N.Y. General Municipal Law § 119-r: Provision of mass transportation by certain municipal corporations

§ 119-r. Provision of mass transportation by certain municipal

corporations. * 1. To assure the provision of mass transportation

services to the public at adequate levels and at reasonable cost, every

city, town, village or county not wholly contained within a city, shall

have power to adopt local laws to authorize:

a. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement,

equipment, maintenance, financing subject to the provisions of paragraph

f of this subdivision, or operation of one or more mass transportation

projects. Such municipal corporation shall have power to occupy or use

any of the streets, roads, highways, avenues, parks or public places of

such municipal corporation therefor and to agree upon and contract for

the terms and conditions thereof.

b. The making of a contract or contracts for the acquisition by

purchase of all or any part of the property, plant and equipment of an

existing mass transportation facility actually used and useful for the

convenience of the public.

c. The making of a contract or contracts with any person, firm or

corporation, including a public authority, for the equipment,

maintenance or operation of a mass transportation facility owned,

acquired, constructed, reconstructed or improved by it.

d. The making of a contract or contracts for a fair and reasonable

consideration for mass transportation services to be rendered to the

public by a privately-owned or operated mass transportation facility.

Such power shall include but not be limited to the power to appropriate

funds for payment of such consideration, and to provide that all or part

of such consideration shall be in the form of capital equipment to be

furnished to and used and maintained by such privately-owned or operated

mass transportation facility.

e. The making of unconditional grants of money or property to a public

authority providing mass transportation services to all or part of such

municipal corporation in order to assist such public authority in

meeting its capital or operating expenses, provided such money does not

consist of borrowed funds and such property has not been acquired by the

use of borrowed funds. Such purpose is hereby declared to be county,

city, town or village purposes, respectively. The provisions of this

paragraph are intended as enabling legislation only and shall not be

interpreted as implying that absent their enactment a municipal

corporation would lack the power to authorize any such grant; but they

shall not be interpreted as an authorization to public authorities

generally to accept such grants. The acceptance of any such grant by a

public authority shall not operate to make such authority an agency of

the municipal corporation making the grant.

f. The making of a contract with the metropolitan transportation

authority, by itself or with one or more other municipal corporations to

assist the authority in meeting its capital or operating expenses in

providing mass transportation services of benefit to all or part of such

municipal corporation, including undertaking a mass transportation

capital project in or near the municipal corporation. Such a municipal

corporation may, according to the terms of the contract with the

authority, establish, levy and collect taxes, assessments, and/or

charges and may conditionally or unconditionally grant or pledge a

portion of its revenues allocated according to subdivision e of this

section. Such municipal corporation may designate mass transportation

capital project districts that a municipal corporation finds, after

conducting a public hearing, will benefit from an identified mass

transportation capital project. Upon designating such a district, the

municipal corporation may allocate a portion of its revenues from the

district according to terms it designs or has agreed to by contract. The

municipal corporation may, in allocating and collecting revenues from

the district, make use of one or more methods to capture the value

created by a mass transportation capital project, including, but not

limited to:

(i) tax increment financing, meaning the allocation of an increment of

property tax revenues in excess of the amount levied at the time prior

to planning of a mass transportation capital project;

(ii) a special transportation assessment imposed upon benefited real

property in proportion to the benefit received by such property from a

mass transportation capital project, which shall not constitute a tax;

(iii) land value taxation, meaning the allocation of an increment of

tax revenues gained from levying taxes on the assessed value of taxable

land at a higher rate than the improvements, as defined in subdivision

twelve of section one hundred two of the real property tax law; and

(iv) some combination of the above or other methods of gaining

revenues that the municipal corporation is empowered to use, provided

that the total amount of all taxes, assessments, fees, charges, or rates

levied on each parcel or lot under this section shall be limited to a

proportionate amount as near as possible to the actual benefit which

each lot or parcel will derive from the mass transportation capital

project; and

(v) for purposes of this paragraph the term municipal corporation

shall include only those cities, towns, villages and counties described

in section twelve hundred sixty-two of the public authorities law.

* NB Effective until April 1, 2027

* 1. To assure the provision of mass transportation services to the

public at adequate levels and at reasonable cost, every city, town,

village or county not wholly contained within a city, shall have power

to adopt local laws to authorize:

a. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement,

equipment, maintenance or operation of one or more mass transportation

projects. Such municipal corporation shall have power to occupy or use

any of the streets, roads, highways, avenues, parks or public places of

such municipal corporation therefor and to agree upon and contract for

the terms and conditions thereof.

b. The making of a contract or contracts for the acquisition by

purchase of all or any part of the property, plant and equipment of an

existing mass transportation facility actually used and useful for the

convenience of the public.

c. The making of a contract or contracts with any person, firm or

corporation, including a public authority, for the equipment,

maintenance or operation of a mass transportation facility owned,

acquired, constructed, reconstructed or improved by it.

d. The making of a contract or contracts for a fair and reasonable

consideration for mass transportation services to be rendered to the

public by a privately-owned or operated mass transportation facility.

Such power shall include but not be limited to the power to appropriate

funds for payment of such consideration, and to provide that all or part

of such consideration shall be in the form of capital equipment to be

furnished to and used and maintained by such privately-owned or operated

mass transportation facility.

e. The making of unconditional grants of money or property to a public

authority providing mass transportation services to all or part of such

municipal corporation in order to assist such public authority in

meeting its capital or operating expenses, provided such money does not

consist of borrowed funds and such property has not been acquired by the

use of borrowed funds. Such purpose is hereby declared to be county,

city, town or village purposes, respectively. The provisions of this

paragraph are intended as enabling legislation only and shall not be

interpreted as implying that absent their enactment a municipal

corporation would lack the power to authorize any such grant; but they

shall not be interpreted as an authorization to public authorities

generally to accept such grants. The acceptance of any such grant by a

public authority shall not operate to make such authority an agency of

the municipal corporation making the grant.

* NB Effective April 1, 2027

2. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction, or improvement of

any mass transportation capital project by a county, city, town or

village pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the

jurisdiction of the commissioner of transportation except as provided in

sections sixty-eight, sixty-nine, sixty-nine-a, sixty-nine-b,

sixty-nine-c, and sixty-nine-d of the transportation corporations law.

3. The powers granted by this section shall be in addition to and not

in substitution for any other power to acquire, construct, reconstruct,

improve, equip, maintain or operate any mass transportation capital

project.