What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to local government
- Referred to local government
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S4477
Title of bill
An act to amend the general municipal law and the civil service law, in relation to real property tax relief and local government mandate reform
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill would add a new section 25 to the general municipal law and would amend section 209 of the civil service law (the Taylor Law) to require that prior to its presentment to the governing body of a municipal corporation, the public officer of the municipal corporation who is legally responsible for signing a collective bargaining agreement which contains any increase in wages or benefits for public employees, must first consider whether signing such contract would result in any increase to the municipal corporation's real property tax levy. Such would equally require the governing body of the municipal corporation to do the same. This bill would further require the public Employee Relations Board, in their determination as to whether to grant the remedy sought by an employee association or the employee themself, that such board must also consider prior to awarding such remedy, the ability of the public employer to pay. Lastly this bill would also require that Public Employees Relations Board hearings be open to the public.
Read the full memo (794 words)
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 - Legislative findings and declarations.
Section 2 - Adds new §25 to the General Municipal Law stating that the public officer of a municipal corporation responsible for signing a collective bargaining agreement containing wage or benefit increases for public employees must consider the effect of such increases on the municipal corporation's real property tax levy and report the potential increase. If an increase is approved, public notice must be given for at least thirty days detailing the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and the projected amount of the real property tax levy increase.
Section 3 - Amends §209(4)(c) of the Civil Service Law to require that public arbitration panel proceedings include public hearings and that such panel shall consider the financial ability of the public employer to pay as the most important factor in the collective bargaining agreement.
Section 4 - Sets the enacting date.
Justification
Real Property Taxes in New York State are too high, and the burden they place upon citizens, homeowners and businesses, is making it difficult for New York State to thrive, prosper and succeed. The only way to realistically reduce the real property tax burden upon our citizens, homeowners and businesses, is to place a comprehensive approach in State law which controls costs and spending for local governments, and provides significant mandate
relief with respect to their fiscal obligations. Real property tax relief and local government mandate reform must be achieved by establishing a comprehensive approach to reduce real property taxes across the state, the controlling government costs, and providing significant mandate relief to local governments.
In the event an impasse is reached in negotiations with a police or firefighter union, the final step in the impasse resolution process is the use of compulsory arbitration. An arbitration panel has significant power and may issue an award which requires an increase in taxes. However, such panel is not responsible for its award, is not directly impacted by its decision, and is not accountable to taxpayers. It could be argued that this lack of transparency and accountability has had a negative impact on the arbitration process. This legislation would require such panel to be subject to the Open Meetings Law and also require the panel to present its determination at a public meeting of the local legislative body.
In addition, the current binding arbitration statute has no definition of its phrase "ability to pay." This bill would amend the statute to require that an arbitration panel accord substantial weight to "ability to pay" when making an award and the term should be defined as the ability of a public employer to pay all economic costs to be imposed on it by an arbitration award without requiring a reduction in municipal services or an increase in the level of real property taxes in existence for each year or years addressed by the award.
Finally, over the years that the compulsory arbitration law has been in existence, many bargaining units have sought to rush to arbitration and avoid substantive negotiations. This is especially true in years when resources are scarce and inflation is low because it is recognized that binding arbitration panels often disregard such conditions. By limiting police and firefighter union access to this process, this legislation would ensure that the option of going to binding arbitration is not routinely used as a way to avoid good faith negotiations.
Prior legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications
Unknown.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately, with provisions.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.