S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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S. 4539--C A. 7792--C
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
S E N A T E - A S S E M B L Y
April 24, 2009
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IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. LAVALLE -- read twice and ordered print-
ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Govern-
ment -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. THIELE, ALESSI -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Local Governments -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amend-
ments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
-- again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the town law, in relation to payments for certain
school, fire, fire protection, and ambulance districts for lands
exempt from real property taxation for purposes which implement the
Peconic Bay community preservation fund, and permitting the town of
Southampton to make such payments in certain cases; and providing for
the repeal of certain provisions upon expiration thereof
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 64-e of the town law, as amended
by chapter 373 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
3. The purposes of the fund shall be exclusively, (a) to implement a
plan for the preservation of community character as required by this
section, (b) to acquire interests or rights in real property for the
preservation of community character within the town including villages
therein in accordance with such plan and in cooperation with willing
sellers, (c) to establish a bank pursuant to a transfer of development
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02557-11-9
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rights program consistent with section two hundred sixty-one-a of this
chapter, (d) to provide a management and stewardship program for such
interests and rights consistent with subdivisions nine and nine-a of
this section and in accordance with such plan designed to preserve
community character; provided that not more than ten percent of the fund
shall be utilized for the management and stewardship program[, and (e)
to make payments to fire, fire protection and ambulance districts in
connection with lands owned by the state or any municipal corporation
within the central pine barrens area as defined in subdivision ten of
section 57-0107 of the environmental conservation law. Such payments may
only be made to districts where more than twenty-five percent of the
assessed value of such district is wholly exempt from real property
taxation pursuant to the real property tax law because it is owned by
the state or a municipal corporation. Not more than ten percent of the
fund may be used for said purpose in any calendar year. School districts
shall also be eligible for such payments, provided (1) that real proper-
ty within such school district has been made wholly exempt from real
property taxation pursuant to the real property tax law to effectuate
the purposes of the fund, and (2) such school district is determined to
be a high need or average need school district pursuant to the need
resource capacity index established by the state education department.
Such payments from the fund shall not exceed the actual tax liability
that would have been due if such lands of the state or of a municipal
corporation had been subject to real property taxation. Where more than
one district is eligible for such a payment under this provision, and
such payment is less than the actual tax liability that would have been
due if such lands of the state or a municipal corporation had been
subject to real property taxation, the town shall apportion such annual
payment on the basis of the total tax levied by each district within the
town for the year such payment is made. Such payment made by the town
shall be used solely to reduce the property tax liability of the remain-
ing taxpayers of the district within said town]. If the implementation
of the community preservation project plan, adopted by a town board, as
provided in subdivision six of this section, has been completed, and
funds are no longer needed for the purposes outlined in this subdivi-
sion, then any remaining monies in the fund shall be applied to reduce
any bonded indebtedness or obligations incurred to effectuate the
purposes of this section.
S 2. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the town of
Southampton may make annual payments from its community preservation
fund to certain high-tax school, fire, fire protection, and ambulance
districts, listed in this section, located either wholly or partially
within the central pine barrens area as defined in subdivision 10 of
section 57-0107 of the environmental conservation law. Such payments
may be made to mitigate the impact of the loss tax revenues from lands
made wholly exempt as a result of their acquisition by the federal,
state, or local government for the preservation of community character
as defined in subdivision 4 of section 64-e of the town law. The follow-
ing districts shall be eligible: Riverhead School District, Hampton Bays
School District, Eastport-South Manor School District, Riverhead Fire
District, Flanders Fire District, Flanders - Northampton Ambulance
District.
S 3. Such payments made by the town of Southampton pursuant to this
act shall only be made for lands within such districts which are wholly
exempt from real property taxation pursuant to the real property tax law
that have been acquired by the federal government, state government, or
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a municipal corporation for community preservation purposes pursuant to
section 64-e of the town law, whether or not said lands were actually
acquired with community preservation funds. For the purposes of deter-
mining the payment to each eligible district, each eligible parcel shall
be assessed in the same manner as state lands, as provided for in subdi-
vision one of section 542 of the real property tax law. Such assess-
ments shall be approved by the state board of real property services in
the same manner as state lands, as provided for in subdivision 3 of
section 542 of the real property tax law. Such eligible parcels shall
be reassessed annually. The town shall apply each eligible district's
tax rate to determine the maximum payment for each eligible parcel in
that district.
S 4. Where the total annual budget appropriation by the town for the
payments provided for by this act is less than the aggregate payments
for all districts, then the town shall apportion such annual payment for
each district based on a percentage calculated as a proportion of each
district's payment to the aggregate of payments to all districts. In
such case, each district shall receive its proportional share of the
budget appropriation. Such payment made by the town shall be used sole-
ly to reduce the property tax liability of the remaining taxpayers of
the district within such town. Not more than 10 percent of the fund
collected in any fiscal year may be used for the purpose outlined in
this section. The last fiscal year for which twelve full months of
collected revenue is available shall be used to determine the maximum
appropriation permitted by this section. The maximum percentage of the
fund to be appropriated for such payments for any year or years may be
reduced below 10 percent by an election upon proposition pursuant to
section 81 of the town law.
S 5. The town board shall adopt an annual plan before the payments
authorized by this act may be made. No monies from the fund shall be
expended for such payments, except as approved in said plan. Said plan
shall specify each parcel eligible for a payment and shall provide for
the amount of payment for each eligible parcel for the current fiscal
year as well as an estimate for the following fiscal year. In addition,
such plan shall provide the assessed value of each eligible parcel. Said
plan shall be approved and adopted by the town board after a public
hearing.
S 6. All local laws enacted by the town of Southampton pursuant to
chapter 250 of the laws of 2002 and chapter 531 of the laws of 2007, are
hereby legalized, validated, ratified, and confirmed. All appropri-
ations by the town of Southampton to the Riverhead school district,
Hampton Bays school district, Eastport-South Manor school district,
Riverhead fire district, Flanders fire district, Flanders - Northampton
ambulance district pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section
64-e of the town law for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 are hereby
legalized, validated, ratified, and confirmed, provided that the town of
Southampton shall repay to its community preservation fund, established
pursuant to subdivision 2 of section 64-e of the town law, an amount
equal to the aggregate overpayments made to the aforementioned school
and special districts for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, includ-
ing overpayments resulting from the incorrect assessment of lands eligi-
ble for payments, pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section
64-e of the town law. The state comptroller shall review, confirm and
certify the amount of such overpayments. Within thirty days of such
certification, the town board of the town of Southampton shall prepare a
repayment plan and submit such plan to the state comptroller for
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approval or approval with modifications. The state comptroller shall act
to approve or approve with modifications within thirty days of
submission of the repayment plan by the town of Southampton. The town
shall implement the repayment plan as approved or approved with modifi-
cations by the state comptroller.
S 7. This act shall take effect immediately, provided that the
provisions of sections two, three, four, five and six of this act shall
remain in full force and effect until December 31, 2030 when upon such
date, the provisions of such sections shall expire and be deemed
repealed.