Authorizes the Fredonia central school district to receive state aid for certain approved capital funded projects

BILL NUMBER:S6144

Title of bill

An act to validate certain acts of the Fredonia central school district with regard to a certain capital improvement project

Purpose

The purpose of this legislation is to authorize the Fredonia Central School District to receive state aid for a certain approved capital funded project.

Summary of specific provisions

Section One of this bill would direct that the capital improvement project number 06-22-01-06-009-008 would, in fact, be eligible for state aid.

Section Two of this bill would ratify and legalize acts pertinent to the above project, and would direct that payment shall be made on such project pursuant to the New York State Education Law.

Section Three of this bill would direct the State Education Department to consider the approved cost as valid and proper obligations of the Fredonia Central School District.

Justification

The Fredonia Central School District, neglected to file two Final Cost Reports for a building project with the Office of Facility Planning of the State Education Department (SED) within the established time frame. Requiring the school district to pay back and have anticipated state aid withheld for the projects has been devastating to the school district. This legislation would allow the Education Department to consider the final cost report legalized, validated, ratified and confirmed.

In 2008, during the work on a Final Cost Report (FCR) for some unrelated projects, the Fredonia School Superintendent discovered that no final cost reports had been filed with the state education department as is required in order to receive state aid for two projects that were done in 1998 under the previous school administration.

Ten years after the projects were done, after becoming aware of the error made by his predecessor, the new Superintendent immediately contacted SED and took the necessary steps to complete and submit the long overdue reports.

A special waiver was granted for one of the projects, but the School District was informed that special legislation was required to address the error for the other one, a capital improvement project involving electrical work and asbestos. removal for which the school district had already received $894,000 worth of state aid for.

At no time over the 9-year period since it was due did SED inform the school district that the final cost report was not submitted by the district, nor did they withhold any state aid at any time concerning this project, which is what is typically done if the final cost report is not filed on time. Only when the School District did the right thing and report the problem as soon as it was discovered did SED penalize them for it by retracting their state aid for the project.

For this small school district, this action has caused severe financial distress. This bill would correct this unfair penalization of the school as well as the taxpayers of the district who must bear its cost.

Fiscal implications

This legislation will have no fiscal implications for the State since the state aid has already been approved and budgeted.

Prior legislative history

2011: S.2776, Passed Senate and Assembly, Veto NO.71.

Effective date

Immediately.