2023 New York Laws › GMU - General Municipal › Article 5-I - Mass Transportation and Airport and Aviation Facilities › 119-R - Provision of Mass Transportation by Certain Municipal Corporations.

§  119-r.  Provision  of  mass  transportation  by  certain  municipal
corporations. * 1.  To  assure  the  provision  of  mass  transportation
services  to the public at adequate levels and at reasonable cost, every
city, town, village or county not wholly contained within a city,  shall
have power to adopt local laws to authorize:
a.   The   acquisition,   construction,  reconstruction,  improvement,
equipment, maintenance, financing subject to the provisions of paragraph
f of this subdivision, or operation of one or more  mass  transportation
projects.  Such  municipal corporation shall have power to occupy or use
any of the streets, roads, highways, avenues, parks or public places  of
such  municipal  corporation therefor and to agree upon and contract for
the terms and conditions thereof.
b. The making of a  contract  or  contracts  for  the  acquisition  by
purchase  of  all or any part of the property, plant and equipment of an
existing mass transportation facility actually used and useful  for  the
convenience of the public.
c.  The  making  of  a  contract or contracts with any person, firm or
corporation,  including  a  public   authority,   for   the   equipment,
maintenance  or  operation  of  a  mass  transportation  facility owned,
acquired, constructed, reconstructed or improved by it.
d. The making of a contract or contracts for  a  fair  and  reasonable
consideration  for  mass  transportation  services to be rendered to the
public by a privately-owned or operated  mass  transportation  facility.
Such  power shall include but not be limited to the power to appropriate
funds for payment of such consideration, and to provide that all or part
of such consideration shall be in the form of capital  equipment  to  be
furnished to and used and maintained by such privately-owned or operated
mass transportation facility.
e. The making of unconditional grants of money or property to a public
authority  providing mass transportation services to all or part of such
municipal corporation in  order  to  assist  such  public  authority  in
meeting  its capital or operating expenses, provided such money does not
consist of borrowed funds and such property has not been acquired by the
use of borrowed funds. Such purpose is hereby  declared  to  be  county,
city,  town  or  village  purposes, respectively. The provisions of this
paragraph are intended as enabling legislation only  and  shall  not  be
interpreted   as  implying  that  absent  their  enactment  a  municipal
corporation would lack the power to authorize any such grant;  but  they
shall  not  be  interpreted  as  an  authorization to public authorities
generally to accept such grants. The acceptance of any such grant  by  a
public  authority  shall not operate to make such authority an agency of
the municipal corporation making the grant.
f. The making of  a  contract  with  the  metropolitan  transportation
authority, by itself or with one or more other municipal corporations to
assist  the  authority  in  meeting its capital or operating expenses in
providing mass transportation services of benefit to all or part of such
municipal  corporation,  including  undertaking  a  mass  transportation
capital  project  in or near the municipal corporation. Such a municipal
corporation may, according  to  the  terms  of  the  contract  with  the
authority,  establish,  levy  and  collect  taxes,  assessments,  and/or
charges and may conditionally  or  unconditionally  grant  or  pledge  a
portion  of  its  revenues  allocated according to subdivision e of this
section. Such municipal corporation may  designate  mass  transportation
capital  project  districts  that  a  municipal corporation finds, after
conducting a public  hearing,  will  benefit  from  an  identified  mass
transportation  capital  project.  Upon designating such a district, the
municipal corporation may allocate a portion of its  revenues  from  the
district according to terms it designs or has agreed to by contract. The

municipal  corporation  may,  in allocating and collecting revenues from
the district, make use of one or  more  methods  to  capture  the  value
created  by  a  mass  transportation capital project, including, but not
limited to:
(i) tax increment financing, meaning the allocation of an increment of
property  tax  revenues in excess of the amount levied at the time prior
to planning of a mass transportation capital project;
(ii) a special transportation assessment imposed upon  benefited  real
property  in  proportion to the benefit received by such property from a
mass transportation capital project, which shall not constitute a tax;
(iii) land value taxation, meaning the allocation of an  increment  of
tax  revenues gained from levying taxes on the assessed value of taxable
land at a higher rate than the improvements, as defined  in  subdivision
twelve of section one hundred two of the real property tax law; and
(iv)  some  combination  of  the  above  or  other  methods of gaining
revenues that the municipal corporation is empowered  to  use,  provided
that the total amount of all taxes, assessments, fees, charges, or rates
levied  on  each  parcel or lot under this section shall be limited to a
proportionate amount as near as possible to  the  actual  benefit  which
each  lot  or  parcel  will  derive from the mass transportation capital
project; and
(v) for purposes of this  paragraph  the  term  municipal  corporation
shall  include only those cities, towns, villages and counties described
in section twelve hundred sixty-two of the public authorities law.
* NB Effective until April 1, 2025
* 1. To assure the provision of mass transportation  services  to  the
public  at  adequate  levels  and  at reasonable cost, every city, town,
village or county not wholly contained within a city, shall  have  power
to adopt local laws to authorize:
a.   The   acquisition,   construction,  reconstruction,  improvement,
equipment, maintenance or operation of one or more  mass  transportation
projects.  Such  municipal corporation shall have power to occupy or use
any of the streets, roads, highways, avenues, parks or public places  of
such  municipal  corporation therefor and to agree upon and contract for
the terms and conditions thereof.
b. The making of a  contract  or  contracts  for  the  acquisition  by
purchase  of  all or any part of the property, plant and equipment of an
existing mass transportation facility actually used and useful  for  the
convenience of the public.
c.  The  making  of  a  contract or contracts with any person, firm or
corporation,  including  a  public   authority,   for   the   equipment,
maintenance  or  operation  of  a  mass  transportation  facility owned,
acquired, constructed, reconstructed or improved by it.
d. The making of a contract or contracts for  a  fair  and  reasonable
consideration  for  mass  transportation  services to be rendered to the
public by a privately-owned or operated  mass  transportation  facility.
Such  power shall include but not be limited to the power to appropriate
funds for payment of such consideration, and to provide that all or part
of such consideration shall be in the form of capital  equipment  to  be
furnished to and used and maintained by such privately-owned or operated
mass transportation facility.
e. The making of unconditional grants of money or property to a public
authority  providing mass transportation services to all or part of such
municipal corporation in  order  to  assist  such  public  authority  in
meeting  its capital or operating expenses, provided such money does not
consist of borrowed funds and such property has not been acquired by the
use of borrowed funds. Such purpose is hereby  declared  to  be  county,
city,  town  or  village  purposes, respectively. The provisions of this

paragraph are intended as enabling legislation only  and  shall  not  be
interpreted   as  implying  that  absent  their  enactment  a  municipal
corporation would lack the power to authorize any such grant;  but  they
shall  not  be  interpreted  as  an  authorization to public authorities
generally to accept such grants. The acceptance of any such grant  by  a
public  authority  shall not operate to make such authority an agency of
the municipal corporation making the grant.
* NB Effective April 1, 2025
2. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction,  or  improvement  of
any  mass  transportation  capital  project  by  a county, city, town or
village  pursuant  to  this  section  shall  not  be  subject   to   the
jurisdiction of the commissioner of transportation except as provided in
sections    sixty-eight,    sixty-nine,    sixty-nine-a,   sixty-nine-b,
sixty-nine-c, and sixty-nine-d of the transportation corporations law.
3. The powers granted by this section shall be in addition to and  not
in  substitution for any other power to acquire, construct, reconstruct,
improve, equip, maintain or  operate  any  mass  transportation  capital
project.