S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
7082
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
May 27, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. BRESLIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Corporations, Authorities
and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, in relation to updating
certain references with respect to the Troy Industrial Development
Authority, eliminating an automatic corporate termination clause when
all bonds have been repaid, allowing the Troy Industrial Development
Authority to deposit and manage its own funds and accounts, adding
certain retail restrictions and making certain technical corrections
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 1951 of the public authorities
law, as added by chapter 759 of the laws of 1967, is amended to read as
follows:
1. The term "authority" shall mean the Troy Industrial Development
Authority, the corporation created by section nineteen hundred [two]
FIFTY-TWO of this title;
§ 2. Section 1952 of the public authorities law, as separately amended
by chapters 195 and 357 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as
follows:
§ 1952. Troy industrial development authority. A board to be known as
the "Troy industrial development authority" is hereby created. Such
board shall be a body corporate and politic, constituting a public bene-
fit corporation and its existence shall commence upon the appointment of
the members as herein provided. Its members shall consist of a [chair-
man] CHAIR and eight other members, all of whom shall be appointed by
the [city manager] MAYOR of the city for a term of three years, and
shall include two members of the common council of the city, one repre-
sentative of the city school board, and one representative from each of
the fields of business, industry and labor. Every appointment to the
board shall be subject to confirmation by the common council of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10753-01-1
S. 7082 2
city. The [chairman] CHAIR and each member shall continue to serve until
the appointment and confirmation of his OR HER successor. Vacancies in
such board occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be
filled by the [city manager] MAYOR by appointment for the unexpired term
subject to confirmation by the common council of the city. The [city
manager] MAYOR may remove the [chairman] CHAIR or any member of the
board for inefficiency, neglect of duty or misconduct in office, after
giving him OR HER a copy of the charges against him OR HER and an oppor-
tunity of being heard in person, or by counsel, in his OR HER defense
upon not less than ten days' notice. Such removal must be approved by
the city council of the city. The members of the board shall be entitled
to no compensation for their services but shall be entitled to
reimbursement for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the
performance of their official duties. Notwithstanding any inconsistent
provisions of law, general, special or local, no officer or employee of
the city shall be deemed to have forfeited or shall forfeit his OR HER
office or employment by reason of his OR HER acceptance of membership on
the board created by this section, provided, however, that a member who
holds such other public office or employment shall receive no additional
compensation or allowance for services rendered pursuant to this title,
but shall be entitled to reimbursement for his OR HER actual and neces-
sary expenses incurred in the performance of such services. The power of
the authority shall be vested in and exercised by a majority of the
members of the board. Such a board may delegate to one or more of its
members, or to its officers, agents and employees, such powers and
duties as it may deem proper. Such board and its corporate existence
shall continue [until July first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight and
thereafter until all its liabilities have been met and its bonds have
been paid in full or such liabilities or bonds have otherwise been
discharged] IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION NINETEEN HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN OF
THIS TITLE. Upon its ceasing to exist, all rights and properties shall
pass to and be vested in the city.
§ 3. The opening paragraph of section 1953 of the public authorities
law, as amended by chapter 907 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read
as follows:
The purposes of the authority shall be to promote, develop, encourage
and assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving,
maintaining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, ware-
house, [and] commercial AND research facilities including industrial
pollution control facilities, transportation facilities including but
not limited to those relating to water, highway, rail and air, in one or
more areas of the city, particularly but not exclusively at the site of
what was formerly the Troy airport including an airstrip or airport
located in the southern section of the city and thereby advance the job
opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the
people of said city and to improve their standard of living; provided,
however, that the authority shall not undertake any project if the
completion thereof would result in the removal of an industrial or manu-
facturing plant of the project occupant from one area of the state to
another area of the state or in the abandonment of one or more plants or
facilities of the project applicant located within the state, provided,
however, that neither restriction shall apply if the authority shall
determine on the basis of the application before it that the project is
reasonably necessary to discourage the project occupant from removing
such other plant or facility to a location outside the state or is
reasonably necessary to preserve the competitive position of the project
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occupant in its respective industry. EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR IN
THIS SECTION, NO FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE OF THE AUTHORITY SHALL BE PROVIDED
IN RESPECT OF ANY PROJECT WHERE FACILITIES OR PROPERTY THAT ARE PRIMARI-
LY USED IN MAKING RETAIL SALES TO CUSTOMERS WHO PERSONALLY VISIT SUCH
FACILITIES CONSTITUTE MORE THAN ONE-THIRD OF THE TOTAL PROJECT COST. FOR
THE PURPOSES OF THIS ARTICLE, "RETAIL SALES" SHALL MEAN: (I) SALES BY A
REGISTERED VENDOR UNDER ARTICLE TWENTY-EIGHT OF THE TAX LAW PRIMARILY
ENGAGED IN THE RETAIL SALE OF TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY, AS DEFINED IN
SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF PARAGRAPH FOUR OF SUBDIVISION (B) OF SECTION ELEVEN
HUNDRED ONE OF THE TAX LAW; OR (II) SALES OF A SERVICE TO SUCH CUSTOM-
ERS. EXCEPT, HOWEVER, THAT TOURISM DESTINATION PROJECTS SHALL NOT BE
PROHIBITED BY THIS PARAGRAPH. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS PARAGRAPH, "TOUR-
ISM DESTINATION" SHALL MEAN A LOCATION OR FACILITY WHICH IS LIKELY TO
ATTRACT A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF VISITORS FROM OUTSIDE THE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT REGION AS ESTABLISHED BY SECTION TWO HUNDRED THIRTY OF THE
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LAW IN WHICH THE PROJECT IS LOCATED.
NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION TO THE CONTRARY, SUCH
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE MAY, HOWEVER, BE PROVIDED TO A PROJECT WHERE FACIL-
ITIES OR PROPERTY THAT ARE PRIMARILY USED IN MAKING RETAIL SALES OF
GOODS OR SERVICES TO CUSTOMERS WHO PERSONALLY VISIT SUCH FACILITIES TO
OBTAIN SUCH GOODS OR SERVICES CONSTITUTE MORE THAN ONE-THIRD OF THE
TOTAL PROJECT COST, WHERE: (I) THE PREDOMINANT PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
WOULD BE TO MAKE AVAILABLE GOODS OR SERVICES WHICH WOULD NOT, BUT FOR
THE PROJECT, BE REASONABLY ACCESSIBLE TO THE RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF
TROY BECAUSE OF A LACK OF REASONABLY ACCESSIBLE RETAIL TRADE FACILITIES
OFFERING SUCH GOODS OR SERVICES; OR (II) THE PROJECT IS LOCATED IN A
HIGHLY DISTRESSED AREA. WITH RESPECT TO PROJECTS AUTHORIZED PURSUANT TO
THIS PARAGRAPH NO PROJECT SHALL BE APPROVED UNLESS THE AUTHORITY SHALL
FIND AFTER THE PUBLIC HEARING REQUIRED BY SECTION TWENTY-THREE HUNDRED
SEVEN OF THIS CHAPTER THAT UNDERTAKING THE PROJECT WILL SERVE THE PUBLIC
PURPOSES OF THIS ARTICLE BY PRESERVING PERMANENT, PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS OR
INCREASING THE OVERALL NUMBER OF PERMANENT, PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS IN THE
STATE. WHERE THE AUTHORITY MAKES SUCH A FINDING, PRIOR TO PROVIDING
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO THE PROJECT BY THE AUTHORITY, THE CHIEF EXECU-
TIVE OFFICER OF THE CITY OF TROY SHALL CONFIRM THE PROPOSED ACTION OF
THE AUTHORITY. To carry out said purposes, the authority shall have
power:
§ 4. Subdivisions 4 and 7 of section 1953 of the public authorities
law, as added by chapter 759 of the laws of 1967, are amended to read as
follows:
4. To acquire by purchase, grant, lease, gift, condemnation, or other-
wise and to use, real property or rights or easements therein necessary
for its corporate purposes, and to sell, convey, mortgage, lease,
pledge, exchange or otherwise dispose of any such property in such
manner as the authority shall determine. With respect to real property
conveyed to it by the city, however, such power of disposition shall be
limited as hereinafter provided in section nineteen hundred [five]
FIFTY-FIVE of this title;
7. To appoint officers, agents and employees, to prescribe their qual-
ifications and to fix their compensation and to pay the same out of
funds of the authority, subject, however, to the provisions of the civil
service law as hereinafter provided in section nineteen hundred [and
four] FIFTY-FOUR of this title;
§ 5. Subdivision 1 of section 1955 of the public authorities law, as
added by chapter 759 of the laws of 1967, is amended to read as follows:
S. 7082 4
1. The city may, by duly adopted resolution of the city council or by
instruments authorized by such resolution, convey, with or without
consideration, to the authority real and personal property owned by the
city for use by the authority as a project. In case of real property so
conveyed, the title thereto shall remain in the city but the authority
shall have the use thereof for so long as its corporate existence shall
continue and said real property shall be under its jurisdiction, control
and supervision within the ambit of section nineteen hundred [thirteen]
SIXTY-THREE of this title and exempt from all taxes and assessments
except such payments in lieu thereof as may be contained in such resol-
ution or instrument of conveyance.
§ 6. Section 1956 of the public authorities law, as amended by chapter
907 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows:
§ 1956. Construction and purchase contracts. The provisions of law
relating to the requirement of public bidding with respect to the
construction of public facilities or projects shall not be applicable to
the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance,
equipping and furnishing of projects authorized by this [act] TITLE.
§ 7. Section 1957 of the public authorities law, as amended by chapter
907 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as follows:
§ 1957. Moneys of the authority. All moneys of the authority, from
whatever source derived, shall be paid to the [treasurer] AUTHORITY'S
APPOINTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER of the city as agent of the authority,
who shall not commingle such moneys with any other moneys. Such moneys
shall be deposited in a separate bank account or accounts. The moneys in
such accounts shall be paid out by the [treasurer] AUTHORITY'S APPOINTED
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER on requisition of the [chairman] CHAIR of the
authority or of such person as the authority may authorize to make such
requisitions [after audit by and upon the warrant of the comptroller].
All deposits of such moneys shall, if required by the [treasurer or the]
authority, be secured by obligations of a market value equal at all
times to the amount of the deposit, and all banks and trust companies
are authorized to give such security for such deposits. The [treasurer]
COMPTROLLER OF THE CITY and his OR HER legally authorized represen-
tatives are authorized and empowered from time to time to examine the
accounts and books of the authority, including its receipts, disburse-
ments, contracts, leases, sinking funds, investments and any other
records and papers relating to its financial standing. The authority
shall have power, notwithstanding the provisions of this section, to
contract with the holders of any of its bonds as to the custody,
collection, securing, investment and payment of any moneys of the
authority or any moneys held in trust or otherwise for the payment of
bonds or in any way to secure bonds, and to carry out any such contract
notwithstanding that such contract may be inconsistent with the previous
provisions of this section. Moneys held in trust or otherwise for the
payment of bonds or in any way to secure bonds and deposits of such
moneys may be secured in the same manner as moneys of the authority, and
all banks and trust companies are authorized to give such security for
such deposits. The accounts of the authority shall be subject to the
supervision of the state comptroller and he OR SHE or his OR HER legally
authorized representatives are hereby authorized and empowered from time
to time to examine the accounts and books of the authority, including
its receipts, disbursements, contracts, sinking funds, investments and
any other matter relating to its financial standing and fiscal affairs.
The authority shall render a complete annual account of its proceedings
S. 7082 5
to the city council at its first meeting in [February] APRIL of each and
every year.
§ 8. Paragraph (i) of subdivision 3 of section 1958 of the public
authorities law, as added by chapter 759 of the laws of 1967, is amended
to read as follows:
(i) vesting in a trustee or trustees such property, rights, powers and
duties in trust as the authority may determine which may include any or
all the rights, powers and duties of the trustees appointed by the bond-
holders pursuant to section nineteen hundred [and fifteen hereof]
SIXTY-FIVE OF THIS TITLE, and limiting or abrogating the right of the
bondholders to appoint a trustee under said section or limiting the
rights, duties and powers of trustee; AND
§ 9. Section 1967 of the public authorities law, as added by chapter
759 of the laws of 1967, is amended to read as follows:
§ 1967. Termination of the authority. Whenever all of the bonds issued
by the authority shall have been redeemed or cancelled, AND ALL
STRAIGHT-LEASE TRANSACTIONS HAVE BEEN TERMINATED, the authority shall
cease to exist and all rights, titles, and interest and all obligations
and liabilities thereof vested in or possessed by the authority shall
thereupon vest in and be possessed by the city of Troy.
§ 10. This act shall take effect immediately.