Authorizes fire districts to expend from revenues amounts appropriated for cost of insurance to provide firefighters with an enhanced cancer disability benefit insurance program.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10327A
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the town law, in relation to authoriz-
ing fire districts to expend from revenues amounts appropriated for cost
of insurance to provide firefighters with an enhanced cancer disability
benefit insurance program
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would exempt the cost of volunteer firefighter enhanced cancer
disability benefits from the fire district budget spending limitation.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one adds a new paragraph 17 to section 176 of the town law.
Section two is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Fire districts have a spending limitation that applies to certain cate-
gories of their annual budget under Town Law Section 176 (18). Under
current law, there are sixteen exemptions to the fire district spending
limitation; this bill simply adds the newly adopted volunteer firefight-
er enhanced cancer disability benefits to the list. Exempting the cancer
coverage insurance expense from the fire district budget spending limi-
tation is critical for fire district finances.
This legislation will have no impact on the real property tax levy cap
provided for under General Municipal Law Section 3-c. A fire district
will be required to follow the current procedure if it wishes to exceed
that cap. The fire district budget spending limitation is merely a mech-
anism to control spending in some but not all budget categories.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10327--A
IN ASSEMBLY
April 10, 2018
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER, JONES, BRINDISI, D'URSO, HUNTER, STECK,
RAIA, NORRIS -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local
Governments -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted
as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the town law, in relation to authorizing fire districts
to expend from revenues amounts appropriated for cost of insurance to
provide firefighters with an enhanced cancer disability benefit insur-
ance program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 18 of section 176 of the town law is amended by
2 adding a new paragraph 17 to read as follows:
3 (17) the cost of insurance secured to indemnify the fire district
4 against liability for benefits required to be paid or furnished pursuant
5 to the enhanced cancer disability benefit established in section two
6 hundred five-cc of the general municipal law, or for the payment of
7 benefits required to be paid or furnished pursuant to such law by a fire
8 district which is a self-insurer under such law.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
10 manner as chapter 334 of the laws of 2017 takes effect. Effective imme-
11 diately, the addition and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
12 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
13 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15163-03-8
