42 (4) The manner in which the area requirements of section 2-200 of this 43 article are satisfied. 44 (5) A designation of at least one but no more than three persons, 45 giving full names and addresses, on whom and at which addresses all 46 papers required to be served in connection with the proceeding for 47 incorporation, shall be served. A majority of such designees must reside 48 in such territory. 49 (6) Each page of the petition and all exhibits and certifications 50 shall be securely fastened together. 51 c. Exhibits and certifications. Each copy of the petition shall have 52 attached thereto prior to the signature pages: 53 (1) A description of such territory sufficient to identify the 54 location and extent of such territory with common certainty and which 55 shall be in one of the following forms or a combination thereof: (a) a 56 metes and bounds description; (b) a description made with reference toS. 7375--A 3 1 existing streets and navigable waters or a combination of same; or (c) a 2 map showing existing streets and navigable waters or a combination of 3 same forming boundaries or metes and bounds or the entire boundaries of 4 one or more districts of an entire town. 5 (2) A [list of the names and address of the regular inhabitants of6such territory] copy of a financial impact statement. Such financial 7 impact statement shall include the following: (a) a proposed operating 8 budget for the territory to be incorporated; (b) a proposed capital 9 budget for the territory to be incorporated; (c) a description of the 10 services that would be provided by the proposed village and how such 11 services would be delivered; (d) the estimated property tax impact for a 12 five year period on the territory to be incorporated and the remaining 13 area of the town or towns; and (e) an executive summary of such finan- 14 cial impact statement, including the estimated real property tax impact 15 on the territory to be incorporated and the remaining area of the town 16 or towns. 17 d. [If the petition is alleged to be signed by the owners of more than18fifty per cent in assessed or full valuation, as the case may be, of the19real property in such territory, there shall be attached to the petition20following the signatures of the petitioners an affidavit or affidavits21certifying as follows:22(1) If such territory is located entirely in one town, a certification23by an assessor thereof certifying to the total assessed valuation of24such territory and the correct total amount thereof owned by the signers25of the petition, or26(2) If such territory is located in more than one town, separate27certifications by an assessor of each town certifying to the total full28valuation of that portion of such territory located in such town and the29correct total amount of full valuation of real property in such territo-30ry and town owned by the signers of the petition, as specified in31subparagraph two of paragraph a of subdivision one of this section.32e.] Execution of petition. (1) The signatures to a petition shall be 33 subscribed on a separate page or pages following the exhibits. 34 (2) Prefatory statement. Each signature page shall be prefaced by a 35 statement [of the basis on which the petition is signed and of the] that 36 the petitioners are residents of the territory to be incorporated quali- 37 fied to vote for town officers in such territory and that the petition- 38 ers' [familiarity] are familiar with the contents and purpose [thereof] 39 of such petition and the boundaries of the territory sought to be incor- 40 porated. 41 (3) Additional information. Following each signature there shall be 42 set forth, not necessarily by the signer, the signer's address consist- 43 ing of street name and number, if any, and town[; and, if the petition44is based on the ownership of more than fifty per cent in assessed or45full valuation, as the case may be, of the real property located in such46territory, the amount of assessed valuation of real property owned by47the signer as credited to him in accordance with subparagraph two of48paragraph a of subdivision one of this section]. 49 (4) Authentication. There shall be set forth at the bottom of each 50 page of signatures an authenticating affidavit of a witness to the sign- 51 ing thereof which shall be in substantially the following form: 52 STATE OF NEW YORK 53 COUNTY OF ss.:S. 7375--A 4 1 ...................................................... being duly sworn, 2 (name of witness) 3 says: 4 I reside at ..................................................... in the 5 (street name and number) 6 ................................ of .................................... 7 (town, city or village) (name of municipality) 8 .............................................. in the State of New York: 9 I know each of the persons whose names are subscribed to the above sheet 10 having .................................... signatures; and each of them 11 (number) 12 subscribed the same in my presence. 13 ................................... 14 (signature of witness) 15 Sworn to before me 16 This .................. day of .................., .................... 17 (day) (month) (year) 18 ............................... 19 (official title of officer) 20 [f] e. Filing and deposit. (1) Filing. The original petition shall be 21 filed with a supervisor of the town in which all or the greatest part of 22 such territory is located. Duplicate originals, photocopies or other 23 similar reproductions of the original petition shall be filed with a 24 supervisor of each other town in which any portion of such territory is 25 located. 26 (2) Deposit. At the time of filing of the petition there shall be 27 deposited with each supervisor with whom the original or a copy of the 28 original is filed, the sum of six thousand dollars to pay the cost of 29 posting, publishing and serving required notices, stenographic services 30 and services of inspectors of election in the event incorporation is not 31 effected. 32 § 3. Subdivision 1 of section 2-206 of the village law, paragraph b as 33 amended by chapter 167 of the laws of 1985 and paragraph e as amended by 34 chapter 561 of the laws of 1975, is amended to read as follows: 35 1. The supervisor, or supervisors if a joint hearing, with whom the 36 petition or copies thereof, were filed, shall meet at the time and place 37 specified in such notice and shall hear objections which may be 38 presented as to the legal sufficiency of the petition for incorporation 39 based upon any of the following grounds: 40 a. That a person signing such petition was not qualified therefor; 41 b. [If it is alleged that the petition is submitted on the basis that42the persons signing such petition constitute twenty per cent of the43residents in such territory qualified to vote for officers of a town in44which all or part of such territory is located, that such allegation is45false;46c. If it is alleged that the petition is submitted on the basis that47the persons signing such petition are the owners of more than fifty48percent in assessed valuation of the real property in such territory or49in full valuation of the real property in each part of each town in such50territory and computed separately for each such part, as the case may51be, assessed upon the last completed assessment roll or rolls of the52town or towns in which all or part of such territory is located, thatS. 7375--A 5 1such allegation is false] That the allegation that the petition consti- 2 tutes twenty percent of the residents of the territory qualified to vote 3 for officers of a town in which all or part of such territory is located 4 is false; 5 [d] c. That such territory is part of a city or village; 6 [e] d. That if such territory is less than an entire town, it contains 7 more than five square miles and the limits of such territory are not 8 coterminous with the entire boundaries of one school, fire, fire 9 protection, fire alarm, town special or town improvement district and 10 the limits of such territory are not coterminous with parts of the boun- 11 daries of more than one school, fire, fire protection, fire alarm, town 12 special or town improvement district, all of which are wholly contained 13 within such limits and within one town; 14 [f] e. That such territory does not contain a population of at least 15 [five] twenty-five hundred [regular inhabitants] persons; 16 [g] f. That the petition in any other specified respect does not 17 conform to the requirements of this article. 18 § 4. The section heading, subdivisions 1 and 4 of section 2-210 of the 19 village law are amended to read as follows: 20 Review of [decision] decisions. 1. The decision of the supervisor or 21 supervisors as to the legal sufficiency of the petition pursuant to 22 section 2-208 of this article and the decision of the state comptroller 23 as to financial feasibility pursuant to section 2-211 of this article 24 shall be subject to judicial review in the manner provided in article 25 seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules. Such proceeding may 26 be brought on the ground or grounds that said decision is illegal, based 27 on insufficient evidence, or contrary to the weight of evidence. If the 28 court determines that additional testimony or evidence is necessary for 29 the proper disposition of the matter it may take such evidence or testi- 30 mony or appoint a referee to take such evidence or testimony as it may 31 direct and report the same to the court with his or her findings of fact 32 and conclusions of law which shall constitute a part of the proceeding 33 upon which the determination of the court shall be made. The court may 34 reverse or affirm on the basis of law and fact as determined by the 35 court. 36 4. In addition to the requirements of said article seventy-eight: 37 a. Notice of such a proceeding shall be given to the town clerk of 38 each town in which any part of such territory is located. [He] The town 39 clerk shall cause same to be filed in [his] the clerk's office. 40 b. If the proceeding be brought to review [a] an adverse decision 41 [adverse to the petition], copies of all papers in connection therewith 42 shall be served on all persons designated by objectors to the petition 43 pursuant to section 2-204 of this article and on all other objectors who 44 have made no such designations and whose objections were submitted in 45 writing and signed. Service shall be sufficient if made either 46 personally or by certified mail with a return receipt. 47 c. If the proceeding be brought to review a decision sustaining the 48 petition, copies of all papers in connection therewith shall be served 49 on all persons designated in the petition to receive same. 50 d. All persons served pursuant to paragraphs b and c of this subdivi- 51 sion shall be parties to such proceeding under said article seventy- 52 eight. 53 e. All issues in any proceeding hereunder shall have preference over 54 all other civil actions and proceedings. 55 § 5. The village law is amended by adding a new section 2-211 to read 56 as follows:S. 7375--A 6 1 § 2-211 Decision of the state comptroller. 1. Within ten days after 2 the first occurring of either the expiration of thirty days from the 3 filing of the original decision sustaining the legal sufficiency of the 4 petition and no proceeding having been instituted to review same, or the 5 filing of a final order sustaining the petition after such a proceeding 6 to review, each supervisor with whom same were filed shall file a copy 7 of the petition with the office of the state department of audit and 8 control located in Albany for a review and decision by the state comp- 9 troller, as provided for by this section. 10 2. The state comptroller shall examine the proposed operating budget 11 for the territory to be incorporated, the proposed capital budget for 12 the area to be incorporated, a description of the services that would be 13 provided by the proposed village and how such services would be deliv- 14 ered and the estimated property tax impact for a five year period on the 15 territory to be incorporated and the remaining area of the town or 16 towns. 17 3. The state comptroller shall issue a decision to each supervisor on 18 the financial feasibility of the proposed village incorporation. 19 4. In order to make a favorable decision of financial feasibility, the 20 state comptroller shall make the following findings: 21 a. that the overall public interest shall be served by the incorpo- 22 ration of the territory into a village; 23 b. that the cost of the village shall not be an undue burden upon the 24 territory to be incorporated or the remainder of the town; 25 c. that the revenue estimates and appropriations, as set forth in such 26 financial impact statement, are adequate to deliver the services 27 proposed; and 28 d. that in all regards, such financial impact statement provides an 29 accurate, valid and transparent presentation of information to the 30 public. 31 5. Said decision shall be delivered to each supervisor within sixty 32 days of submission to the state comptroller. Each supervisor shall file 33 a copy of the decision of the state comptroller with the town clerk 34 within five days of receipt. Said decision shall be available for public 35 inspection. A copy of said decision shall also be mailed to the incorpo- 36 rators designated pursuant to subparagraph four of paragraph b of subdi- 37 vision one of section 2-202 of this article and all objectors to the 38 petition, pursuant to section 2-204 of this article, by regular mail 39 within five days of receipt. 40 6. Where the determination of the state comptroller is not favorable 41 and no proceeding is instituted to review such decision, the decision 42 shall be final and conclusive. The town shall take no further action on 43 such petition. A new proceeding for incorporation shall not be commenced 44 for at least one year. 45 § 6. Section 2-212 of the village law is REPEALED and a new section 46 2-212 is added to read as follows: 47 § 2-212 Right to election. 1. An election to determine the question of 48 incorporation shall be held no later than forty days after the first 49 occurring of either of the following events: 50 a. the expiration of thirty days from the filing of a favorable deci- 51 sion of the state comptroller with the town clerk and no proceeding 52 having been instituted to review the same; 53 b. the filing of a final order sustaining a favorable decision of the 54 state comptroller after such a proceeding to review; or 55 c. the filing of a final order otherwise directing an election to be 56 held on the question of incorporation.S. 7375--A 7 1 2. The provisions of the election law not inconsistent herewith shall 2 apply to such election so far as the same are practicable. 3 § 7. Subdivision 5 of section 2-220 of the village law is renumbered 4 subdivision 6 and a new subdivision 5 is added to read as follows: 5 5. Absentee ballots shall be provided for such election in the same 6 manner as a special town election pursuant to section eighty-four-a of 7 the town law, provided that the applicant for an absentee ballot shall 8 be a resident of such territory qualified to vote for town officers. 9 § 8. Subdivision d of section 2-232 of the village law is amended to 10 read as follows: 11 d. A statement of the population of the territory as it appears [by12the exhibit attached to] in the contents of the petition for incorpo- 13 ration. 14 § 9. Applicability. This act shall apply to any proceeding for the 15 incorporation of a village where the right to election has not yet 16 accrued pursuant to the former section 2-212 of the village law. 17 § 10. Severability. If any provision of this act, or any application 18 of any provision of this act, is held to be invalid, that shall not 19 affect the validity or effectiveness of any other provision of this act, 20 or of any other application of any provision of this act, which can be 21 given effect without that provision or application; and to that end, the 22 provisions and applications of this act are severable. 23 § 11. This act shall take effect immediately.
