STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 256 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. MARTINEZ, WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government AN ACT to amend the general municipal law and the public authorities law, in relation to making housing a policy of the state of New York The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 852 of the general municipal law, as amended by 2 chapter 630 of the laws of 1977, the first undesignated paragraph as 3 amended by chapter 747 of the laws of 2005, the second undesignated 4 paragraph as amended by chapter 478 of the laws of 2011 and the third 5 undesignated paragraph as amended by section 4 of part X of chapter 59 6 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 7 § 852. Policy and purposes of article. It is hereby declared to be the 8 policy of this state to promote the economic welfare, recreation oppor- 9 tunities and prosperity of its inhabitants and to actively promote, 10 attract, encourage and develop recreation, economically sound commerce 11 and industry and economically sound projects identified and called for 12 to implement a state heritage area management plan as provided in title 13 G of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law through govern- 14 mental action for the purpose of preventing unemployment and economic 15 deterioration by the creation of industrial development agencies which 16 are hereby declared to be governmental agencies and instrumentalities 17 and to grant to such industrial development agencies the rights and 18 powers provided in this article. 19 It is hereby further declared to be the policy of this state to 20 protect and promote the health of the inhabitants of this state by the 21 conservation, protection and improvement of the natural and cultural or 22 historic resources and environment and to control land, sewer, water, 23 air, noise or general environmental pollution derived from the operation 24 of industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, commercial, recreation, horse EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD01111-01-5
S. 256 2 1 racing facilities, railroad facilities, automobile racing facilities and 2 research facilities and to grant such industrial development agencies 3 the rights and powers provided by this article with respect to indus- 4 trial pollution control facilities. 5 It is hereby further declared to be the policy of this state to 6 protect and promote the health of the inhabitants of this state and to 7 increase trade through promoting the development of facilities to 8 provide recreation for the citizens of the state and to attract tourists 9 from other states, to increasing housing stock in support of the state's 10 housing goals as may be established and amended from time to time and to 11 promote the development of renewable energy projects to support the 12 state's renewable energy goals as may be established or amended from 13 time to time. 14 The use of all such rights and powers is a public purpose essential to 15 the public interest, and for which public funds may be expended. 16 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 854 of the general municipal law, as 17 amended by section 5 of part X of chapter 59 of the laws of 2021, is 18 amended to read as follows: 19 (4) "Project" - shall mean any land, any building or other improve- 20 ment, and all real and personal properties located within the state of 21 New York and within or outside or partially within and partially outside 22 the municipality for whose benefit the agency was created, including, 23 but not limited to, machinery, equipment and other facilities deemed 24 necessary or desirable in connection therewith, or incidental thereto, 25 whether or not now in existence or under construction, which shall be 26 suitable for manufacturing, warehousing, research, commercial, renewable 27 energy, housing or industrial purposes or other economically sound 28 purposes identified and called for to implement a state designated urban 29 cultural park management plan as provided in title G of the parks, 30 recreation and historic preservation law and which may include or mean 31 an industrial pollution control facility, a recreation facility, educa- 32 tional or cultural facility, a horse racing facility, a railroad facili- 33 ty, a renewable energy project, housing facility, or an automobile 34 racing facility, provided, however, no agency shall use its funds or 35 provide financial assistance in respect of any project wholly or 36 partially outside the municipality for whose benefit the agency was 37 created without the prior consent thereto by the governing body or 38 bodies of all the other municipalities in which a part or parts of the 39 project is, or is to be, located, and such portion of the project 40 located outside such municipality for whose benefit the agency was 41 created shall be contiguous with the portion of the project inside such 42 municipality. 43 § 3. The opening paragraph of section 858 of the general municipal 44 law, as amended by section 6 of part X of chapter 59 of the laws of 45 2021, is amended to read as follows: 46 The purposes of the agency shall be to promote, develop, encourage and 47 assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, main- 48 taining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, warehous- 49 ing, commercial, research, renewable energy, housing, and recreation 50 facilities including industrial pollution control facilities, educa- 51 tional or cultural facilities, railroad facilities, horse racing facili- 52 ties, automobile racing facilities, renewable energy projects, housing 53 facilities and continuing care retirement communities, provided, howev- 54 er, that, of agencies governed by this article, only agencies created 55 for the benefit of a county and the agency created for the benefit of 56 the city of New York shall be authorized to provide financial assistance
S. 256 3 1 in any respect to a continuing care retirement community, and thereby 2 advance the job opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic 3 welfare of the people of the state of New York and to improve their 4 recreation opportunities, prosperity and standard of living; and to 5 carry out the aforesaid purposes, each agency shall have the following 6 powers: 7 § 4. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 5 of section 859-a of the general 8 municipal law, as amended by section 7 of part X of chapter 59 of the 9 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 10 (b) a written cost-benefit analysis by the agency that identifies the 11 extent to which a project will create or retain permanent, private 12 sector jobs; the estimated value of any tax exemptions to be provided; 13 the amount of private sector investment generated or likely to be gener- 14 ated by the proposed project; the contribution of the project to the 15 state's renewable energy goals and emission reduction targets as set 16 forth in the state energy plan adopted pursuant to section 6-104 of the 17 energy law; the contribution of the project to the state's housing goals 18 of increasing housing options including but not limited to affordable, 19 workforce, and senior housing; the likelihood of accomplishing the 20 proposed project in a timely fashion; and the extent to which the 21 proposed project will provide additional sources of revenue for munici- 22 palities and school districts; and any other public benefits that might 23 occur as a result of the project; 24 § 5. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 874 of the general 25 municipal law, as amended by chapter 386 of the laws of 2019, is amended 26 to read as follows: 27 (a) The agency shall establish a uniform tax exemption policy, with 28 input from affected tax jurisdictions, which shall be applicable to the 29 provision of financial assistance pursuant to section eight hundred 30 fifty-nine-a of this [chapter] title and shall provide guidelines for 31 the claiming of real property, mortgage recording, and sales tax 32 exemptions. Such guidelines shall include, but not be limited to: peri- 33 od of exemption; percentage of exemption; types of projects for which 34 exemptions can be claimed; procedures for payments in lieu of taxes and 35 instances in which real property appraisals are to be performed as a 36 part of an application for tax exemption; in addition, agencies shall in 37 adopting such policy consider such issues as: the extent to which a 38 project will create or retain permanent, private sector jobs; the esti- 39 mated value of any tax exemptions to be provided; whether affected tax 40 jurisdictions shall be reimbursed by the project occupant if a project 41 does not fulfill the purposes for which an exemption was provided; the 42 impact of a proposed project on existing and proposed businesses and 43 economic development projects in the vicinity; the amount of private 44 sector investment generated or likely to be generated by the proposed 45 project; the demonstrated public support for the proposed project; the 46 likelihood of accomplishing the proposed project in a timely fashion; 47 the effect of the proposed project upon the environment; the extent to 48 which the project will utilize, to the fullest extent practicable and 49 economically feasible, resource conservation, energy efficiency, green 50 technologies, and alternative and renewable energy measures; the extent 51 to which the project will bring additional housing units to the market; 52 the extent to which the proposed project will require the provision of 53 additional services, including, but not limited to additional educa- 54 tional, transportation, police, emergency medical or fire services; and 55 the extent to which the proposed project will provide additional sources 56 of revenue for municipalities and school districts.
S. 256 4 1 § 6. Subdivision 5 of section 1951 of the public authorities law, as 2 amended by chapter 907 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 5. The term "project" shall mean any land in one or more areas of the 5 city and any building, structure, facility or other improvement thereon, 6 including, but not limited to machinery and equipment and all real and 7 personal property deemed necessary in connection therewith, whether or 8 not now in existence or under construction, which shall be necessary or 9 suitable for manufacturing, warehousing, research, commercial, housing 10 or industrial purposes and which may include or mean an industrial 11 pollution control facility. 12 § 7. The opening paragraph of section 1953 of the public authorities 13 law, as amended by chapter 579 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read 14 as follows: 15 The purposes of the authority shall be to promote, develop, encourage 16 and assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, 17 maintaining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, ware- 18 house, commercial, housing and research facilities including industrial 19 pollution control facilities, transportation facilities including but 20 not limited to those relating to water, highway, rail and air, in one or 21 more areas of the city, particularly but not exclusively at the site of 22 what was formerly the Troy airport including an airstrip or airport 23 located in the southern section of the city and thereby advance the job 24 opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the 25 people of said city and to improve their standard of living; provided, 26 however, that the authority shall not undertake any project if the 27 completion thereof would result in the removal of an industrial or manu- 28 facturing plant of the project occupant from one area of the state to 29 another area of the state or in the abandonment of one or more plants or 30 facilities of the project applicant located within the state, provided, 31 however, that neither restriction shall apply if the authority shall 32 determine on the basis of the application before it that the project is 33 reasonably necessary to discourage the project occupant from removing 34 such other plant or facility to a location outside the state or is 35 reasonably necessary to preserve the competitive position of the project 36 occupant in its respective industry. Except as otherwise provided for in 37 this section, no financial assistance of the authority shall be provided 38 in respect of any project where facilities or property that are primari- 39 ly used in making retail sales to customers who personally visit such 40 facilities constitute more than one-third of the total project cost. For 41 the purposes of this article, "retail sales" shall mean: (i) sales by a 42 registered vendor under article twenty-eight of the tax law primarily 43 engaged in the retail sale of tangible personal property, as defined in 44 subparagraph (i) of paragraph four of subdivision (b) of section eleven 45 hundred one of the tax law; or (ii) sales of a service to such custom- 46 ers. Except, however, that tourism destination projects shall not be 47 prohibited by this paragraph. For the purpose of this paragraph, "tour- 48 ism destination" shall mean a location or facility which is likely to 49 attract a significant number of visitors from outside the economic 50 development region as established by section two hundred thirty of the 51 economic development law in which the project is located. 52 § 8. Subdivision 1 of section 1963-a of the public authorities law, as 53 amended by chapter 386 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as 54 follows: 55 1. The authority shall establish a uniform tax exemption policy, with 56 input from affected local taxing jurisdictions, which shall be applica-
S. 256 5 1 ble to provisions of financial assistance pursuant to section nineteen 2 hundred fifty-three-a of this title and shall provide guidelines for the 3 claiming of real property, mortgage recording, and sales tax exemptions. 4 Such guidelines shall include, but not be limited to: period of 5 exemption; percentage of exemption; types of projects for which 6 exemptions can be claimed; procedures for payments in lieu of taxes and 7 instances in which real property appraisals are to be performed as a 8 part of an application for tax exemption; in addition, the authority in 9 adopting such policy shall consider such issues as: the extent to which 10 a project will create or retain permanent, private sector jobs; the 11 estimated value of any tax exemption to be provided; whether affected 12 tax jurisdictions should be reimbursed by the project occupant if a 13 project does not fulfill the purposes for which an exemption was 14 provided; the impact of a proposed project on existing and proposed 15 businesses and economic development projects in the vicinity; the amount 16 of private sector investment generated or likely to be generated by the 17 proposed project; the demonstrated public support for the proposed 18 project; the likelihood of accomplishing the proposed project in a time- 19 ly fashion; the effect of the proposed project upon the environment; the 20 extent to which the project will utilize, to the fullest extent practi- 21 cable and economically feasible, resource conservation, energy efficien- 22 cy, green technologies, and alternative and renewable energy measures; 23 the extent to which the project will bring additional housing units to 24 the market; the extent to which the proposed project will require the 25 provision of additional services, including, but not limited to addi- 26 tional educational, transportation, police, emergency medical or fire 27 services; and the extent to which the proposed project will provide 28 additional sources [or] of revenue for municipalities and school 29 districts. 30 § 9. Subdivision 5 of section 2302 of the public authorities law, as 31 amended by chapter 356 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as 32 follows: 33 5. The term "project" shall mean any land in one or more areas of the 34 city and within or outside or partially within and partially outside the 35 city and any building, structure, facility or other improvement thereon, 36 including, but not limited to machinery and equipment and all real and 37 personal properties deemed necessary in connection therewith, whether or 38 not now in existence or under construction, which shall be necessary or 39 suitable for industrial, warehousing, research, housing or commercial 40 purposes, or for use by a federal agency or a medical facility and which 41 may include or mean an industrial pollution control facility or a civic 42 facility, provided, however, the authority shall not provide financial 43 assistance in respect of any project wholly or partially outside the 44 city provided, however, that the authority may provide financial assist- 45 ance for such a project where a portion of the project outside the city 46 is contiguous to a portion of the project located within the city if the 47 authority obtains the prior consent thereto by the governing body or 48 bodies of all the other cities, towns or villages in which a part or 49 parts of the project is, or is to be, located. 50 § 10. The opening paragraph of section 2306 of the public authorities 51 law, as amended by chapter 304 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read 52 as follows: 53 The purposes of the authority shall be to promote, develop, encourage 54 and assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, 55 maintaining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, ware- 56 house, commercial, housing, and research facilities and facilities for
S. 256 6 1 use by a federal agency or a medical facility including industrial 2 pollution control facilities, which may include transportation facili- 3 ties including but not limited to those relating to water, highway, rail 4 and air, in one or more areas of the city, and thereby advance the job 5 opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the 6 people of said city and to improve their medical care and standard of 7 living; provided, however, that the authority shall not undertake any 8 project if the completion thereof would result in the removal of an 9 industrial or manufacturing plant of the project occupant from one area 10 of the state to another area of the state or in abandonment of one or 11 more plants or facilities of the project applicant located within the 12 state, provided, however, that neither restriction shall apply if the 13 authority shall determine on the basis of the application before it that 14 the project is reasonably necessary to discourage the project occupant 15 from removing such other plant or facility to a location outside the 16 state or is reasonably necessary to preserve the competitive position of 17 the project occupant in its respective industry. Except as otherwise 18 provided for in this section, no financial assistance of the authority 19 shall be provided in respect of any project where facilities or property 20 that are primarily used in making retail sales to customers who 21 personally visit such facilities constitute more than one-third of the 22 total project cost. For the purposes of this article, "retail sales" 23 shall mean: (i) sales by a registered vendor under article twenty-eight 24 of the tax law primarily engaged in the retail sale of tangible personal 25 property, as defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph four of subdivi- 26 sion (b) of section eleven hundred one of the tax law; or (ii) sales of 27 a service to such customers. Except, however, that tourism destination 28 projects shall not be prohibited by this paragraph. For the purpose of 29 this paragraph, "tourism destination" shall mean a location or facility 30 which is likely to attract a significant number of visitors from outside 31 the economic development region as established by section two hundred 32 thirty of the economic development law, in which the project is located. 33 § 11. Subdivision 1 of section 2315 of the public authorities law, as 34 amended by chapter 386 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as 35 follows: 36 1. The authority shall establish a uniform tax exemption policy, with 37 input from affected local taxing jurisdictions, which shall be applica- 38 ble to provisions of financial assistance pursuant to section twenty- 39 three hundred seven of this title and shall provide guidelines for the 40 claiming of real property, mortgage recording, and sales tax exemptions. 41 Such guidelines shall include, but not be limited to: period of 42 exemption; percentage of exemption; types of projects for which 43 exemptions may be claimed; procedures for payments in lieu of taxes and 44 instances in which real property appraisals are to be performed as a 45 part of an application for tax exemption; in addition, the authority in 46 adopting such policy shall consider such issues as: the extent to which 47 a project will create or retain permanent, private sector jobs; the 48 estimated value of any tax exemption to be provided; whether affected 49 tax jurisdictions should be reimbursed by the project occupant if a 50 project does not fulfill the purposes for which an exemption was 51 provided; the impact of a proposed project on existing and proposed 52 businesses and economic development projects in the vicinity; the amount 53 of private sector investment generated or likely to be generated by the 54 proposed project; the demonstrated public support for the proposed 55 project; the likelihood of accomplishing the proposed project in a time- 56 ly fashion; the effect of the proposed project upon the environment; the
S. 256 7 1 extent to which the project will utilize, to the fullest extent practi- 2 cable and economically feasible, resource conservation, energy efficien- 3 cy, green technologies, and alternative and renewable energy measures; 4 the extent to which the project will bring additional housing units to 5 the market; the extent to which the proposed project will require the 6 provision of additional services, including, but not limited to addi- 7 tional educational, transportation, police, emergency medical or fire 8 services; and the extent to which the proposed project will provide 9 additional sources of revenue for municipalities and school districts. 10 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately.