N.Y. Public Authorities Law § 1953: Purpose and powers of the authority

§ 1953. Purpose and powers of the authority. 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, warehouse,

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

manufacturing 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 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 primarily 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 customers. Except, however, that tourism

destination projects shall not be prohibited by this paragraph. For the

purpose of this paragraph, "tourism 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

facilities 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

executive officer of the city of Troy shall confirm the proposed action

of the authority. To carry out said purposes, the authority shall have

power:

1. To sue and be sued;

2. To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;

3. To acquire, hold and dispose of personal property for its corporate

purpose;

4. To acquire by purchase, grant, lease, gift, condemnation, or

otherwise 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

fifty-five of this title;

5. To make by-laws for the management and regulation of its affairs

and, subject to agreements with its bondholders, for the regulation of

the use of the project;

6. With the consent of the city, to use agents, employees and

facilities of the city, paying the city its agreed proportion of the

compensation or costs;

7. To appoint officers, agents and employees, to prescribe their

qualifications 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

fifty-four of this title;

8. To appoint an attorney, who may be the corporation counsel of the

city, and to fix the attorney's compensation for services which shall be

payable to the attorney, and to retain and employ private consultants

for professional and technical assistance and advice; provided that an

attorney acting as bond counsel for a project must file with the

authority a written statement in which the attorney identifies each

party to the transaction which such attorney represents. If bond counsel

provides any legal services to parties other than the authority, the

written statement must describe the nature of legal services provided by

such bond counsel to all parties to the transaction, including the

nature of the services provided to the authority;

9. To make contracts and leases upon such terms as the authority shall

deem appropriate, including without limitation leases which grant the

tenant of a project an option to renew or an option to purchase the

project, or both, at a fixed or otherwise predetermined price and to

execute all instruments necessary or convenient;

10. To acquire, construct, reconstruct, lease, improve, maintain,

equip or furnish one or more projects;

11. To accept gifts, grants, loans or contributions from, and enter

into contracts or other transactions with, the United States and the

state or any agency of either of them, any municipality, any public or

private corporation or any other legal entity, and to use any such

gifts, grants, loans or contributions for any of its corporate purposes;

12. To borrow money and to issue bonds and to provide for the rights

of the holders thereof;

13. To designate the depositories of its money either within or

without the state of New York;

14. To enter into agreements requiring payments in lieu of taxes. Such

agreements shall be in writing and in addition to other terms shall

contain: the amount due annually to each affected tax jurisdiction (or a

formula by which the amount due can be calculated), the name and address

of the person, office or agency to which payment shall be delivered, the

date on which payment shall be made, and the date on which payment shall

be considered delinquent if not paid. Unless otherwise agreed by the

affected tax jurisdictions, any such agreement shall provide that

payments in lieu of taxes shall be allocated among affected tax

jurisdictions in proportion to the amount of real property tax and other

taxes which would have been received by each affected tax jurisdiction

had the project not been tax exempt due to the status of the authority

involved in the project. A copy of any such agreement shall be delivered

to each affected tax jurisdiction within fifteen days of signing the

agreement. In the absence of any such written agreement, payments in

lieu of taxes made by an agency shall be allocated in the same

proportions as they had been prior to January first, nineteen hundred

ninety-three for so long as the authority's activities render a project

non-taxable by affected tax jurisdictions. A notification of the

expiration of such agreement shall be delivered to the affected tax

jurisdiction two years prior to the expiration of such agreement and

immediately upon early termination of an agreement;

15. To establish and reestablish its fiscal year; and

16. To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out its purposes

and exercise the powers expressly given in this title.