Relates to county-wide shared services panels; includes library districts within county-wide shared services panels; establishes the municipal efficiency fund to provide counties with awards of matching funds upon certification by the department of state.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5296
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 12, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. E. BROWN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to county-wide
shared services panels; and to amend the state finance law, in
relation to establishing the municipal efficiency fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 239-bb of the general municipal law, as amended by
2 section 1 of part U of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 § 239-bb. County-wide shared services panels. 1. Definitions. The
5 following terms shall have the following meanings for the purposes of
6 this article:
7 a. "County" shall mean any county not wholly contained within a city.
8 b. "County CEO" shall mean the county executive, county manager or
9 other chief executive of the county, or, where none, the chair of the
10 county legislative body.
11 c. "Library district" as the term is used in this section shall mean
12 any public library established pursuant to the provisions of article
13 five of the education law.
14 d. "Panel" shall mean a county-wide shared services panel established
15 pursuant to subdivision two of this section.
16 [d.] e. "Plan" shall mean a county-wide shared services property tax
17 savings plan.
18 2. County-wide shared services panels. [a.] There may be a county-wide
19 shared services panel in each county consisting of the county CEO, and
20 one representative from each city, town and village in the county, as
21 well as each school district, board of cooperative educational service,
22 fire district, fire protection district, public library district, and
23 special improvement district in the county. The chief executive officer
24 of each town, city and village shall be the representative to a panel
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09178-01-5
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1 and shall be the mayor, if a city or a village, or shall be the supervi-
2 sor, if a town, or a designated representative for each school district,
3 board of cooperative educational service, fire district, fire protection
4 district, public library district or special improvement district. The
5 county CEO shall serve as chair.
6 [b. The county CEO may invite any school district, board of cooper-
7 ative educational services, fire district, fire protection district, or
8 special improvement district in the county to join a panel. Upon such
9 invitation, the governing body of such school district, board of cooper-
10 ative educational services, fire district, fire protection district, or
11 other special district may accept such invitation by selecting a repre-
12 sentative of such governing body, by majority vote, to serve as a member
13 of the panel.]
14 3. Each county CEO may convene the panel and develop a plan. Such
15 plans shall contain new, recurring property tax savings resulting from
16 actions such as, but not limited to, the elimination of duplicative
17 services; shared services arrangements including, joint purchasing,
18 shared highway equipment, shared storage facilities, shared plowing
19 services and energy and insurance purchasing cooperatives; reducing back
20 office and administrative overhead; and better coordinating services.
21 The secretary of state may provide advice and/or recommendations on the
22 form and structure of such plans.
23 4. While developing a plan, the county CEO shall regularly consult
24 with, and take recommendations from, the representatives: on the panel;
25 of each collective bargaining unit of the county and the cities, towns,
26 and villages; and of each collective bargaining unit [of any participat-
27 ing] for each school district, board of cooperative educational
28 services, fire district, fire protection district, [or] public library
29 district, and special improvement district.
30 5. The county CEO, the county legislative body and a panel shall
31 accept input from the public, civic, business, labor and community lead-
32 ers on any proposed plan. The county CEO may cause to be conducted
33 public hearings prior to submission of a plan to a vote of a panel. All
34 such public hearings shall be conducted within the county, and public
35 notice of all such hearings shall be provided at least one week prior in
36 the manner prescribed in subdivision one of section one hundred four of
37 the public officers law. Civic, business, labor, and community leaders,
38 as well as members of the public, shall be permitted to provide public
39 testimony at any such hearings.
40 6. a. The county CEO shall submit each plan, accompanied by a certif-
41 ication as to the accuracy of the savings contained therein, to the
42 county legislative body at least forty-five days prior to a vote by the
43 panel.
44 b. The county legislative body shall review and consider each plan
45 submitted in accordance with paragraph a of this subdivision. A majority
46 of the members of such body may issue an advisory report on each plan,
47 making recommendations as deemed necessary. The county CEO may modify a
48 plan based on such recommendations, which shall include an updated
49 certification as to the accuracy of the savings contained therein.
50 7. a. A panel shall duly consider any plan properly submitted to the
51 panel by the county CEO and may approve such plan by a majority vote of
52 the panel. Each member of a panel may, prior to the panel-wide vote,
53 cause to be removed from a plan any proposed action affecting the [unit
54 of government] entity represented by the respective member. Written
55 notice of such removal shall be provided to the county CEO prior to a
56 panel-wide vote on a plan.
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1 b. Plans approved by a panel shall be publicly disseminated to resi-
2 dents of the county in a concise, clear, and coherent manner using words
3 with common and everyday meaning.
4 c. The county CEO shall conduct a public presentation of any approved
5 plan no later than thirty days from the date of approval by a panel.
6 Public notice of such presentation shall be provided at least one week
7 prior in the manner prescribed in subdivision one of section one hundred
8 four of the public officers law.
9 8. a. The secretary of state may solicit, and the panels may provide
10 at the request of the secretary of state, advice and recommendations
11 concerning matters related to the operations of local governments and
12 shared services initiatives, including, but not limited to, making
13 recommendations regarding grant proposals incorporating elements of
14 shared services, government dissolutions, government and service consol-
15 idations, or property taxes and such other grants where the secretary
16 deems the input of the panels to be in the best interest of the public.
17 The panel shall advance such advice or recommendations by a vote of the
18 majority of the members present at such meeting.
19 b. Applications for matching funds shall be made to the secretary of
20 state. Upon approval by the secretary of state, certification of the
21 matching funds to be paid to the county pursuant to said application
22 shall be forwarded to the New York state comptroller for payment of such
23 monies to the county from the municipal efficiency fund established by
24 section ninety-nine-ss of the state finance law.
25 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-ss to
26 read as follows:
27 § 99-ss. Municipal efficiency fund. 1. There is hereby established in
28 the custody of the state comptroller and the department of taxation and
29 finance a special fund to be known as the municipal efficiency fund.
30 2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys appropriated for the purpose
31 of such fund, all other moneys required to be paid into, transferred or
32 credited to such fund, and all moneys received by the fund or donated to
33 it.
34 3. Moneys of the municipal efficiency fund shall be solely available,
35 following appropriation by the legislature and in accordance with law
36 to provide counties with awards of matching funds upon certification
37 by the department of state of compliance with section two hundred thir-
38 ty-nine-bb of the general municipal law where county-wide shared
39 services panels have approved a plan resulting in savings to the county
40 and various political subdivisions therein.
41 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
