Provides that a policy of this state should be to increase housing options and opportunities, including but not limited to affordable, and workforce and senior housing.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5557
SPONSOR: Jones TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general municipal law and the public authorities
law, in relation to making housing a policy of the state of New York
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To clarify industrial development agencies are authorized to develop
housing.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one amends section 852 of the general municipal law. Section two
amends section 854 of the general municipal law.
Section three amends the opening paragraph of section 858 of the general
municipal law.
Section four amends section 859-a of the general municipal law.
Section five amends section 874 of the general municipal law. Section
six ,amends section 1951 of the public authorities law.
Section seven amends the opening paragraph of section 1953 of the public
authorities law.
Section eight amends section 1963-a of the public authorities law.
Section nine amends section 2302 of the public authorities law.
Section ten amends the opening paragraph of section 2306 of the public
authorities law.
Section eleven amends section 2315 of the public authorities law.
Section twelve sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Housing has increasingly become a critical part of economic development
efforts in communities across New York State. From the DRI to adaptive
reuse projects, access to a variety of housing options is required for
healthy, sustainable communities. Many IDAs are already doing housing
projects as an opinion from the Office of the State Comptroller issued
in 2015 gives them the authority to do.
However, some are hesitant to support these projects due to the vague
language in various sections of the General Municipal Law and the Public
Authorities Law governing IDA's. By clarifying their authorization to
develop housing, the state will allow for increased housing development
as we seek to address our current housing crisis.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A6858A
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the state.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5557
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JONES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law and the public authorities
law, in relation to making housing a policy of the state of New York
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 852 of the general municipal law, as amended by
2 chapter 630 of the laws of 1977, the first undesignated paragraph as
3 amended by chapter 747 of the laws of 2005, the second undesignated
4 paragraph as amended by chapter 478 of the laws of 2011 and the third
5 undesignated paragraph as amended by section 4 of part X of chapter 59
6 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
7 § 852. Policy and purposes of article. It is hereby declared to be the
8 policy of this state to promote the economic welfare, recreation oppor-
9 tunities and prosperity of its inhabitants and to actively promote,
10 attract, encourage and develop recreation, economically sound commerce
11 and industry and economically sound projects identified and called for
12 to implement a state heritage area management plan as provided in title
13 G of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law through govern-
14 mental action for the purpose of preventing unemployment and economic
15 deterioration by the creation of industrial development agencies which
16 are hereby declared to be governmental agencies and instrumentalities
17 and to grant to such industrial development agencies the rights and
18 powers provided in this article.
19 It is hereby further declared to be the policy of this state to
20 protect and promote the health of the inhabitants of this state by the
21 conservation, protection and improvement of the natural and cultural or
22 historic resources and environment and to control land, sewer, water,
23 air, noise or general environmental pollution derived from the operation
24 of industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, commercial, recreation, horse
25 racing facilities, railroad facilities, automobile racing facilities and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01111-01-5
A. 5557 2
1 research facilities and to grant such industrial development agencies
2 the rights and powers provided by this article with respect to indus-
3 trial pollution control facilities.
4 It is hereby further declared to be the policy of this state to
5 protect and promote the health of the inhabitants of this state and to
6 increase trade through promoting the development of facilities to
7 provide recreation for the citizens of the state and to attract tourists
8 from other states, to increasing housing stock in support of the state's
9 housing goals as may be established and amended from time to time and to
10 promote the development of renewable energy projects to support the
11 state's renewable energy goals as may be established or amended from
12 time to time.
13 The use of all such rights and powers is a public purpose essential to
14 the public interest, and for which public funds may be expended.
15 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 854 of the general municipal law, as
16 amended by section 5 of part X of chapter 59 of the laws of 2021, is
17 amended to read as follows:
18 (4) "Project" - shall mean any land, any building or other improve-
19 ment, and all real and personal properties located within the state of
20 New York and within or outside or partially within and partially outside
21 the municipality for whose benefit the agency was created, including,
22 but not limited to, machinery, equipment and other facilities deemed
23 necessary or desirable in connection therewith, or incidental thereto,
24 whether or not now in existence or under construction, which shall be
25 suitable for manufacturing, warehousing, research, commercial, renewable
26 energy, housing or industrial purposes or other economically sound
27 purposes identified and called for to implement a state designated urban
28 cultural park management plan as provided in title G of the parks,
29 recreation and historic preservation law and which may include or mean
30 an industrial pollution control facility, a recreation facility, educa-
31 tional or cultural facility, a horse racing facility, a railroad facili-
32 ty, a renewable energy project, housing facility, or an automobile
33 racing facility, provided, however, no agency shall use its funds or
34 provide financial assistance in respect of any project wholly or
35 partially outside the municipality for whose benefit the agency was
36 created without the prior consent thereto by the governing body or
37 bodies of all the other municipalities in which a part or parts of the
38 project is, or is to be, located, and such portion of the project
39 located outside such municipality for whose benefit the agency was
40 created shall be contiguous with the portion of the project inside such
41 municipality.
42 § 3. The opening paragraph of section 858 of the general municipal
43 law, as amended by section 6 of part X of chapter 59 of the laws of
44 2021, is amended to read as follows:
45 The purposes of the agency shall be to promote, develop, encourage and
46 assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, main-
47 taining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, warehous-
48 ing, commercial, research, renewable energy, housing, and recreation
49 facilities including industrial pollution control facilities, educa-
50 tional or cultural facilities, railroad facilities, horse racing facili-
51 ties, automobile racing facilities, renewable energy projects, housing
52 facilities and continuing care retirement communities, provided, howev-
53 er, that, of agencies governed by this article, only agencies created
54 for the benefit of a county and the agency created for the benefit of
55 the city of New York shall be authorized to provide financial assistance
56 in any respect to a continuing care retirement community, and thereby
A. 5557 3
1 advance the job opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic
2 welfare of the people of the state of New York and to improve their
3 recreation opportunities, prosperity and standard of living; and to
4 carry out the aforesaid purposes, each agency shall have the following
5 powers:
6 § 4. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 5 of section 859-a of the general
7 municipal law, as amended by section 7 of part X of chapter 59 of the
8 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
9 (b) a written cost-benefit analysis by the agency that identifies the
10 extent to which a project will create or retain permanent, private
11 sector jobs; the estimated value of any tax exemptions to be provided;
12 the amount of private sector investment generated or likely to be gener-
13 ated by the proposed project; the contribution of the project to the
14 state's renewable energy goals and emission reduction targets as set
15 forth in the state energy plan adopted pursuant to section 6-104 of the
16 energy law; the contribution of the project to the state's housing goals
17 of increasing housing options including but not limited to affordable,
18 workforce, and senior housing; the likelihood of accomplishing the
19 proposed project in a timely fashion; and the extent to which the
20 proposed project will provide additional sources of revenue for munici-
21 palities and school districts; and any other public benefits that might
22 occur as a result of the project;
23 § 5. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 874 of the general
24 municipal law, as amended by chapter 386 of the laws of 2019, is amended
25 to read as follows:
26 (a) The agency shall establish a uniform tax exemption policy, with
27 input from affected tax jurisdictions, which shall be applicable to the
28 provision of financial assistance pursuant to section eight hundred
29 fifty-nine-a of this [chapter] title and shall provide guidelines for
30 the claiming of real property, mortgage recording, and sales tax
31 exemptions. Such guidelines shall include, but not be limited to: peri-
32 od of exemption; percentage of exemption; types of projects for which
33 exemptions can be claimed; procedures for payments in lieu of taxes and
34 instances in which real property appraisals are to be performed as a
35 part of an application for tax exemption; in addition, agencies shall in
36 adopting such policy consider such issues as: the extent to which a
37 project will create or retain permanent, private sector jobs; the esti-
38 mated value of any tax exemptions to be provided; whether affected tax
39 jurisdictions shall be reimbursed by the project occupant if a project
40 does not fulfill the purposes for which an exemption was provided; the
41 impact of a proposed project on existing and proposed businesses and
42 economic development projects in the vicinity; the amount of private
43 sector investment generated or likely to be generated by the proposed
44 project; the demonstrated public support for the proposed project; the
45 likelihood of accomplishing the proposed project in a timely fashion;
46 the effect of the proposed project upon the environment; the extent to
47 which the project will utilize, to the fullest extent practicable and
48 economically feasible, resource conservation, energy efficiency, green
49 technologies, and alternative and renewable energy measures; the extent
50 to which the project will bring additional housing units to the market;
51 the extent to which the proposed project will require the provision of
52 additional services, including, but not limited to additional educa-
53 tional, transportation, police, emergency medical or fire services; and
54 the extent to which the proposed project will provide additional sources
55 of revenue for municipalities and school districts.
A. 5557 4
1 § 6. Subdivision 5 of section 1951 of the public authorities law, as
2 amended by chapter 907 of the laws of 1972, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 5. The term "project" shall mean any land in one or more areas of the
5 city and any building, structure, facility or other improvement thereon,
6 including, but not limited to machinery and equipment and all real and
7 personal property deemed necessary in connection therewith, whether or
8 not now in existence or under construction, which shall be necessary or
9 suitable for manufacturing, warehousing, research, commercial, housing
10 or industrial purposes and which may include or mean an industrial
11 pollution control facility.
12 § 7. The opening paragraph of section 1953 of the public authorities
13 law, as amended by chapter 579 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read
14 as follows:
15 The purposes of the authority shall be to promote, develop, encourage
16 and assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving,
17 maintaining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, ware-
18 house, commercial, housing and research facilities including industrial
19 pollution control facilities, transportation facilities including but
20 not limited to those relating to water, highway, rail and air, in one or
21 more areas of the city, particularly but not exclusively at the site of
22 what was formerly the Troy airport including an airstrip or airport
23 located in the southern section of the city and thereby advance the job
24 opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the
25 people of said city and to improve their standard of living; provided,
26 however, that the authority shall not undertake any project if the
27 completion thereof would result in the removal of an industrial or manu-
28 facturing plant of the project occupant from one area of the state to
29 another area of the state or in the abandonment of one or more plants or
30 facilities of the project applicant located within the state, provided,
31 however, that neither restriction shall apply if the authority shall
32 determine on the basis of the application before it that the project is
33 reasonably necessary to discourage the project occupant from removing
34 such other plant or facility to a location outside the state or is
35 reasonably necessary to preserve the competitive position of the project
36 occupant in its respective industry. Except as otherwise provided for in
37 this section, no financial assistance of the authority shall be provided
38 in respect of any project where facilities or property that are primari-
39 ly used in making retail sales to customers who personally visit such
40 facilities constitute more than one-third of the total project cost. For
41 the purposes of this article, "retail sales" shall mean: (i) sales by a
42 registered vendor under article twenty-eight of the tax law primarily
43 engaged in the retail sale of tangible personal property, as defined in
44 subparagraph (i) of paragraph four of subdivision (b) of section eleven
45 hundred one of the tax law; or (ii) sales of a service to such custom-
46 ers. Except, however, that tourism destination projects shall not be
47 prohibited by this paragraph. For the purpose of this paragraph, "tour-
48 ism destination" shall mean a location or facility which is likely to
49 attract a significant number of visitors from outside the economic
50 development region as established by section two hundred thirty of the
51 economic development law in which the project is located.
52 § 8. Subdivision 1 of section 1963-a of the public authorities law, as
53 amended by chapter 386 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
54 follows:
55 1. The authority shall establish a uniform tax exemption policy, with
56 input from affected local taxing jurisdictions, which shall be applica-
A. 5557 5
1 ble to provisions of financial assistance pursuant to section nineteen
2 hundred fifty-three-a of this title and shall provide guidelines for the
3 claiming of real property, mortgage recording, and sales tax exemptions.
4 Such guidelines shall include, but not be limited to: period of
5 exemption; percentage of exemption; types of projects for which
6 exemptions can be claimed; procedures for payments in lieu of taxes and
7 instances in which real property appraisals are to be performed as a
8 part of an application for tax exemption; in addition, the authority in
9 adopting such policy shall consider such issues as: the extent to which
10 a project will create or retain permanent, private sector jobs; the
11 estimated value of any tax exemption to be provided; whether affected
12 tax jurisdictions should be reimbursed by the project occupant if a
13 project does not fulfill the purposes for which an exemption was
14 provided; the impact of a proposed project on existing and proposed
15 businesses and economic development projects in the vicinity; the amount
16 of private sector investment generated or likely to be generated by the
17 proposed project; the demonstrated public support for the proposed
18 project; the likelihood of accomplishing the proposed project in a time-
19 ly fashion; the effect of the proposed project upon the environment; the
20 extent to which the project will utilize, to the fullest extent practi-
21 cable and economically feasible, resource conservation, energy efficien-
22 cy, green technologies, and alternative and renewable energy measures;
23 the extent to which the project will bring additional housing units to
24 the market; the extent to which the proposed project will require the
25 provision of additional services, including, but not limited to addi-
26 tional educational, transportation, police, emergency medical or fire
27 services; and the extent to which the proposed project will provide
28 additional sources [or] of revenue for municipalities and school
29 districts.
30 § 9. Subdivision 5 of section 2302 of the public authorities law, as
31 amended by chapter 356 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as
32 follows:
33 5. The term "project" shall mean any land in one or more areas of the
34 city and within or outside or partially within and partially outside the
35 city and any building, structure, facility or other improvement thereon,
36 including, but not limited to machinery and equipment and all real and
37 personal properties deemed necessary in connection therewith, whether or
38 not now in existence or under construction, which shall be necessary or
39 suitable for industrial, warehousing, research, housing or commercial
40 purposes, or for use by a federal agency or a medical facility and which
41 may include or mean an industrial pollution control facility or a civic
42 facility, provided, however, the authority shall not provide financial
43 assistance in respect of any project wholly or partially outside the
44 city provided, however, that the authority may provide financial assist-
45 ance for such a project where a portion of the project outside the city
46 is contiguous to a portion of the project located within the city if the
47 authority obtains the prior consent thereto by the governing body or
48 bodies of all the other cities, towns or villages in which a part or
49 parts of the project is, or is to be, located.
50 § 10. The opening paragraph of section 2306 of the public authorities
51 law, as amended by chapter 304 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read
52 as follows:
53 The purposes of the authority shall be to promote, develop, encourage
54 and assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving,
55 maintaining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, ware-
56 house, commercial, housing, and research facilities and facilities for
A. 5557 6
1 use by a federal agency or a medical facility including industrial
2 pollution control facilities, which may include transportation facili-
3 ties including but not limited to those relating to water, highway, rail
4 and air, in one or more areas of the city, and thereby advance the job
5 opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the
6 people of said city and to improve their medical care and standard of
7 living; provided, however, that the authority shall not undertake any
8 project if the completion thereof would result in the removal of an
9 industrial or manufacturing plant of the project occupant from one area
10 of the state to another area of the state or in abandonment of one or
11 more plants or facilities of the project applicant located within the
12 state, provided, however, that neither restriction shall apply if the
13 authority shall determine on the basis of the application before it that
14 the project is reasonably necessary to discourage the project occupant
15 from removing such other plant or facility to a location outside the
16 state or is reasonably necessary to preserve the competitive position of
17 the project occupant in its respective industry. Except as otherwise
18 provided for in this section, no financial assistance of the authority
19 shall be provided in respect of any project where facilities or property
20 that are primarily used in making retail sales to customers who
21 personally visit such facilities constitute more than one-third of the
22 total project cost. For the purposes of this article, "retail sales"
23 shall mean: (i) sales by a registered vendor under article twenty-eight
24 of the tax law primarily engaged in the retail sale of tangible personal
25 property, as defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph four of subdivi-
26 sion (b) of section eleven hundred one of the tax law; or (ii) sales of
27 a service to such customers. Except, however, that tourism destination
28 projects shall not be prohibited by this paragraph. For the purpose of
29 this paragraph, "tourism destination" shall mean a location or facility
30 which is likely to attract a significant number of visitors from outside
31 the economic development region as established by section two hundred
32 thirty of the economic development law, in which the project is located.
33 § 11. Subdivision 1 of section 2315 of the public authorities law, as
34 amended by chapter 386 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as
35 follows:
36 1. The authority shall establish a uniform tax exemption policy, with
37 input from affected local taxing jurisdictions, which shall be applica-
38 ble to provisions of financial assistance pursuant to section twenty-
39 three hundred seven of this title and shall provide guidelines for the
40 claiming of real property, mortgage recording, and sales tax exemptions.
41 Such guidelines shall include, but not be limited to: period of
42 exemption; percentage of exemption; types of projects for which
43 exemptions may be claimed; procedures for payments in lieu of taxes and
44 instances in which real property appraisals are to be performed as a
45 part of an application for tax exemption; in addition, the authority in
46 adopting such policy shall consider such issues as: the extent to which
47 a project will create or retain permanent, private sector jobs; the
48 estimated value of any tax exemption to be provided; whether affected
49 tax jurisdictions should be reimbursed by the project occupant if a
50 project does not fulfill the purposes for which an exemption was
51 provided; the impact of a proposed project on existing and proposed
52 businesses and economic development projects in the vicinity; the amount
53 of private sector investment generated or likely to be generated by the
54 proposed project; the demonstrated public support for the proposed
55 project; the likelihood of accomplishing the proposed project in a time-
56 ly fashion; the effect of the proposed project upon the environment; the
A. 5557 7
1 extent to which the project will utilize, to the fullest extent practi-
2 cable and economically feasible, resource conservation, energy efficien-
3 cy, green technologies, and alternative and renewable energy measures;
4 the extent to which the project will bring additional housing units to
5 the market; the extent to which the proposed project will require the
6 provision of additional services, including, but not limited to addi-
7 tional educational, transportation, police, emergency medical or fire
8 services; and the extent to which the proposed project will provide
9 additional sources of revenue for municipalities and school districts.
10 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately.
