S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
1961--A
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
(PREFILED)
January 9, 2013
___________
Introduced by Sen. GRIFFO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Education -- committee
discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted
to said committee
AN ACT to establish an energy system tax stabilization reserve fund in
the Lowville Central School District to lessen or prevent increases in
the school district's real property tax levy
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds that the
private development and ownership of wind energy systems located within
the Lowville Central School District may result in instability in the
real property tax base and the budgets of the district due to the uncer-
tainty with the assessments of such wind energy systems at the time the
payments in lieu of taxes terminate.
S 2. Definitions. As used in this act:
(a) "Board of education" or "board" means the board of education of
the Lowville Central School District.
(b) "Energy system tax stabilization reserve fund" or "fund" means the
energy system tax stabilization reserve fund established pursuant to
this act.
(c) "Payments in lieu of taxes" or "payments" means payments in lieu
of taxes receivable by the school district pursuant to contracts entered
into in accordance with section 487 of the real property tax law or
subdivision 15 of section 858 of the general municipal law on any wind
energy system located wholly or partially within the Lowville Central
School District.
(d) "School district" or "district" means the Lowville Central School
District.
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01518-02-3
S. 1961--A 2
(e) "Wind energy systems" shall be defined as in section 487 of the
real property tax law and shall include the land upon which the system
is located, any equipment used in such generation, and equipment leading
from the system to the interconnection with the transmission system.
S 3. The board of education is hereby authorized to establish an ener-
gy system tax stabilization reserve fund to lessen or prevent increases
in the school district's real property tax levy resulting from decreases
in revenue due to changes in the amount of or termination of payments in
lieu of taxes receivable by the school district provided, however, that
no such fund shall be established unless approved by a majority vote of
the qualified voters of the district present and voting on a separate
ballot proposition therefor at either a special district meeting which
the board of education may call for such purposes, or at the annual
district meeting and election, to be noticed and conducted in either
case in accordance with the provisions of article 41 of the education
law. Further, the notice of the special district meeting or annual
district meeting and election, as applicable, at which such ballot
proposition shall be presented to the voters, shall explain the means by
which moneys shall be paid into and withdrawn from such fund as set
forth hereinafter in subdivisions (a) and (c) of this section. Moneys
shall be paid into and withdrawn from the fund, and the fund shall be
administered, as follows:
(a) For any school district fiscal year commencing after the effective
date of this act and after the establishment of the energy system tax
stabilization reserve fund, the board of education may determine that
there shall be paid into the fund all or any portion of the amount by
which the payments in lieu of taxes receivable by the school district
for such fiscal year is not required to prevent an increase in the
school tax levy from the immediately preceding fiscal year, provided
that no payment into the reserve fund shall cause the balance of the
fund to exceed 100 percent of the budget for such immediately preceding
fiscal year. Such determination may be amended to reduce the amount paid
into the fund in the event that the district's original proposed budget
is not approved by the voters.
(b) The board of education is hereby authorized to make a one-time
deposit into the energy system tax stabilization reserve fund in an
amount not to exceed the balance over any maximum allowable balance as
required by any other law that accrued prior to the establishment of the
energy system tax stabilization reserve fund as a result of the receipt
of any payment in lieu of taxes, provided, however, that no such deposit
shall be made unless approved by a majority vote of the qualified voters
of the district present and voting on a separate ballot proposition
therefor at either a special district meeting which the board of educa-
tion may call for such purpose, or at the annual district meeting and
election, to be noticed and conducted in either case in accordance with
the provisions of article 41 of the education law. Further, the notice
of the special district meeting or annual district meeting and election,
as applicable, at which such ballot proposition shall be presented to
the voters, shall explain the means by which moneys shall be paid into
and withdrawn from such fund as set forth hereinafter in subdivisions
(a) and (c) of this section.
(c) Moneys may be withdrawn from the energy system tax stabilization
reserve fund subject to the following limitations:
(1) For any fiscal year for which payments in lieu of taxes receivable
by the school district equal or exceed the amount of such payments
S. 1961--A 3
received for the immediately preceding fiscal year, no amount shall be
withdrawn from the fund.
(2) For any fiscal year for which payments in lieu of taxes receivable
by the school district are less than the amount of such payments
received for the immediately preceding fiscal year, the board of educa-
tion may authorize a withdrawal from the fund in an amount not to exceed
the amount of the payments received for the immediately preceding year
less the amount of the payments receivable for the fiscal year for which
the budget and tax levy is being determined provided, however, that no
such withdrawal shall be made unless approved by a majority of the qual-
ified voters of the district present and voting on a separate ballot
proposition therefor at the annual district meeting and election, in
accordance with the provisions of article 41 of the education law.
(3) For any fiscal year for which the school district does not antic-
ipate receiving any payments in lieu of taxes, the board of education
may authorize a withdrawal from the fund in an amount not to exceed the
amount of such payments received for the last preceding fiscal year for
which such payments were received plus the amount, if any, which the
board of education authorized to be withdrawn from the fund for such
last preceding fiscal year provided, however, that no such withdrawal
shall be made unless approved by a majority of the qualified voters of
the district present and voting on a separate ballot proposition there-
for at the annual district meeting and election in accordance with the
provisions of article 41 of the education law.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of this subdivision, and in addition
to any withdrawal from the fund authorized pursuant to paragraph 2 or 3
of this subdivision, moneys may be withdrawn from the fund for any
fiscal year to be expended for any other lawful purpose, provided,
however, that no such withdrawal and expenditure shall be made unless
approved by a majority vote of the qualified voters of the district
present and voting on a separate ballot proposition therefor at either a
special district meeting which the board of education may call for such
purpose, or at the annual district meeting and election, to be noticed
and conducted in either case in accordance with the provisions of arti-
cle 41 of the education law, such purposes as may be set forth in a
separate proposition submitted by the board of education and approved by
the qualified voters of the school district.
(d) Determinations by the board of education to pay money into the
energy system tax stabilization reserve fund, authorizations by the
board to withdraw money from the fund, and decisions by the board to
submit a ballot proposition to the voters authorizing a withdrawal from
the fund shall be made on or before the last date provided by law for
the submission to the state education department of the school
district's property tax report card pursuant to subdivision 7 of section
1716 of the education law.
(e) The moneys in the energy system tax stabilization reserve fund
shall be deposited, invested and accounted for in the manner provided
for in subdivisions 2 and 6 of section 3651 and section 3652 of the
education law.
S 4. The property tax report card prepared by the school district
pursuant to subdivision 7 of section 1716 of the education law shall
contain the following information relating to the energy system tax
stabilization reserve fund: (a) the balance of the fund as of the start
of the current fiscal year, (b) all deposits or withdrawals from the
fund for the current fiscal year, (c) an analysis of the impact of such
withdrawals on the school district's tax levy for the current fiscal
S. 1961--A 4
year, (d) proposed deposits and withdrawals for the ensuing fiscal year,
and (e) an analysis of the impact of such proposed deposits and with-
drawals on the projected tax levy for the ensuing fiscal year if the
proposed budget is adopted.
S 5. When computing the school district's tax levy limit for a school
year pursuant to subdivision 3 of section 2023-a of the education law:
(a) The payments in lieu of taxes receivable for the prior school year
shall be decreased by any amount paid into the energy system tax
stabilization reserve fund for such prior school year and increased by
any amount withdrawn from the fund for such prior school year.
(b) The payments in lieu of taxes receivable in the coming fiscal year
shall be decreased by the amount to be paid into the energy system tax
stabilization reserve fund for such coming fiscal year and increased by
any amount to be withdrawn from the energy system tax stabilization
reserve fund for such coming fiscal year.
S 6. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (c) of section
three of this act and section four of this act, if this act shall take
effect later than fourteen days prior to the last date provided by law
for the submission to the state education department of the school
district's property tax report card for the school district's ensuing
fiscal year, then a determination by the board of education to pay money
into the fund for the ensuing fiscal year may be made on or before the
last date provided by law for the levy of taxes for such ensuing fiscal
year. Upon making such determination to pay money into the fund, the
board shall cause to be posted on the school district's website a state-
ment containing the amount of the payment into the fund and the effect
of the payment on the projected tax levy for the ensuing fiscal year.
S 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
