NY State Senate Bill 2019-S1018

Senate Bill S1018

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Validates certain acts of the Mount Morris central school district with regard to two capital improvement projects and provides for payment of state aid for such projects

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - Stricken

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
May 13, 2019	recommit, enacting clause stricken
Jan 10, 2019	referred to finance

2019-S1018 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Senate Version of this Bill:: S5649
Law Section:: Education
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2015-2016: S4407
2017-2018: S550
2021-2022: S738
2023-2024: S4516

2019-S1018 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Validates certain acts of the Mount Morris central school district with regard to two capital improvement projects and provides for payment of state aid for such projects.

2019-S1018 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1018

SPONSOR: YOUNG
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to validate certain acts of the Mount Morris
central school district with regard to certain capital improvement
projects

 
PURPOSE:

Validates certain acts of the Mount Morris central school district with
regard to two capital improvement projects and provides for payment of
state aid for such projects.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Finds that two capital improvement projects of the Mount
Morris Central School District designated as project numbers 0001-005
and 0001-006 are approved and eligible for State aid.

Section 2. Finds that all acts taken by Mount Morris Central School
District and its agents in relation to final cost reports are legalized,

validated, ratified, and confirmed, notwithstanding any failure to
comply with other required provisions, laws, or regulations. Any amount
due and payable to the Mount Morris Central School District for school
years prior to the 2014-15 school year shall be paid pursuant to the
provisions of paragraph c of subdivision 5 of section 3604 of the Educa-
tion Law.

Section 3. Directs the Education Department to consider the approved
costs of the projects as valid and proper if final project cost reports
were submitted to the Department of Education by December 31, 2012; the
final project cost reports are approved by the Commissioner; and all
State funds expended by the school and documented in the final cost
reports were properly spent; and the late submission of the final cost
reports were the result of an inadvertent administrative or ministerial
oversight by the school district without any fraudulent or improper
intent.

Section 4. Provides that this act shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

A delay in the filing of final cost reports related to two capital
improvement projects have resulted in a penalty to the school in the
amount of $2,457,364. This sum is composed of an assessed take-back on
already paid State aid and a penalty going forward for the remainder of
the life of the school's bonding agreement. An additional bond percent-
age adjustment to a lower 79.432% has resulted in the loss of a further
$1,417,318 that this bill is not seeking to recover. The loss resulting
from these take-backs and the bond percentage adjustment demonstrate the
substantial burden to the school and its local taxpayers. These unfore-
seen and unanticipated expenses account for 28 percent of the school
district's entire annual budget.

Local taxpayers should not be burdened with the significant undue
expense as a result of this filing error committed several years ago.
Today's Mount Morris residents and the 548 students who attend Mount
Morris Central School should not be so severely penalized due to the

series of oversights that occurred over the course of several years many
years ago by individuals no longer even associated with the district.

This bill would ensure that any amount due and payable to the Mount
Morris Central School District for previous years shall be paid.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2017,2018: S.550 Passed Senate
2015: S.4407 Referred to Education
2016: S.4407 Passed Senate

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2019-S1018 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1018
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 10, 2019
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  YOUNG  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance
 
 AN ACT to validate certain acts  of  the  Mount  Morris  central  school
   district with regard to certain capital improvement projects
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds  that  the
 Mount  Morris  central  school district approved two capital improvement
 projects which are designated as project number 0001-005 and as  project
 number  0001-006.  In  addition,  the projects were eligible for certain
 state aid. The legislature further finds that due to ministerial  error,
 the required filing of the final cost reports for such projects were not
 made  by such district in a timely manner making the district ineligible
 for certain aid. The legislature further finds that  without  such  aid,
 the  capital  improvement  projects  will impose an additional, unantic-
 ipated hardship on district taxpayers.
   § 2. All the acts done and proceedings heretofore  had  and  taken  or
 caused  to  be  had or taken by the Mount Morris central school district
 and by all its officers or agents relating to or in  connection  with  a
 certain  final  cost report to be filed with the state education depart-
 ment for project number 0001-005 and project number  0001-006,  and  all
 acts  incidental  thereto  are hereby legalized, validated, ratified and
 confirmed, notwithstanding any failure to comply with the  approval  and
 filing  provisions  of  the  education law or any other law or any other
 statutory authority, rule or regulation, in relation to  any  omissions,
 error,  defect,  irregularity  or illegality in such proceedings had and
 taken, and provided further that any amount due and payable to the Mount
 Morris central school district for school years prior to  the  2014-2015
 school  year  as  a  result  of  this  act shall be paid pursuant to the
 provisions of paragraph c of subdivision 5 of section 3604 of the educa-
 tion law.

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD03649-01-9

 S. 1018                             2
 
   § 3. The education department  is  hereby  directed  to  consider  the
 approved  costs of the aforementioned projects as valid and proper obli-
 gations of the Mount Morris central school district provided  that  such
 school district:
   (a)  submitted  the  late or missing final project cost reports to the
 commissioner of education on or before December 31, 2012;
   (b) such cost report is approved by the commissioner of education;
   (c) all state funds expended by the school district, as documented  in
 such  cost  reports, were properly expended for such capital projects in
 accordance with the terms and conditions for such projects  as  approved
 by the commissioner of education; and
   (d) the failure to submit such reports in a timely manner was an inad-
 vertent  administrative or ministerial oversight by the school district,
 and there is no evidence of any fraudulent or other improper  intent  by
 such district.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

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