NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10673
SPONSOR: Woerner TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law and the general municipal law, in
relation to certain lease terms for BOCES properties
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To allow BOCES to lease with public entities for up to 20 years.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subparagraph 1 of paragraph p of subdivision 4 of
section 1950 of the education law to authorize BOCES to lease real prop-
erty for up to 20 years.
Section 2 amends paragraph b of subdivision 1 and subdivision 5 of
section 403-a of he education law to make conforming changes.
Section 3 amends subdivision a of section 72-h of the general municipal
law to make conforming changes.
Section 4 provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) provide shared educa-
tional. programming and services to their component districts around the
state, allowing districts to offer students programs they might not
otherwise be able to by working collaboratively.
Many BOCES lease land or buildings for programmatic and administrative
use. For many districts, leasing is more achievable than purchasing land
because BOCES are financially dependent on their component districts and
in many cases, serve a large geographic area. In some areas of the
state, there is plenty of available privately owned space, giving
districts a plethora of options to choose from. In other areas, private
space is in short supply and cost prohibitive, and BOCES are forced to
look for public space to lease.
Under current law, BOCES may lease real property from private entities
for up to 20 years, but for only 10 years from public entities. Longer
leases allow districts to amortize any needed upgrades or improvements
over a longer period of time. Shorter leases tend to be riskier because
the lessor may be less likely to agree to allow modifications to a
space, and BOCES have to distribute the costs to districts over a short
period of time. This bill would create parity between public and private
leases, allowing BOCES to lease for up to 20 years in both cases, giving
BOCES more flexibility in identifying space,
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10673
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law and the general municipal law, in
relation to certain lease terms for BOCES properties
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subparagraph (a) of paragraph p of subdivision 4 of section
2 1950 of the education law, as amended by chapter 374 of the laws of
3 2014, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) To rent suitable land, classrooms, offices or buildings upon or in
5 which to maintain and conduct such cooperative educational services and
6 administrative offices for a period not to exceed [ten] twenty years
7 [for leases entered into with public entities and twenty years for leas-
8 es entered into with non-public entities] and to improve, alter, equip
9 and furnish such land, classrooms, offices or buildings in a suitable
10 manner for such purposes, provided that: (1) before executing any lease,
11 the board shall adopt a resolution determining that such agreement is in
12 the best financial interests of the supervisory district and stating the
13 basis of that determination; (2) the rental payment shall not be more
14 than the fair market value as determined by the board and provided to
15 the commissioner; (3) The board discloses any conflict of interest
16 pursuant to subparagraph (c) of this paragraph, or any other potential
17 or perceived conflict of interest, to the commissioner, and in the event
18 of a conflict of interest or a potential or perceived conflict of inter-
19 est, provides detailed documentation to the commissioner demonstrating
20 that the cost of the lease is not more than fair market value; and (4)
21 upon the consent of the commissioner, renewal of such lease may be made
22 for a period of up to ten years. Nothing contained herein shall prevent
23 the board from entering into a lease agreement which provides for the
24 cancellation of the same by such board upon: (i) a substantial increase
25 or decrease in pupil enrollment; or (ii) a substantial change in the
26 needs and requirements of a board of cooperative educational services
27 with respect to facilities; or (iii) any other change which substantial-
28 ly affects the needs or requirements of a board of cooperative educa-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14261-03-6
A. 10673 2
1 tional services or the community in which it is located. No lease or
2 other contract for the occupancy of such land, classrooms, offices or
3 buildings shall be enforceable against the board of cooperative educa-
4 tional services unless and until the same shall have been approved in
5 writing by the commissioner. In the case of a lease longer than ten
6 years, the commissioner's written approval must include a finding that
7 the proposed lease complies with all requirements of this paragraph and
8 would be more cost-effective than a lease of ten years or fewer.
9 § 2. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1, and subdivisions 3 and 5 of
10 section 403-a of the education law, paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 as
11 amended and subdivision 5 as added by chapter 459 of the laws of 1979
12 and subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 460 of the laws of 1979, are
13 amended to read as follows:
14 (b) The term of the lease shall not exceed ten years, except when such
15 lease is established in accordance with subparagraph (a) of paragraph p
16 of subdivision four of section nineteen hundred fifty of this chapter,
17 such lease term shall not exceed twenty years.
18 3. The board of education or trustees of a school district are hereby
19 authorized to lease real property upon such terms and conditions as the
20 board of education or trustees may deem appropriate to any person, part-
21 nership or corporation such board of education or trustees shall have
22 determined who will provide the most benefit to the school district for
23 periods not to exceed ten years, provided however that property leased
24 in accordance with subparagraph (a) of paragraph p of subdivision four
25 of section nineteen hundred fifty of this chapter may exceed a period of
26 ten years. Such leases may also be renewed for a period of up to ten
27 years upon the consent of the commissioner.
28 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b) of subdivision one
29 hereof the board of education or trustees of a school district are here-
30 by authorized to enter into a lease agreement in accordance with the
31 provisions of this section for a period in excess of ten years subject,
32 however, to voter approval by referendum. Provided however, leases
33 established in accordance with subparagraph (a) of paragraph p of subdi-
34 vision four of section nineteen hundred fifty of this chapter may exceed
35 a period of ten years without voter approval by referendum; such leases
36 shall not exceed a period of twenty years.
37 § 3. Subdivision (a) of section 72-h of the general municipal law, as
38 amended by chapter 562 of the laws of 1990, is amended to read as
39 follows:
40 (a) Notwithstanding any provision of any general, special or local law
41 or of any charter, the supervisors of a county, the town board of a
42 town, the board of trustees of a village, the board of fire commission-
43 ers of a fire district, the board of estimate of a city, or if there be
44 none the local legislative body of such city, and, in a city having a
45 population of one million or more, the mayor, subject to disapproval by
46 the council within thirty days following receipt of notice of the
47 approval of the mayor, may sell, transfer or lease to or exchange with
48 any municipal corporation or municipal corporations, school district,
49 board of cooperative educational services, fire district, the state of
50 New York, or the government of the United States and any agency or
51 department thereof, either without consideration or for such consider-
52 ation and upon such terms and conditions as shall be approved by such
53 officer or body, any real property owned by such county, town, village,
54 fire district or city; and any municipal corporation or fire district
55 may acquire or lease such real property as provided in this section. The
56 term of any lease entered into pursuant to the provisions of this
A. 10673 3
1 section shall not exceed ten years [but nothing], unless the lease is
2 established in accordance with subparagraph (a) of paragraph p of subdi-
3 vision four of section nineteen hundred fifty of the education law in
4 which case, such lease term shall not exceed twenty years. Nothing here-
5 in contained shall prevent the renewal of any such lease.
6 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
7 the amendments to subparagraph (a) of paragraph p of subdivision 4 of
8 section 1950 of the education law made by section one of this act shall
9 not affect the expiration of such subparagraph and shall be deemed to
10 expire therewith.
