2023 New York Laws › GMU - General Municipal › Article 2 - General Municipal Finances › 6-H - Reserve Fund for Payment of Bonded Indebtedness in Counties, Cities, Villages, Towns and Fire Districts.

§  6-h.  Reserve  fund for payment of bonded indebtedness in counties,
  cities, villages, towns and fire districts. 1. As used in this  section,
  the  term  "governing  board," in so far as it is used in reference to a
  county, shall mean the board of supervisors thereof; in so far as it  is
  used  in  reference  to  a city, shall mean the "local legislative body"
  thereof, as that term is defined in subdivision seven of section two  of
  the  municipal home rule law, as amended from time to time; in so far as
  it is used in reference to a village, shall mean the board  of  trustees
  thereof;  in so far as it is used in reference to a town, shall mean the
  town board thereof; in so far as it is  used  in  reference  to  a  fire
  district, shall mean the board of fire commissioners.
2.  The  governing  board  of  any county, city, village, town or fire
  district may by resolution adopted by a majority vote of  its  governing
  body establish a reserve fund for the payment of its bonded indebtedness
  as  herein  described,  provided,  however,  that such debt reserve fund
  shall not be established  for,  or  moneys  therein  used  to  pay,  any
  obligations  payable  in  the  first  instance from assessments, or from
  taxes levied upon an area in such county, city, village,  town  or  fire
  district  smaller  than  the area of such county, city, village, town or
  fire district.
3. Such fund may be established for the payment of one or  of  several
  issues of bonds of such municipality or the purchase of the same.
4. There may be paid into such fund:
a.   Such   an  amount  as  may  be  provided  therefor  by  budgetary
  appropriation.
b. Such revenues as are not otherwise appropriated or required by  law
  to be paid into any other fund or account.
5.  An  expenditure  from  such  a  reserve  fund  may only be made by
  appropriation pursuant to a resolution of the  governing  board  of  the
  municipal  corporation  or  fire district establishing the same and only
  for the payment of the principal and interest on bonds  issued  by  such
  municipal  corporation  or  fire district and forming a part of an issue
  having a maximum maturity of not  less  than  five  years;  or  for  the
  purchase of bonds of such municipal corporation or fire district forming
  a part of an issue having a maximum maturity of not less than five years
  at  a  price not to exceed the par value thereof and accrued interest to
  the date of delivery of such bonds to such municipal corporation or fire
  district, provided, however, that if any such bonds were issued  subject
  to  the  right  of such municipal corporation or fire district to redeem
  the same prior to the maturity date thereof then such  purchase  may  be
  made  for  the  redemption  of  such bonds at the price and on the terms
  stated in such bonds or in the proceeding authorizing the  same  as  the
  case may be.
Where  provision  has been made in the current budget from funds other
  than a reserve fund for the payment of the  principal  and  interest  on
  bonds  or  the  purchase  thereof,  no  expenditure  may be made for the
  purchase or payment of the same from such  a  reserve  fund  during  the
  current fiscal year for which such budget was adopted.
All  expenditures  from  such fund as provided in this subdivision may
  only be made by the chief fiscal officer of the municipal corporation or
  fire district establishing the same.
Any such bonds so paid, purchased or redeemed and any interest coupons
  representing unmatured interest attached thereto shall be cancelled  and
  destroyed  by  the chief fiscal officer of such municipal corporation or
  fire district establishing such fund who shall make a notation  of  such
  cancellation  and  destruction  in  the  bond register of such municipal
  corporation or fire district. Such notation  shall  describe  each  such
  bond by title, date of issue, number, denomination and date of maturity,

  and  if  coupons  are attached thereto by number, face value and date of
  maturity.
6.  The  governing  board of a municipal corporation may, subject to a
  permissive referendum, authorize the transfer of a  portion  or  all  of
  such  reserve  to a capital reserve fund established pursuant to section
  six-c of the general municipal law.
The board of fire commissioners of a fire district may, subject to the
  approval of the  voters  at  a  regular  or  special  election  in  such
  district,  in the manner provided in section one hundred seventy-nine of
  the town law, authorize the transfer of a portion or all of such reserve
  to a capital reserve fund established pursuant to section six-g hereof.
7. The chief fiscal officer shall keep a  separate  account  for  each
  fund established. Such account shall show:
a. The date and amount of each sum paid into the fund.
b. The interest earned by such fund.
c.  The capital gains or losses resulting from the sale of investments
  of the fund.
d. The interest or capital gains which have accrued to the fund.
e. The amount and date of each withdrawal from the fund.
f. The assets of the fund, indicating the cash balance therein  and  a
  schedule  of  the  amounts  invested.  The  chief  fiscal officer at the
  termination of each fiscal year shall render a detailed  report  of  the
  operation and condition of each of such funds to the governing board.
8.  The members of the governing board are hereby declared trustees of
  such funds and shall be subject to all the duties  and  responsibilities
  imposed  by law on trustees, and such duties and responsibilities may be
  enforced by the county, city, village, town or  fire  district,  as  the
  case  may  be,  or by any board, commission, agency, officer or taxpayer
  thereof.
9. The moneys in each such fund shall be deposited and secured in  the
  manner  provided  by section ten of this article. The governing board or
  the chief fiscal officer of such municipal corporation or fire district,
  if the governing board shall delegate such duty to him, may  invest  the
  moneys  in  each  such  fund in the manner provided in section eleven of
  this article. Any interest earned  or  capital  gains  realized  on  the
  moneys  so  deposited  or  invested shall accrue to and become a part of
  each such fund. The  separate  identity  of  each  such  fund  shall  be
  maintained whether its assets consist of cash, investments, or both.
10.  The  members  of  the  governing  board  shall  be  guilty  of  a
  misdemeanor if they:
a. Authorize a withdrawal from a fund for any other purpose except  as
  provided in this section.
b.  Expend  any  money  withdrawn from a fund for a purpose other than
  that as provided in this section.
11. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section,  in  any
  town  which  is  located wholly or partly within the Adirondack park and
  has within its boundaries state lands subject to  taxation  assessed  at
  more  than  thirty  percentum of the total taxable assessed valuation of
  the town as determined  from  the  assessment  rolls  of  the  town,  as
  completed  from  time  to time, a reserve fund for the payment of bonded
  indebtedness shall not be established on and after May  first,  nineteen
  hundred  forty-eight,  unless  the  state  comptroller, on behalf of the
  state, shall consent thereto, and, on  and  after  May  first,  nineteen
  hundred  forty-eight,  in  any such town no expenditure or transfer from
  any such fund heretofore or hereafter established shall be  made  unless
  the state comptroller, on behalf of the state, shall consent thereto.