2023 New York Laws › GMU - General Municipal › Article 15-A - Municipal Urban Renewal Agencies, Organization and Powers › 557 - State Capital Grants.

§  557.  State  capital grants. 1. The commissioner may in the name of
the state, (a) in the case of agencies which have  contracted  with  the
federal government for a capital grant (or for a loan and grant) make or
contract  to make, within appropriations therefor, a state capital grant
to such agency to assist in carrying out one or more programs  of  urban
renewal;
(b)  in  the  case  of  agencies which have not made application to or
entered into a contract with the federal government for advances,  loans
or  grants  with  respect  to  a specific urban renewal project, make or
contract to make a state capital grant, within appropriations  therefor,
to  such  agency  to assist in meeting the cost of surveys and plans for
such project and the administrative and other related expenditures to be
incurred in undertaking and completing such project.
All contracts for such  state  capital  grants  shall  be  subject  to
approval  by  the  state  comptroller, and by the attorney general as to
form. The commissioner may make advances or progress payments on account
of any state capital grant  contracted  to  be  made  pursuant  to  this
section  and  such  advances  or  payments shall not constitute periodic
subsidies.
2. Any such state capital  grant  shall  be  in  such  amount,  within
appropriations  therefor,  as  the  commissioner, in his discretion, may
deem necessary to assist the agency in discharging  its  obligations  in
connection  with  the  programs  for  which  the  grant  shall  be made;
provided, however, that no such grant shall exceed one-half of  the  net
cost  of  such  program  to  the agency, exclusive of any federal aid or
assistance, as such net cost  shall  be  certified  by  the  agency  and
approved  by  the  commissioner.  If  the  agency  has not applied to or
entered into a contract with the federal government for advances,  loans
or  grants  for  a  specific  project, such grant shall not in any event
exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).
3. No agency shall receive any such state capital grant until (a)  the
urban  renewal  plan  has  been  approved by the governing body, (b) the
program set forth in such  plan  has  been  certified  as  eligible  for
federal  assistance  by the appropriate federal agency, or the governing
body has found that such federal financial assistance is  not  necessary
for  the  undertaking and successful completion of the program set forth
in such plan, and (c) the governing body has attached  its  approval  to
the grant contract. The commissioner may make temporary advances to such
agency in anticipation of any such grant.
4. Notwithstanding anything contained in this section to the contrary,
the  commissioner  may  in  the name of the state, within appropriations
heretofore or hereafter made for  state  capital  grants  to  assist  in
carrying  out one or more local urban renewal programs, make or contract
to make advances of funds to agencies, in anticipation of any such state
capital grant, to assist such agencies in preparing preliminary economic
and physical plans for relocation housing, regulated by law or  contract
as  to  rents,  for  persons  and  families to be displaced by the urban
renewal program whose  housing  needs  cannot  be  met  by  the  unaided
operations  of  private  enterprise. Upon completion such plans shall be
filed with the commissioner.
No such contract or advance shall be made (a) before an urban  renewal
area,  to  whose  residents  such  relocation  housing relates, has been
designated pursuant to section five hundred four of  this  article;  (b)
unless  the  governing  body  has  certified  that  the  preparation  of
preliminary plans for such relocation housing is necessary to the making
of a finding, pursuant to section five hundred five of this article,  as
to  the  existence of a feasible method of relocation; and (c) in excess
of the lowest of the following amounts:
(i) the actual cost of preparation of such preliminary plans;
(ii)  one-half  of  one per cent of the estimated construction cost of
the proposed relocation housing;
(iii) twenty-five thousand dollars;
and every such advance shall be repaid out of any  state  capital  grant
which  may become payable to the agency for the undertaking of the urban
renewal project involved.
5. Notwithstanding anything  contained  in  this  article  or  article
fifteen  of  this  chapter  to the contrary, the commissioner may in the
name of the state, within appropriations heretofore  or  hereafter  made
for  state  capital  grants  to assist in carrying out one or more local
urban renewal programs make or contract to make state capital grants  to
such  agencies  to  assist  in financing the cost of the preparation and
completion of one or more community renewal programs.
Any  such  state  capital  grant  shall  be  in  such  amount,  within
appropriations  therefor,  as  the  commissioner, in his discretion, may
deem necessary to assist the agency in discharging  its  obligations  in
connection  with  the  program  for which the state grant shall be made;
provided, however,  that  no  such  state  capital  grant  shall  exceed
one-half  of  the  cost to the agency of undertaking and completing such
program, exclusive of any federal or state aid or  assistance  therefor,
as  such  cost  shall  be  certified  by  the agency and approved by the
commissioner.
No agency shall receive any such state grant until (a)  the  community
renewal program has been approved by the governing body, (b) the program
has been certified as eligible for federal assistance by the appropriate
federal  agency, and (c) the governing body has attached its approval to
the state capital grant contract.
All contracts for such  state  capital  grants  shall  be  subject  to
approval  by  the  state  comptroller, and by the attorney general as to
form. The commissioner may make advances or progress payments on account
of any such state capital grant contract to be  made  pursuant  to  this
section.
6.  (a)  Notwithstanding  anything  to  the contrary contained in this
section or elsewhere in this chapter, or  in  any  general,  special  or
local  law, except as hereinafter provided, the commissioner may, in the
name of the state, include in determining  the  net  cost  of  an  urban
renewal  project  for  the  purpose  of  computing  the  amount of state
financial assistance to an agency, those expenditures made by a  private
voluntary  hospital  and/or  by a private college or private university,
within, adjacent to, or in the immediate vicinity of such project  which
are  recognized as non-cash grant-in-aid credits under the provisions of
section one hundred twelve of title one of the federal  housing  act  of
nineteen  hundred  forty-nine,  as  amended  and supplemented; provided,
however, that such computation shall not  apply  to  any  urban  renewal
project  for  which  a  contract  has  been  executed  with  the federal
government for a capital grant (or for a loan and grant)  prior  to  the
first day of July, nineteen hundred sixty-six.
(b) Not more than fifteen per centum of the amount appropriated by the
state  or  otherwise available to the commissioner in any year for urban
renewal assistance to  municipalities  and  agencies  pursuant  to  this
section  and section five hundred ten of this chapter shall be available
for the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subdivision.
(c) In no instance shall the amount of state assistance to  an  agency
under this subdivision exceed the net project cost, excluding the amount
of  the non-cash grant-in-aid credits for expenditures made by a private
voluntary hospital and/or by a private  college  or  private  university
allowed  in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred twelve

of title I of the federal housing act of nineteen hundred forty-nine  as
amended  and  supplemented,  less any federal capital grant, or loan and
grant, for such  project;  nor  shall  the  aggregate  amount  of  state
assistance  for  any  such  urban renewal project, including section one
hundred twelve grant-in-aid credits as  provided  by  this  subdivision,
exceed  one-half  of the total local grant-in-aid requirements necessary
to complete such project.
(d) No such section one hundred twelve non-cash  grant-in-aid  credits
shall  be  included  in  determining  the  net  cost of an urban renewal
project for the purpose of  computing  the  amount  of  state  financial
assistance to an agency unless such expenditures were made in conformity
with   a   plan   or  undertaking  for  the  clearance,  replanning  and
reconstruction or rehabilitation of a substandard or insanitary area  or
areas.
(e)  Such  plan  or  undertaking,  for  the  clearance, replanning and
reconstruction  or  rehabilitation  of  a  substandard  insanitary  area
adjacent  to  or  in  the immediate vicinity of an urban renewal project
shall conform to the comprehensive community plan for the development of
the community as a whole.  Every  such  plan  or  undertaking  shall  be
submitted  to the commission, if any, for approval. The commission after
considering the plan or undertaking may: issue a report  of  unqualified
approval;  or  issue  a  report of conditional or qualified approval; or
issue a report disapproving same.  The  plan  or  undertaking  shall  be
submitted,  together  with  the  report  of the commission, to the local
legislative body for its approval. If the commission shall have issued a
report of unqualified approval, the plan or undertaking may be  approved
in  accordance  with  the report of the commission by a majority vote of
the local legislative body. If the commission shall have issued a report
disapproving same, or shall have  issued  a  report  of  conditional  or
unqualified  approval,  or  shall  have failed to make its report within
four weeks  of  the  submission  of  the  plan  or  undertaking  to  the
commission,  the  local  legislative body may, nevertheless, approve the
plan or undertaking but only by a three-fourths vote.