2023 New York Laws › CVS - Civil Service › Article 14 - Public Employees' Fair Employment Act › 209 - Resolution of Disputes in the Course of Collective Negotiations.

§ 209. Resolution   of   disputes   in   the   course   of  collective
negotiations.  1. For purposes of this section, an impasse may be deemed
to exist if the parties fail to achieve agreement at least  one  hundred
twenty days prior to the end of the fiscal year of the public employer.
* 2.  Public  employers  are  hereby  empowered  to enter into written
agreements with recognized or certified employee  organizations  setting
forth  procedures  to be invoked in the event of disputes which reach an
impasse in the course of collective negotiations.  Such  agreements  may
include  the  undertaking  by  each party to submit unresolved issues to
impartial arbitration. In the  absence  or  upon  the  failure  of  such
procedures,  public employers and employee organizations may request the
board to render assistance as provided in this section, or the board may
render such assistance on its own motion,  as  provided  in  subdivision
three  of  this  section,  or,  in  regard to officers or members of any
organized fire department, or any unit  of  the  public  employer  which
previously  was  a  part  of  an organized fire department whose primary
mission includes the prevention and control of  aircraft  fires,  police
force or police department of any county, city, town, village or fire or
police  district,  or  detective-investigators, or rackets investigators
employed in the office of a district attorney of a county, or in  regard
to  any  organized  unit  of  troopers,  commissioned or noncommissioned
officers of the division of state police, or in regard to investigators,
senior investigators and investigator specialists  of  the  division  of
state  police,  or  in regard to members of collective negotiating units
designated as security services and security supervisors who are  police
officers,  who  are  forest  ranger  captains or who are employed by the
state department  of  corrections  and  community  supervision  and  are
designated  as  peace  officers  pursuant  to subdivision twenty-five of
section 2.10 of the criminal procedure law, or in regard to  members  of
the collective negotiating unit designated as the agency law enforcement
services   unit   who   are  police  officers  pursuant  to  subdivision
thirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure  law  or  who  are
forest  rangers,  or in regard to organized units of deputy sheriffs who
are  engaged  directly  in  criminal  law  enforcement  activities  that
aggregate  more  than  fifty per centum of their service as certified by
the county sheriff and  are  police  officers  pursuant  to  subdivision
thirty-four  of  section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law as certified
by the municipal police training council or  Suffolk  county  correction
officers  or Suffolk county park police, as provided in subdivision four
of this section.
* NB Effective until July 1, 2024
* 2. Public employers are  hereby  empowered  to  enter  into  written
agreements  with  recognized or certified employee organizations setting
forth procedures to be invoked in the event of disputes which  reach  an
impasse  in  the  course of collective negotiations. Such agreements may
include the undertaking by each party to  submit  unresolved  issues  to
impartial  arbitration.  In  the  absence  or  upon  the failure of such
procedures, public employers and employee organizations may request  the
board to render assistance as provided in this section, or the board may
render  such  assistance  on  its own motion, as provided in subdivision
three of this section, or, in regard  to  officers  or  members  of  any
organized  fire  department,  or  any  unit of the public employer which
previously was a part of an  organized  fire  department  whose  primary
mission  includes  the  prevention and control of aircraft fires, police
force or police department of any county, city, except the city  of  New
York,  town,  village  or  fire  or  police  district,  or  in regard to
organized units of deputy sheriffs who are engaged directly in  criminal
law  enforcement activities that aggregate more than fifty per centum of

their service as certified by the county sheriff and are police officers
pursuant to subdivision thirty-four of  section  1.20  of  the  criminal
procedure  law  as certified by the municipal police training council or
Suffolk  county  correction  officers  or Suffolk county park police, as
provided in subdivision four of this section.
* NB Effective July 1, 2024
3. On request of either party or upon its own motion, as  provided  in
subdivision  two  of this section, and in the event the board determines
that an impasse exists in collective negotiations between such  employee
organization and a public employer as to the conditions of employment of
public employees, the board shall render assistance as follows:
(a)  to  assist  the  parties  to effect a voluntary resolution of the
dispute, the board shall appoint a mediator or mediators  representative
of the public from a list of qualified persons maintained by the board;
(b)  if  the impasse continues, the board shall appoint a fact-finding
board of not more than three members, each representative of the public,
from a  list  of  qualified  persons  maintained  by  the  board,  which
fact-finding board shall have, in addition to the powers delegated to it
by  the  board,  the  power  to  make  public  recommendations  for  the
resolution of the dispute;
(c) if the dispute is not resolved at least eighty days prior  to  the
end  of  the  fiscal  year  of the public employer or by such other date
determined by the board  to  be  appropriate,  the  fact-finding  board,
acting  by a majority of its members, (i) shall immediately transmit its
findings of fact and recommendations for resolution of  the  dispute  to
the  chief  executive  officer  of  the  government  involved and to the
employee organization involved, (ii) may thereafter assist  the  parties
to  effect a voluntary resolution of the dispute, and (iii) shall within
five  days  of  such  transmission  make  public   such   findings   and
recommendations;
(d)  in  the  event  that the findings of fact and recommendations are
made  public  by  a  fact-finding  board  appointed  by  the  board   or
established  pursuant  to  procedures  agreed  upon by the parties under
subdivision two of this section, and the impasse continues,  the  public
employment  relations  board shall have the power to take whatever steps
it deems appropriate to resolve the dispute, including (i) the making of
recommendations after giving due consideration to the findings  of  fact
and   recommendations   of  such  fact-finding  board,  but  no  further
fact-finding board shall be appointed and (ii) upon the request  of  the
parties, assistance in providing for voluntary arbitration;
(e) should either the public employer or the employee organization not
accept  in  whole  or  in  part  the recommendations of the fact-finding
board, (i) the chief executive officer of the government involved shall,
within  ten  days  after  receipt  of   the   findings   of   fact   and
recommendations  of  the  fact-finding  board, submit to the legislative
body of the government involved a copy  of  the  findings  of  fact  and
recommendations   of   the   fact-finding   board,   together  with  his
recommendations for settling the dispute; (ii) the employee organization
may submit to such legislative body its recommendations for settling the
dispute; (iii) the legislative  body  or  a  duly  authorized  committee
thereof  shall  forthwith  conduct a public hearing at which the parties
shall be required to explain their positions with respect to the  report
of  the  fact-finding  board;  and (iv) thereafter, the legislative body
shall take such action as  it  deems  to  be  in  the  public  interest,
including the interest of the public employees involved.
(f)  where  the  public  employer  is  a  school  district, a board of
cooperative  educational  services,  a  community  college,  the   state
university  of  New  York,  or  the  city  university  of  New York, the

provisions of subparagraphs (iii) and (iv)  of  paragraph  (e)  of  this
subdivision shall not apply, and (i) the board may afford the parties an
opportunity to explain their positions with respect to the report of the
fact-finding board at a meeting at which the legislative body, or a duly
authorized  committee  thereof,  may  be  present;  (ii) thereafter, the
legislative body may take such action as is necessary and appropriate to
reach an agreement. The board may provide  such  assistance  as  may  be
appropriate.
* 4. On request of either party or upon its own motion, as provided in
subdivision  two  of this section, and in the event the board determines
that an impasse exists in collective negotiations between such  employee
organization and a public employer as to the conditions of employment of
officers  or members of any organized fire department, or any other unit
of the public employer which previously was a part of an organized  fire
department  whose primary mission includes the prevention and control of
aircraft fires, police force or police department of any  county,  city,
town,  village  or fire or police district, and detective-investigators,
criminal investigators or rackets investigators employed in  the  office
of a district attorney, or as to the conditions of employment of members
of  any  organized  unit  of  troopers,  commissioned or noncommissioned
officers of the division of state police or  as  to  the  conditions  of
employment  of  members  of  any organized unit of investigators, senior
investigators and investigator specialists  of  the  division  of  state
police,  or  as  to the terms and conditions of employment of members of
collective  negotiating  units  designated  as  security  services   and
security  supervisors,  who  are  police officers, who are forest ranger
captains or who are employed by the state department of corrections  and
community  supervision  and are designated as peace officers pursuant to
subdivision twenty-five of section 2.10 of the criminal  procedure  law,
or in regard to members of the collective negotiating unit designated as
the  agency  law  enforcement  services  unit  who  are  police officers
pursuant to subdivision thirty-four of  section  1.20  of  the  criminal
procedure  law  or  who  are  forest rangers, or as to the conditions of
employment of any organized unit of  deputy  sheriffs  who  are  engaged
directly in criminal law enforcement activities that aggregate more than
fifty per centum of their service as certified by the county sheriff and
are  police officers pursuant to subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20
of the criminal procedure law  as  certified  by  the  municipal  police
training council or Suffolk county correction officers or Suffolk county
park police, the board shall render assistance as follows:
(a)  to  assist  the  parties  to effect a voluntary resolution of the
dispute, the board shall appoint a mediator from  a  list  of  qualified
persons maintained by the board;
(b)  if the mediator is unable to effect settlement of the controversy
within fifteen days after his appointment, either party may petition the
board to refer the dispute to a public arbitration panel;
(c) (i) upon petition of either  party,  the  board  shall  refer  the
dispute to a public arbitration panel as hereinafter provided;
(ii)  the  public  arbitration  panel  shall  consist  of  one  member
appointed by the public employer, one member appointed by  the  employee
organization  and  one  public  member  appointed  jointly by the public
employer and employee organization who shall be selected within ten days
after receipt by the board of a petition for creation of the arbitration
panel. If either party fails to  designate  its  member  to  the  public
arbitration  panel,  the board shall promptly, upon receipt of a request
by either party, designate a member  associated  in  interest  with  the
public employer or employee organization he is to represent. Each of the
respective  parties  is  to  bear  the  cost  of its member appointed or

designated to the arbitration panel and each of the  respective  parties
is to share equally the cost of the public member. If, within seven days
after  the  mailing  date,  the parties are unable to agree upon the one
public  member,  the  board  shall  submit  to  the  parties  a  list of
qualified, disinterested persons for the selection of the public member.
Each party shall alternately strike from the list one of the names  with
the  order of striking determined by lot, until the remaining one person
shall be designated as public member. This process  shall  be  completed
within  five  days of receipt of this list. The parties shall notify the
board of the designated public member. The public member shall be chosen
as chairman;
(iii) the public arbitration panel shall hold hearings on all  matters
related  to  the  dispute. The parties may be heard either in person, by
counsel,  or  by  other  representatives,  as  they   may   respectively
designate.  The  panel may grant more than one adjournment each for each
party; provided, however, that a second request of either party and  any
subsequent  adjournments  may  be  granted  on  request of either party,
provided that the party which requests the  adjournment  shall  pay  the
arbitrator's  fee. The parties may present, either orally or in writing,
or both, statements of fact, supporting witnesses  and  other  evidence,
and  argument  of  their respective positions with respect to each case.
The panel shall  have  authority  to  require  the  production  of  such
additional  evidence,  either  oral or written as it may desire from the
parties and shall provide at the request of either party that a full and
complete record be kept of any such hearings, the cost of such record to
be shared equally by the parties;
(iv) all matters presented to the public  arbitration  panel  for  its
determination  shall be decided by a majority vote of the members of the
panel. The panel, prior to a vote on any issue  in  dispute  before  it,
shall, upon the joint request of its two members representing the public
employer  and  the  employee organization respectively, refer the issues
back to the parties for further negotiations;
(v) the public arbitration panel shall  make  a  just  and  reasonable
determination   of   the   matters  in  dispute.  In  arriving  at  such
determination, the panel shall  specify  the  basis  for  its  findings,
taking  into  consideration,  in addition to any other relevant factors,
the following:
a. comparison of the wages, hours and conditions of employment of  the
employees  involved in the arbitration proceeding with the wages, hours,
and conditions of  employment  of  other  employees  performing  similar
services  or  requiring  similar skills under similar working conditions
and with other employees generally in public and private  employment  in
comparable communities.
b.  the  interests and welfare of the public and the financial ability
of the public employer to pay;
c.  comparison  of  peculiarities  in  regard  to  other   trades   or
professions,  including  specifically,  (1)  hazards  of employment; (2)
physical qualifications;  (3)  educational  qualifications;  (4)  mental
qualifications; (5) job training and skills;
d.  the  terms of collective agreements negotiated between the parties
in the past providing for compensation and fringe  benefits,  including,
but  not limited to, the provisions for salary, insurance and retirement
benefits, medical and hospitalization benefits, paid time  off  and  job
security.
(vi)  the determination of the public arbitration panel shall be final
and binding upon the parties for the period prescribed by the panel, but
in no event shall such period exceed two years from the termination date
of any previous collective  bargaining  agreement  or  if  there  is  no

previous collective bargaining agreement then for a period not to exceed
two   years   from   the  date  of  determination  by  the  panel.  Such
determination shall  not  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  any  local
legislative  body  or  other  municipal  authority.  Notwithstanding the
provisions of this subparagraph to the contrary, where the parties to  a
public arbitration are those anticipated by the provisions of paragraphs
(e)  and (f) of this subdivision the state and such parties may agree to
confer authority to the public arbitration panel to issue  a  final  and
binding determination for a period up to and including four years.
(vii)  the  determination  of  the  public  arbitration panel shall be
subject to review by a court of competent  jurisdiction  in  the  manner
prescribed by law.
(d)  The  provisions  of this subdivision shall expire July first, two
thousand twenty-four.
(e) With  regard  to  members  of  any  organized  unit  of  troopers,
investigators,   senior   investigators,  investigator  specialists  and
commissioned or non-commissioned  officers  of  the  division  of  state
police,  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  not  apply to issues
relating to disciplinary procedures and  investigations  or  eligibility
and  assignment  to  details  and  positions, which shall be governed by
other provisions prescribed by law.
(f) With  regard  to  any  members  of  collective  negotiating  units
designated  as security services or security supervisors, who are police
officers, who are forest ranger captains or  who  are  employed  by  the
state  department  of  corrections  and  community  supervision  and are
designated as peace officers  pursuant  to  subdivision  twenty-five  of
section  2.10  of the criminal procedure law, or in regard to members of
the collective negotiating unit designated as the agency law enforcement
services  unit  who  are  police  officers   pursuant   to   subdivision
thirty-four  of  section  1.20  of the criminal procedure law or who are
forest  rangers,  or  in  regard  to  detective-investigators,  criminal
investigators  or  rackets  investigators  employed  in  the office of a
district attorney of a county contained within a city with a  population
of  one million or more, the provisions of this section shall only apply
to the terms of collective bargaining agreements  directly  relating  to
compensation,  including, but not limited to, salary, stipends, location
pay, insurance, medical and  hospitalization  benefits;  and  shall  not
apply  to  non-compensatory  issues  including,  but not limited to, job
security, disciplinary procedures and actions, deployment or scheduling,
or issues relating to eligibility for overtime compensation which  shall
be governed by other provisions proscribed by law.
(g)  With  regard  to members of any organized unit of deputy sheriffs
who are engaged directly in criminal  law  enforcement  activities  that
aggregate  more  than  fifty per centum of their service as certified by
the county sheriff and  are  police  officers  pursuant  to  subdivision
thirty-four  of  section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law as certified
by the municipal police training council, the provisions of this section
shall only apply  to  the  terms  of  collective  bargaining  agreements
directly  relating  to  compensation,  including,  but  not  limited to,
salary, stipends, location pay, insurance, medical  and  hospitalization
benefits;  and shall not apply to non-compensatory issues including, but
not limited to,  job  security,  disciplinary  procedures  and  actions,
deployment or scheduling, or issues relating to eligibility for overtime
compensation  which  shall be governed by other provisions proscribed by
law. Provided, further, that with regard to any organized unit of deputy
sheriffs who are engaged directly in criminal law enforcement activities
that aggregate more than fifty per  centum  of  their  service  and  are
police  officers  pursuant to subdivision thirty-four of section 1.20 of

the criminal procedure law as certified by the municipal police training
council, the provisions  of  this  subdivision  pertaining  to  interest
arbitration shall only apply in the event that the collective bargaining
agreement   between   the   public  employer  and  the  public  employee
organization has been expired for a  period  of  not  less  than  twelve
months  and the parties have fully utilized all other impasse resolution
procedures available under this subdivision.
(h) With regard to Suffolk county correction officers  the  provisions
of  this  section  shall  not  apply  to issues relating to disciplinary
procedures and investigations or eligibility and assignment  to  details
and positions, which shall be governed by other provisions prescribed by
law.
(i)  With regard to Suffolk county park police officers the provisions
of this section shall not  apply  to  issues  relating  to  disciplinary
procedures  and  investigations or eligibility and assignment to details
and positions, which shall be governed by other provisions prescribed by
law.
* NB Expires July 1, 2024
4-a. (a) Notwithstanding anything in subdivision four of this  section
to  the  contrary,  a  public  employer  that  is  a  fiscally  eligible
municipality, as defined in section 160.05 of the local finance law, and
is  otherwise  subject  to  subdivision  four  of  this  section,   upon
resolution  of  its  governing  body  with  the concurrence of its chief
executive  officer,  and  a  public  employee  organization  subject  to
subdivision  four of this section may, jointly, stipulate and agree that
an impasse exists, at any time, with respect to collective  negotiations
between  the  parties for a collective bargaining agreement and, in lieu
of commencing a proceeding under subdivision four of this  section,  may
jointly  request  that  the  financial  restructuring  board  for  local
governments, established in section 160.05 of  the  local  finance  law,
resolve such impasse. A joint request pursuant to this subdivision shall
be irrevocable.
(b)  The  financial  restructuring  board  for local governments shall
render a just and reasonable determination of the matters in dispute  by
an affirmative vote of a majority of the total number of its members. In
arriving  at  such  determination,  it  shall  specify the basis for its
findings, taking into consideration, in addition to any  other  relevant
factors,  those factors set forth in subdivision six of this section. In
all matters regarding public disclosure of its proceedings and findings,
it shall  be  treated  the  same  as  the  panel  convened  pursuant  to
subdivision four of this section. It shall render a determination within
six months of being formally requested by the parties to convene.
(c)  Each  party  before  the  financial restructuring board for local
governments may be heard either in  person,  by  counsel,  or  by  other
representatives,  as  they  may  respectively designate and may present,
either orally or in writing, or both,  statements  of  fact,  supporting
witnesses and other evidence, and argument of their respective positions
with respect to each case. The board shall have authority to require the
production  of  additional  evidence,  either oral or written, as it may
desire  from  the  parties.  All  proceedings,  meetings  and   hearings
conducted by the board shall be held in the city of Albany.
(d)  The  determination of the financial restructuring board for local
governments with respect to the conditions of employment presented to it
pursuant to this section shall be final and binding upon the parties for
the period prescribed by such board, but in no event shall  such  period
exceed  four  years from the termination date of any previous collective
bargaining agreement or if there is no  previous  collective  bargaining
agreement  then  for  a period not to exceed four years from the date of

determination by the board. Such determination shall not be  subject  to
the approval of any local legislative body or other municipal authority,
and shall only be subject to review by a court of competent jurisdiction
in the manner prescribed by law.
* 5.  (a)  In  the  event  that  the  board certifies that a voluntary
resolution of the contract negotiations between either (i) the New  York
city  transit  authority (hereinafter referred to as TA-public employer)
and  the  public  employee  organization  certified  or  recognized   to
represent  the majority of employees of such TA-public employer, or (ii)
the metropolitan transportation authority, including  its  subsidiaries,
the  New  York city transit authority, including its subsidiary, and the
Triborough bridge and tunnel authority (all hereinafter referred  to  as
MTA-public  employer)  and  a  public employee organization certified or
recognized to  represent  employees  of  such  MTA-public  employer  not
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of the Federal Railway Labor Act and not
subject to the provisions of subparagraph (i) of this  paragraph,  which
has  made  an election pursuant to paragraph (f) of this subdivision, or
(iii)   the   Niagara    Frontier    transportation    authority,    the
Rochester-Genesee   regional   transportation   authority,  the  capital
district transportation authority and  the  central  New  York  regional
transportation   authority  (all  hereinafter  referred  to  as  upstate
TA-public employer) and the public employee  organization  certified  or
recognized   to  represent  the  employees  of  such  upstate  TA-public
employer, cannot be effected, or upon the joint request of the TA-public
employer, the MTA-public employer (hereinafter jointly  referred  to  as
public employer) or the upstate TA-public employer and any such affected
employee  organization,  such  board shall refer the dispute to a public
arbitration panel, consisting of one  member  appointed  by  the  public
employer,  one  member  appointed  by  the employee organization and one
public member appointed jointly by  the  public  employer  and  employee
organization  who shall be selected within ten days after receipt by the
board of a petition for creation of the  arbitration  panel.  If  either
party fails to designate its member to the public arbitration panel, the
board  shall  promptly,  upon  receipt  of  a  request  by either party,
designate a member associated in interest with the  public  employer  or
employee organization he is to represent. Each of the respective parties
is  to  bear  the  cost  of  its  member  appointed or designated to the
arbitration panel and each of the respective parties is to share equally
the cost of the public member. If, within seven days after  the  mailing
date,  the  parties  are unable to agree upon the one public member, the
board shall submit to the parties a  list  of  qualified,  disinterested
persons  for  the  selection  of  the  public  member.  Each party shall
alternately strike from the list one of the  names  with  the  order  of
striking  determined  by  lot,  until  the remaining one person shall be
designated as public member. This process shall be completed within five
days of receipt of this list. The parties shall notify the board of  the
designated public member. The public member shall be chosen as chairman.
(b)  The  arbitration  panel shall hold hearings on all matters within
the scope of negotiations related to the dispute for which the panel was
appointed. The parties may be heard either in person, by counsel  or  by
other  representatives  as  they may respectively designate. The parties
may present, either orally or in writing or  both,  statement  of  fact,
supporting witnesses and other evidence and argument of their respective
position  with  respect  to each case. The panel shall have authority to
require the production of  such  additional  evidence,  either  oral  or
written,  as  it  may  desire  from the parties and shall provide at the
request of either party that a full and complete record be kept  of  any

such  hearings,  the  cost  of  such  record to be shared equally by the
parties.
(c) All matters presented to such panel for its determination shall be
decided by a majority vote of the members of the panel. The panel, prior
to a vote on any issue in dispute before it, may refer the issue back to
the parties for further negotiations.
(d)  Such  panel  shall  make  a  just and reasonable determination of
matters in dispute. In arriving at such determination, the  panel  shall
specify  the  basis  for  its  findings,  taking  into consideration, in
addition to any other relevant factors, the following:
(i) comparison of the wages, hours, fringe  benefits,  conditions  and
characteristics  of  employment  of the public employees involved in the
impasse proceeding with the wages, hours,  fringe  benefits,  conditions
and  characteristics of employment of other employees performing similar
work and other employees generally in public or  private  employment  in
New York city or comparable communities;
(ii)  the  overall  compensation paid to the employees involved in the
impasse proceeding, including direct  wage  compensation,  overtime  and
premium  pay,  vacations,  holidays  and  other excused time, insurance,
pensions,  medical  and  hospitalization  benefits,  food  and   apparel
furnished, and all other benefits received;
(iii)  the impact of the panel's award on the financial ability of the
public employer to pay, on  the  present  fares  and  on  the  continued
provision of services to the public;
(iv)  changes  in  the average consumer prices for goods and services,
commonly known as the cost of living;
(v) the interest and welfare of the public; and
(vi) such other factors as are normally and customarily considered  in
the  determination  of  wages,  hours, fringe benefits and other working
conditions in collective negotiations or impasse panel proceedings.
(e) The panel shall have full authority  to  resolve  the  matters  in
dispute  before  it  and  issue a determination which shall be final and
binding upon the parties, notwithstanding any other  provision  of  this
article.  Except for the purposes of judicial review, any provision of a
determination of the arbitration  panel,  the  implementation  of  which
requires  an  enactment  of  law,  shall  not  become  binding until the
appropriate legislative body enacts such law.
(f) (i) Within sixty days of the enactment of this provision, and only
within such time period, any such public employee organization described
in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision may  elect  to
be  covered by the provisions of this section by filing in writing a no-
tice of participation with the chairman of the board and the chairman of
the metropolitan transportation authority.
(ii) Within sixty days of the enactment of this subparagraph and  only
within such time period, any such public employee organization certified
or   recognized   to  represent  employees  of  an  MTA-public  employer
(described in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a)  of  this  subdivision)
not  subject  to  the  jurisdiction of the Federal Railway Labor Act but
which was subject to such jurisdiction during the sixty-day  period  set
forth  in  subparagraph (i) of this paragraph may elect to be covered by
the provisions of  this  section  by  filing  in  writing  a  notice  of
participation  with  the  chairman  of the board and the chairman of the
metropolitan transportation authority.
(iii) Within ninety days of the enactment of  this  subparagraph,  and
only  within  such  time  period,  any such public employee organization
certified  or  registered  to  represent  employees  classified  as  the
Triborough  bridge  and  tunnel  authority  superior  officer benevolent
association of an MTA-public employer (described in subparagraph (ii) of

paragraph (a) of this subdivision)  may  elect  to  be  covered  by  the
provisions   of   this   section  by  filing  in  writing  a  notice  of
participation with the chairman of the board and  the  chairman  of  the
metropolitan transportation authority.
(iv)  Once  such  an  election is made pursuant to subparagraph (i) or
(ii) of this paragraph, any  such  public  employee  organization  shall
thereafter  be  subject  to  the  provisions of this section unless such
organization  and  the  chairman  of  the  metropolitan   transportation
authority  file  a  joint  agreement in writing with the chairman of the
board that provides for a rescission of the election  made  pursuant  to
this paragraph.
(g)  This  subdivision  shall  not  apply to a certified or recognized
public employee  organization  which  represents  any  public  employees
described  in  subdivision sixteen of section twelve hundred four of the
public authorities law and nothing contained within this  section  shall
be  construed  to  divest  the  public employment relations board or any
court of competent jurisdiction  of  the  full  power  or  authority  to
enforce any order made by the board or such court prior to the effective
date of this subdivision.
* NB Expires July 1, 2025
* 6.  (a)  For  disputes concerning an impasse pursuant to subdivision
four of this section that involve  a  county,  city,  town,  or  village
subject  to  section  three-c  of  the  general  municipal law, a public
arbitration panel shall make a determination as to whether such  county,
city, town, or village, is a public employer that is a fiscally eligible
municipality  as  part  of  its analysis of the financial ability of the
public employer to pay.
(b)  In  evaluating  whether  a  public  employer  covered   by   this
subdivision is a fiscally eligible municipality, such public arbitration
panel  shall  consider  the average full value property tax rate of such
public employer and the average fund balance percentage of  such  public
employer.
(i)  For  purposes of this subdivision, "full value property tax rate"
shall mean the amount to be raised by tax on  real  estate  by  a  local
government  in  a  given  fiscal  year  divided by the full valuation of
taxable real estate for that same fiscal year as reported to the  office
of the state comptroller.
(ii)  For  purposes  of this subdivision, "average full value property
tax rate" shall mean the sum of the full value property  tax  rates  for
the five most recent fiscal years divided by five.
(iii)  For  purposes  of  this  subdivision, "fund balance percentage"
shall mean the total fund  balance  in  the  general  fund  of  a  local
government in a given fiscal year divided by the total expenditures from
the  general fund for that same fiscal year as reported to the office of
the state comptroller.
(iv)  For  purposes  of  this  subdivision,  "average   fund   balance
percentage"  shall  mean the sum of the fund balance percentages for the
five most recently completed fiscal years divided by five.
(c) If the average  full  value  property  tax  rate  of  such  public
employer  is  greater  than  the average full value property tax rate of
seventy-five percent of counties,  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  with
local  fiscal  years  ending  in  the  same calendar year as of the most
recently available information, the public arbitration panel  must  find
that  such  public  employer  is  a  fiscally eligible municipality. The
office of the state comptroller shall make publicly available  the  list
of counties, cities, towns, and villages that have an average full value
property tax rate that meets such criteria in each local fiscal year. If
a  public  employer  has  not  reported  to  the  office  of  the  state

comptroller the information necessary  to  calculate  its  average  full
value  property  tax  rate,  such  public  employer  may not be deemed a
fiscally eligible municipality and the provisions  of  this  subdivision
shall not apply.
(d)  If the average fund balance percentage of such public employer is
less than five percent and the state comptroller has certified that  any
additional  fund balances in funds other than the general fund available
for payment of arbitration awards in each year, if  added  to  the  fund
balance  of  the  general fund, would not cause the average fund balance
percentage of such public employer to exceed five  percent,  the  public
arbitration  panel  must  find  that  such public employer is a fiscally
eligible municipality. The office of the state  comptroller  shall  make
publicly  available  the  list  of counties, cities, towns, and villages
that have an average fund balance percentage  that  is  less  than  five
percent in each local fiscal year. If a public employer has not reported
to  the  office  of  the  state comptroller the information necessary to
calculate its average fund balance percentage, such public employer  may
not  be  deemed  a  fiscally eligible municipality and the provisions of
this subdivision shall not apply.
(e) When such public employer has been found to be a fiscally eligible
municipality, the public arbitration panel shall,  first  and  foremost,
consider ability to pay by assigning a weight of seventy percent to that
portion  of  the criterion contained within clause b of subparagraph (v)
of paragraph (c) of subdivision four of this section that pertains  only
to the public employer's ability to pay. All other criteria contained in
subparagraph  (v)  of paragraph (c) of subdivision four of this section,
including that portion of clause b of subparagraph (v) of paragraph  (c)
of  subdivision  four  of this section that pertains to the interest and
welfare of the public, shall constitute an aggregate  weight  of  thirty
percent.  Additionally,  with respect to the total monetary value of any
determination, the panel must recognize and take  into  account  in  its
determination  the  constraints, obligations and requirements imposed by
the real property tax cap pursuant to section  three-c  of  the  general
municipal  law  upon  the public employer involved in the dispute before
the panel.
(f) The provisions of this subdivision shall expire  July  first,  two
thousand twenty-four.
* NB Expires July 1, 2024