SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department

217 

CA 14-01182 

PRESENT: CENTRA, J.P., PERADOTTO, CARNI, SCONIERS, AND DEJOSEPH, JJ. 

 

IN THE MATTER OF OPERATION OSWEGO COUNTY, INC., 

PETITIONER-PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT, 

V MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

STATE OF NEW YORK AUTHORITIES BUDGET OFFICE, AN 

INDEPENDENT ENTITY WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 

RESPONDENT-DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. 

 

ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ALBANY (JEFFREY W. LANG OF

COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT-DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. 

HISCOCK & BARCLAY LLP, SYRACUSE (ANDREW J. LEJA OF COUNSEL), FOR

PETITIONER-PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT. 

 

Appeal from a judgment (denominated order) of the Supreme Court,

Oswego County (Norman W. Seiter, Jr., J.), entered December 16, 2013

in a CPLR article 78 proceeding and a declaratory judgment action. 

The judgment, among other things, ordered that a permanent injunction

shall be entered against respondent prohibiting respondent from

enforcing the reporting requirements complained of by petitioner.

It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is

unanimously reversed on the law without costs, the three decretal

paragraphs are vacated, the petition/complaint insofar as it seeks

relief pursuant to CPLR article 78 is denied, and judgment is granted

in favor of respondent as follows: 

It is ADJUDGED AND DECLARED that petitioner is a local

authority as defined in the Public Authorities Law. 

Memorandum: Petitioner-plaintiff (petitioner) commenced this

combined CPLR article 78 proceeding and declaratory judgment action

seeking to annul the determination of respondent-defendant

(respondent) that petitioner is subject to respondent’s oversight and

reporting obligations as a local authority and seeking, inter alia, a

declaration that it is not a local authority as defined in the Public

Authorities Law and thus is not subject to the reporting requirements

therein. Supreme Court agreed with petitioner and, inter alia, issued

a permanent injunction prohibiting respondent from imposing the

reporting requirements against petitioner. We now reverse.

A “local authority” under the Public Authorities Law includes “a

not-for-profit corporation affiliated with, sponsored by, or created
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CA 14-01182 

by a county, city, town or village government” (§ 2 [2] [b]). 

Petitioner is a not-for-profit corporation that acts as a local

development corporation by establishing and implementing economic

development strategies for Oswego County (County). We agree with

respondent that petitioner is a local authority inasmuch as it is

affiliated with and/or sponsored by the County (see Matter of Griffiss

Local Dev. Corp. v State of N.Y. Auth. Budget Off., 85 AD3d 1402,

1404-1405, lv denied 17 NY3d 714). The record establishes that the

County regularly gives grants to petitioner, which comprise the

majority of its budget. As explained in Griffiss Local Dev. Corp.,

the term “sponsor” means, inter alia, “ ‘a person or an organization

that pays for or plans and carries out a project or activity’ ” (id.

at 1404, quoting Merriam-Webster On-line Dictionary [emphasis added]). 

The County has also given interest-free loans to petitioner. 

Furthermore, a County official serves as a voting member of

petitioner’s board, and several County officials serve as ex-officio,

non-voting members of petitioner’s board. Considering the totality of

the circumstances (see id. at 1405 n 4), we conclude that petitioner

is a local authority as defined in the Public Authorities Law.

Entered: February 13, 2015 Frances E. Cafarell

Clerk of the Court