BILL NUMBER:S4937

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public lands law, in relation to
the payment of state aid on account of state lands in the counties of
Cayuga, Seneca and Wayne comprising the northern Montezuma wildlife
management area

PURPOSE:  The purpose of this bill is to provide for the payment of
State aid to State lands under the jurisdiction of the DEC located in
the counties of Cayuga, Seneca and Wayne comprising the Northern
Montezuma Wildlife Management Area.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:  Bill section one would provide for the payment
of State aid on State lands under the jurisdiction of the DEC located
in the counties of Cayuga, Seneca and Wayne comprising the Northern
Montezuma wildlife Management Area. The amount of State aid would be
determined by applying the annual tax relief rate(s) for each taxing
district in which the property is located to the assessed value of the
lands as entered on the 1999 town assessment rolls, adjusted for any
change in the level of assessment. Payments would be made on lands now
owned by the State and also on lands that are acquired in the future.

Bill section 2 would make the bill effective immediately and provide
that the first payment of State aid would be based upon assessment
rolls completed in the year 2013.

              

EXISTING LAW:

Sections 19a and 19b of the Public Lands Law currently provide for the
payment of State aid on account of certain State lands, and sections
532, 534 and 536 of the Real Property Tax Law make certain State lands
taxable for some or all local government purposes. However, none of
those sections apply to state lands in the counties of Cayuga, Seneca
or Wayne comprising the Northern Montezuma wildlife Management Area.

JUSTIFICATION:  The lands that would be the subject of State aid
payments are clearly of a Statewide benefit. The Northern Montezuma
wildlife Management Area (NMWMA) is an important part of the very
unique Montezuma Wetlands Complex and is included in one of only six
State Bird Conservation Areas. The entire Complex totals 16,779 acres
of land and is managed through the cooperative effort of DEC, the
United States Fish and wildlife Service and private individuals and
organizations. DEC manages approximately 6,450 acres.

The NMWMA, along with the remainder of the complex, provides critical
habitat for resident and migratory water birds, songbirds, raptors and
other wildlife including many rare and protected species such as the
endangered peregrine falcon, black tern and short-eared owl, the
threatened bald eagle, pied-billed grebe, least bittern and northern
harrier, and the American bittern, osprey and cerulean warbler which
are of special concern. The area also is one of the most significant
stopover and foraging locations for shorebirds in upstate New York,
regularly hosting 1,000 or more of such individuals from over 25
species. Moreover, the area also supports breeding colonies of great
blue herons and black-crowned night herons, and hosts one of the
largest fall swallow concentrations in the state. In addition to
providing habitat to scores of wildlife, the area provides recreation,


education and interpretive opportunities to an estimated 150,000
visitors annually, including 10,000 children on school trips with the
completion of the recently announced Crusoe center, these
opportunities will be significantly expanded in the future.

Despite the many state-wide benefits provided by the area, the impact
of the current status of the lands as exempt from real property
taxation falls solely on the owners of taxable real property within
the municipalities. This bill would remedy this situation by providing
state aid payments based upon the applicable local tax rate(s) in any
given year, as applied against the assessments of those lands on the
1999 final assessment roll of the town(s) in which the lands are
located payments would be made on the lands now owned by the state,
such as those mentioned above, as well as on future acquisitions under
the jurisdiction of DEC.

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.6166 of 2004 S.1947 of 2005/2006 S.326 of 2007/2008 S.3277 of
2009/2010 S.4914 of 2011/2012

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:  Based upon 1999-2000 school tax rates, and 2000
county and town tax rates, it is estimated that the amount of state
aid that would be due under this bill would be approximately $86,000.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately.