BILL NUMBER:A8630

TITLE  OF  BILL:    An  act to amend the highway law, in relation to the
limitation on certain highway expenses in the town of Smithtown, Suffolk
county

PURPOSE:  To increase the amount that the Town of  Smithtown  may  spend
for  the purchase of stone crushers, power rollers, motor trucks, scari-
fiers, concrete mixers, traction engines or road  machines  for  grading
and scraping equipment, tools and other implements.

SUMMARY  OF PROVISIONS:   This bill amends the subparagraph 1-e of para-
graph a of subdivision 3 of §271 of the  Highway  Law  to  increase  the
amount  that  the  Town of Smithtown may spend for the purchase of stone
crushers, power rollers,  motor  trucks,  scarifiers,  concrete  mixers,
traction  engines  or road machines for grading and scraping, equipment,
tools and other implements.

JUSTIFICATION:  The Town of Smithtown has a population of  approximately
116,000  people and has grown by approximately 3,000 in the past decade.
The Town's Highway Department services over 470 miles of  road.  Due  to
the  miles  of roadway and the volume of traffic these roads endure each
year, as well as the fact that more than one-half of the Highway Depart-
ment's fleet is over fifteen years old and the fact  that  the  cost  of
equipment  has  increased by approximately fifty percent within the past
decade, the $800,000 limit is completely inadequate to meet the needs of