N.Y. General Municipal Law § 209-ee: Adoption of a code of ethics and disclosure of interests by fire companies

§ 209-ee. Adoption of a code of ethics and disclosure of interests by

fire companies. 1. Notwithstanding any provision of general, special or

local law to the contrary, every fire company that contracts with or is

under the control of a county, city, town, village or fire district to

provide fire protection or other emergency service, shall adopt a code

of ethics. Such code shall set forth the standards of conduct reasonably

expected.

2. Any elected and/or appointed officer of a volunteer fire company

responsible for governance, including but not limited to a line officer,

treasurer, president, vice president and secretary, who has, will have,

or later acquires an interest in or whose spouse has, will have, or

later acquires an interest in any actual or proposed contract, purchase

agreement, lease agreement or other agreement, including oral

agreements, with the fire company of which he or she is a member, shall

publicly disclose the nature and extent of such interest in writing to

his or her immediate supervisor and to the governing body thereof as

soon as he or she has knowledge of such actual or prospective interest.

Such written disclosure shall be made part of and set forth in the

official record of the proceedings of such body.

3. a. For the purpose of this section the term fire company shall have

the same meaning as defined in section three of the volunteer

firefighters' benefit law.

b. For the purpose of this section the term interest shall mean a

direct or indirect pecuniary or material benefit accruing to an elected

and/or appointed officer of a volunteer company as the result of a

contract with the fire entity which he or she serves. For the purposes

of this article an elected and/or appointed officer of a volunteer

company shall be deemed to have an interest in the contract of (i) his

or her spouse, minor children and dependents, (ii) a firm, partnership

or association of which such individual is a member or employee, (iii) a

corporation of which such individual is an officer, director or employee

and (iv) a corporation any stock of which is owned or controlled

directly or indirectly by such individual.

c. The disclosure requirement of subdivision two of this section shall

not apply to the following:

(i) a contract with a corporation in which an individual has an

interest by reason of stockholdings when less than five per centum of

the outstanding stock of the corporation is owned or controlled directly

or indirectly by such individual; or

(ii) a contract in which an individual has an interest if the total

consideration payable thereunder, when added to the aggregate amount of

all consideration payable under contracts in which such person had an

interest during the fiscal year, does not exceed the sum of seven

hundred fifty dollars.