BILL NUMBER: S7605

SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to requiring
school districts to be part of county-wide shared services panels

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This legislation would require school districts to participate in the
countywide shared service panels, as opposed to making it optional.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1.Subdivision 4 of section 119-o of the general municipal law,
added by section 2 of part EE of chapter 55 of the laws of 2018, is
amended and a new subdivision 5 is added to state that each school
district shall join each county-wide shared service panel established
pursuant to article twelve-I of this chapter for each county in which
their district is located.
              

Section 2.This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The State of New York has one of the highest tax burdens in the United
States. This is particularly true of its property taxes. According to
the Tax Foundation, New York ranked fourth in the country in property
taxes collected per capita in 2015.  This tremendous financial burden
has driven New Yorkers out of their homes and forced many to leave the
state to live in a less costly part of the country.

In an attempt to stem this tide and ease the financial pain, the state
established the "County-Wide Shared Services Initiative" in its 2018
fiscal year budget. According to the New York State guidance document
for this initiative, the purpose of the panel is to, "generate property
tax savings by facilitating operational collaboration between local
governments."

In each county, a shared services panel is created. The panel's goal is
to cut property taxes by identifying potential shared service and other
cost saving measures at the local levels of government. They then devel-
op and submit a plan. In addition, the shared service panel can apply
for state matching funds for one year that matches the net savings from
the plan.

The panel is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of each County, and
every Mayor and Supervisor within the county is a required panel member.
School districts within the county have the option to pick one represen-
tative from the district to participate in the panel if the Chief Execu-
tive Officer invites them to join the panel.

This bill would take out the optional status for school districts, and
require they participate in the panel, like Mayors and Supervisors are
required. School taxes are the largest portion of local property taxes
paid by New Yorkers. Requiring school districts to be part of countywide

shared services panel would provide an opportunity for the panel to find
even greater savings.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Section 2.This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.