BILL NUMBER: S7957

SPONSOR: MARCHIONE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to
requiring the Hudson River Black River Regulation District to undertake
a comprehensive study regarding the beneficiaries of the district and
real property tax apportionments to establish a standard methodology for
the determination of any future apportionment; to require that certain
real property tax costs assessed to counties containing lands included
in the Hudson River Black River Regulating District be paid by the state
of New York; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expi-
ration thereof

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 requires the District to conduct a comprehensive study regard-
ing the apportionment charges and

Section 2 establishes that the State will pay the costs previously paid
by the five counties for a three year period while the study is
              

conducted. Section 3 sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Hudson River Regulating District was created in 1922 and was joined
with the Black River Regulating District in 1959.  The Hudson River
Regulating District (District) is to regulate the flow of the Hudson
River.

The Hudson River District is managed by a board that is appointed by the
Governor and it bills what it deems to be the beneficiaries including
the five counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren, and Washing-
ton a proportional share of its operating expenses. The District also
derives revenue from the State, through hydropower agreements with
companies in exchange for the use of headwaters for hydroelectricity
generation, and fees on hydroelectric firms. The smallest source of
revenue for the district comes from Sacandaga Lake Access Permits. The
charges to the five counties are problematic since they are statutory
beneficiaries and the actual beneficiaries have varied since the
District's inception.

There is a long and complicated history regarding the apportionment of
costs; however, it is time for the District to take a fresh look at the
localities that are actually benefiting from their operations, how it
can operate in a more efficient manner, and how it can derive the neces-
sary revenue for infrastructure upgrades and improvements.  Currently
the District collects from the five counties and other entities pursuant
to a settlement agreement reached in 2013 (County of Albany et al v.
HRBRRD 97 AD3d 61) that expires in 2018.  The assessment paid by the
five counties commenced when a federal court ordered in 2008 that the
hydro-electric plants along the Hudson River no longer had to pay their
costs.

This was never meant to be a permanent solution and addressing the ineq-
uity is long overdue. Since the District's inception, the board was
tasked with examining any and all avenues to sustain District oper-
ations; however, the result has led to a historically limited financial
impact on the downstream jurisdictions. In as much as the original
intent was to prevent downstream flooding, the reality is that the
creation and continued operations of the district has created opportu-
nity and benefit for many entities both private and public outside of
the five counties currently carrying the financial burden. Additionally,
the five counties do not have any representation on the governing board
and in fact the appointments are solely at the discretion of the Execu-
tive, without Legislative approval. This is a true example of taxation
without representation and therefore it is incumbent upon the state of
New York to use its resources to address this long overdue inequity in
recognition of the fact that what started as a local matter has grown
into a regional and statewide benefit.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect April 1, 2019 will be deemed repealed on
March 31, 2022.