N.Y. Const. art. VIII, § 1: Gift or loan or credit of local subdivisions prohibited; exceptions for enumerated purposes

ARTICLE VIII

Local Finances

Section 1. No county, city, town, village or school district shall

give or loan any money or property to or in aid of any individual, or

private corporation or association, or private undertaking, or become

directly or indirectly the owner of stock in, or bonds of, any private

corporation or association; nor shall any county, city, town, village or

school district give or loan its credit to or in aid of any individual,

or public or private corporation or association, or private undertaking,

except that two or more such units may join together pursuant to law in

providing any municipal facility, service, activity or undertaking which

each of such units has the power to provide separately. Each such unit

may be authorized by the legislature to contract joint or several

indebtedness, pledge its or their faith and credit for the payment of

such indebtedness for such joint undertaking and levy real estate or

other authorized taxes or impose charges therefor subject to the

provisions of this constitution otherwise restricting the power of such

units to contract indebtedness or to levy taxes on real estate. The

legislature shall have power to provide by law for the manner and the

proportion in which indebtedness arising out of such joint undertakings

shall be incurred by such units and shall have power to provide a method

by which such indebtedness shall be determined, allocated and

apportioned among such units and such indebtedness treated for purposes

of exclusion from applicable constitutional limitations, provided that

in no event shall more than the total amount of indebtedness incurred

for such joint undertaking be included in ascertaining the power of all

such participating units to incur indebtedness. Such law may provide

that such determination, allocation and apportionment shall be

conclusive if made or approved by the comptroller. This provision shall

not prevent a county from contracting indebtedness for the purpose of

advancing to a town or school district, pursuant to law, the amount of

unpaid taxes returned to it.

Subject to the limitations on indebtedness and taxation applying to

any county, city, town or village nothing in this constitution contained

shall prevent a county, city or town from making such provision for the

aid, care and support of the needy as may be authorized by law, nor

prevent any such county, city or town from providing for the care,

support, maintenance and secular education of inmates of orphan asylums,

homes for dependent children or correctional institutions and of

children placed in family homes by authorized agencies, whether under

public or private control, or from providing health and welfare services

for all children, nor shall anything in this constitution contained

prevent a county, city, town or village from increasing the pension

benefits payable to retired members of a police department or fire

department or to widows, dependent children or dependent parents of

members or retired members of a police department or fire department; or

prevent the city of New York from increasing the pension benefits

payable to widows, dependent children or dependent parents of members or

retired members of the relief and pension fund of the department of

street cleaning of the city of New York. Payments by counties, cities or

towns to charitable, eleemosynary, correctional and reformatory

institutions and agencies, wholly or partly under private control, for

care, support and maintenance, may be authorized, but shall not be

required, by the legislature. No such payments shall be made for any

person cared for by any such institution or agency, nor for a child

placed in a family home, who is not received and retained therein

pursuant to rules established by the state board of social welfare or

other state department having the power of inspection thereof.