Requires signatures of mayors of the villages of Hempstead and Freeport for payments in lieu of taxes from town of Hempstead and Nassau IDA's

BILL NUMBER:S7785

Title of bill

An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to payments in lieu of taxes for projects approved by the town of Hemp- stead industrial development agency and the Nassau county industrial agency

Purpose or general idea of bill

To require the chief executive officer and governing body of the village of Hempstead and the village of Freeport to have a consultation and participation role in pilot in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements that impact such villages which are approved by Industrial Development Agen- cies (IDA), and to provide additional audit and review oversight over PILOT agreements impacting such villages.

Summary of specific provisions

Section one requires that: prior to PILOT agreements being approved by the town of Hempstead IDA (the agency) related to projects located in the villages of Hempstead and Freeport, the chief executive officers and governing bodies of such villages be consulted, respectively; the agency obtain an impact analysis to determine the respective impact of the PILOT on the villages of the project and the planned PILOT agreement; the project applicant bear the cost related to the impact study; the agency and the respective village's governing body shall jointly select a qualified entity to conduct the impact analysis; the agency's member- ship shall include at least one member of the respective village's governing body and at least three at large, members from a cross section of the respective community; the agency review any PILOT agreement after the third year and every third year thereafter, and adjust the PILOT agreement accordingly based on changes, to the assessed value and tax rate of all other real properties; the agency provide a written report to the village of Freeport or the village of Hempstead documenting any and all variances or changes to the projected revenues of any PILOT agreement; PILOT agreements for a project not be renewed or renegotiated until a full audit has been completed of the accounts of the party obli- gated to make payments in lieu of taxes; and that the village of Free- port or the village of Hempstead may request from the State Comp- troller's office a full audit or review of such full audit prior to the renewal or renegotiation of a PILOT agreement for a project located in such respective village.

Section two contains the same requirements as section one, but as related to PILOT agreements approved by the Nassau County DA in the villages of Hempstead and Freeport.

Section three provides for the immediate effective date.

Justification

PILOT agreements impact the property taxes of the municipality where such agreements are in place, but often the municipality impacted has no say in the PILOT agreement because it has no representation or control over the IDA approving such agreements. This bill would address such a concern in the villages of Hempstead and Freeport. By requiring consul- tation with the respective chief executive officers and governing bodies of the villages, and by requiring additional impact analysis and audits of PILOT agreements, the taxpayers of these villages will have a greater opportunity to ensure that any PILOT agreement related to their property taxes are being carefully considered and monitored.

Prior legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.