Senate Bill S4914

                                BILL NUMBER:S4914

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 2004.

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

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.