Awards grants to municipalities for any non-transportation related capital improvement projects with a maximum cumulative grant award not exceeding $250,000 and makes an appropriation therefor.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5365
SPONSOR: Jensen TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the state finance law, in relation to awarding grants to
municipalities for capital improvement projects; and making an appropri-
ation therefor
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to create a grant matching program for muni-
cipalities.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends subdivision 10 of section 54 of the state finance law
in relation to the local government capital improvement grant program
and outlines the conditions of the program.
Section 2. Appropriates funds to the department of state from the state
treasury for purposes of local capital improvements and makes the funds
available by vouchers through the commissioner of education.
Section 3. Establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
For municipalities across New York State, there is aging municipal owned
infrastructure in dire need of improvement, however, because of their
community's size and tax base, governments find it difficult to afford
these improvements. By establishing a "Local Government Capital Improve-
ment Grant Program," New York State can help our smaller communities
afford these improvements by providing matching grants to offset local
taxpayer investment in infrastructure improvements that do not have any
direct effect on day to day life in the community other than a substan-
tial annual budget line-item. These budgetary line-items often make up a
sizable portion of the municipal budget and by providing a matching
grant, New York State can help local governments prioritize their spend-
ing to make infrastructure improvements to offset future recurring costs
while providing needed services to their residents.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
Unknown
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5365
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 16, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JENSEN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to awarding grants to
municipalities for capital improvement projects; and making an appro-
priation therefor
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 10 of section 54 of the state finance law is
2 amended by adding a new paragraph v to read as follows:
3 v. Local government capital improvement grant program. (i) (1) For the
4 purposes of this paragraph, "municipality" and "municipalities" shall
5 mean any city, town or village that has a population of less than seven
6 thousand five hundred.
7 (2) For the purposes of this paragraph, "total expenditures" shall
8 mean the total expenditures for a municipality as reported to the state
9 comptroller.
10 (3) For the purposes of this paragraph, "capital improvement projects"
11 shall mean any non-transportation related capital improvement project on
12 property owned by a municipality that has a total cost of one hundred
13 thousand dollars or higher and such project exceeds ten percent of such
14 municipality's total expenditures.
15 (ii) Within the annual amounts appropriated therefor, the secretary of
16 state may award matching grants to municipalities to cover costs associ-
17 ated with capital improvement projects.
18 (iii) The maximum cumulative grant award for a local government capi-
19 tal improvement grant shall not exceed two hundred fifty thousand
20 dollars.
21 (iv) Matching funds equal to at least fifty percent of the total cost
22 of the capital improvement project under the grant approved by the
23 department of state shall be required to receive a local government
24 capital improvement grant.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09158-03-1
A. 5365 2
1 (v) Within one week of the receipt of an application, the department
2 of state shall review the application to ensure the applicant has filed
3 the correct application, and to determine if any required sections of
4 the application contain no information. Within one business day of
5 determining an applicant has filed an incorrect application, or deter-
6 mining an application contains no information in a section required to
7 contain information, the department shall so notify the applicant.
8 Applicants shall be permitted to amend an application found to be miss-
9 ing information, and such application shall be reconsidered for approval
10 if it is amended by the application deadline. If an applicant has
11 submitted an incorrect application, the applicant may submit the correct
12 application to the appropriate program by the deadline for such program
13 for consideration. Under no circumstances shall this subparagraph be
14 deemed to require the extension of any application deadline established
15 by the department, nor shall it obligate the department to conduct a
16 substantive review of the contents of any application outside of the
17 procedures established by the department for the purposes of maintaining
18 the competitive integrity of the grant program.
19 § 2. The sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000), or so much thereof
20 as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the department of state
21 out of any moneys in the state treasury in the general fund to the cred-
22 it of the local government capital improvement grant program, not other-
23 wise appropriated, and made immediately available, for the purpose of
24 carrying out the provisions of this act. Such moneys shall be payable on
25 the audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers certified or
26 approved by the commissioner of education in the manner prescribed by
27 law.
28 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
