Tougher Ethics for Local Officials

Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 800 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 1043 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows:

3. "Interest" means a direct or indirect pecuniary or material benefit accruing to a municipal officer or employee, or his or her spouse, as the result of a contract with the municipality which such officer or employee serves. For the purposes of this article a municipal officer or employee shall be deemed to have an interest in the contract of (a) his or her spouse, minor children and dependents, except a contract of employment with the municipality which such officer or employee serves, (b) a firm, partnership or association of which such officer or employee, or his or her spouse, is a member or employee, (c) a corporation of which such officer or employee, or his or her spouse, is an officer, director or employee and (d) a corporation any stock of which is owned or controlled directly or indirectly by such officer or employee, or his or her spouse.

§ 2. Section 801 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 1043 of the laws of 1965, is amended to read as follows:

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD10748-03-7

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§ 801. Conflicts of interest prohibited. Except as provided in section eight hundred two of this [chapter] article, (1) no municipal officer or employee shall have an interest in any contract with the municipality of which he or she is an officer or employee, when such officer or employee, individually or as a member of a board, has the power or duty to (a) negotiate, prepare, authorize or approve the contract or authorize or approve payment thereunder, (b) audit bills or claims under the contract, or (c) appoint an officer or employee who has any of the powers or duties set forth above and (2) no chief fiscal officer, treasurer, or his or her deputy or employee, shall have an interest in a bank or trust company designated as a depository, paying agent, registration agent or for investment of funds of the municipality of which he or she is an officer or employee. The provisions of this section shall in no event be construed to preclude the payment of lawful compensation and necessary expenses of any municipal officer or employee in one or more positions of public employment, the holding of which is not prohibited by law.

§ 3. Paragraphs b and j of subdivision 1 of section 802 of the general municipal law, paragraph b as amended by chapter 1043 of the laws of 1965 and paragraph j as added by chapter 364 of the laws of 1996, are amended to read as follows:

b. A contract with a person, firm, corporation or association in which a municipal officer or employee has an interest which is prohibited solely by reason of his or her employment, or his or her spouse's employment, as an officer or employee thereof, if the remuneration of such employment will not be directly affected as a result of such contract and the duties of such employment do not directly involve the procurement, preparation or performance of any part of such contract;

j. Purchases or public work by a municipality, other than a county, located wholly or partly within a county with a population of two hundred thousand or less pursuant to a contract in which a member of the governing body or board has a prohibited interest, where:

(1) the member of the governing body or board is elected or appointed and serves with or without salary or other compensation;

(2) the purchases or public work, in the aggregate, are less than [five] fifteen thousand dollars in one fiscal year and:

(i) the governing body or board has followed its procurement policies and procedures adopted in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred four-b of this chapter and the procurement process indicates that the contract is with the lowest dollar offer[;], or

(ii) the purchases, in the aggregate, are less than fifteen thousand dollars in one fiscal year, cannot be procured from another supplier located within the municipality, and the next closest supplier is located more than twenty-five miles driving distance from the border of the municipality by way of the most direct route using public highways, roads or streets; and

(3) the contract for the purchases or public work is approved by resolution of the body or board by the affirmative vote of each member of the body or board except the interested member who shall abstain.

§ 4. Paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 802 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 1019 of the laws of 1970, is amended to read as follows:

a. A contract with a corporation in which a municipal officer or employee has an interest by reason of stockholdings when less than five per centum of the outstanding stock of the corporation is owned or

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controlled directly or indirectly by such officer or employee or his or her spouse either jointly or severally;

§ 5. Section 805-a of the general municipal law, as added by chapter 1019 of the laws of 1970 and subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 813 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as follows:

§ 805-a. [Certain action prohibited] Additional statewide standards of ethical conduct. 1. No municipal officer or employee shall: a. directly or indirectly, solicit any gift, or accept or receive any gift having a value of seventy-five dollars or more, whether in the form of money, service, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, thing or promise, or in any other form, under circumstances in which it could reasonably be inferred that the gift was intended to influence [him], or could reasonably be expected to influence [him, in] the performance of [his] official duties or was intended as a reward for any official action [on his part];

b. disclose confidential information acquired by him or her in the course of his or her official duties or use such information to further his or her personal interests;

c. receive, or enter into any agreement, express or implied, for compensation for services to be rendered in relation to any matter before any municipal agency of which he or she is an officer, member or employee or of any municipal agency over which he or she has jurisdiction or to which he or she has the power to appoint any member, officer or employee; or

d. receive, or enter into any agreement, express or implied, for compensation for services to be rendered in relation to any matter before any agency of his or her municipality, whereby his or her compensation is to be dependent or contingent upon any action by such agency with respect to such matter, provided that this paragraph shall not prohibit the fixing at any time of fees based upon the reasonable value of the services rendered.

2. a. Except as provided in paragraph b of this subdivision, no municipal officer or employee shall participate in any official decision or take any official action with respect to any matter requiring the exercise of discretion, including participating in official discussions and voting on the matter, when he or she knows or has reason to believe that action or inaction on the matter will confer a financial or material benefit on himself or herself, a relative, or any private organization in which the municipal officer or employee is deemed to have an interest.

b. This subdivision shall not be construed as prohibiting:

i. performance of a ministerial act, which for the purposes of this section, shall mean an administrative act carried out in a prescribed manner not allowing for substantial personal discretion;

ii. participation in any official decision or official action taken by a board or similar body when paragraph a of this subdivision would prohibit one or more members of the board or body from participating and the remaining members of the board or body are insufficient in number or lack sufficient voting strength to make such decision or take such action; or

iii. participation in any official decision or official action taken by a municipal officer or employee, individually, when the matter cannot be lawfully delegated or assigned to another person.

c. Whenever paragraph a of this subdivision prohibits a municipal officer or employee from participating in an official decision or taking official action, such municipal officer or employee shall disclose in

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writing to the governing board the facts and circumstances requiring recusal and such disclosure shall be made a part of and set forth in the official record of the proceedings of such board. Whenever the prohibition in paragraph a of this subdivision does not apply because of the applicability of subparagraph ii or subparagraph iii of paragraph b of this subdivision, the municipal officer or employee shall disclose in writing to the governing board the facts and circumstances that would otherwise require recusal under paragraph a of this subdivision and such disclosure shall be made a part of and set forth in the official record of the proceedings of such board.

d. For purposes of this subdivision, the term "relative" shall mean any person living in the same household as the municipal officer or employee and any person who is a direct descendant of that individual's grandparents or the spouse of such descendant.

e. Compliance with this subdivision shall not constitute an exception to section eight hundred one of this article, nor be construed as curing a violation of that section.

3. a. Except as provided in paragraph b of this subdivision, no municipal officer or employee shall use or permit the use of municipal property or resources for personal or private purposes.

b. This subdivision shall not be construed as prohibiting:

i. any use of municipal property or resources authorized by law or municipal policy consistent with law;

ii. the use of municipal property or resources for personal or private purposes when provided to a municipal officer or employee as part of his or her compensation; or

iii. the occasional, minimal, non-business and non-partisan use of municipal office equipment and supplies, such as telephones, computers, copiers, paper and pens, for personal matters at no or nominal cost to the municipality.

c. For purposes of this subdivision, "property or resources" shall include, but not be limited to, money, facilities, furnishings, machinery, apparatus, equipment, supplies and letterhead.

4. In addition to any penalty contained in any other provision of law, any person who shall knowingly and intentionally violate this section may be fined, suspended or removed from office or employment in the manner provided by law.

§ 6. The section heading of section 806 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 1019 of the laws of 1970, is amended to read as follows:

[Code] Municipal codes of ethics.

§ 7. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 806 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 238 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The governing body of each county, city, town, village, school district [and], fire district and improvement district governed by article thirteen of the town law shall, and the governing body of any other municipality may, by local law, ordinance or resolution, adopt a code of ethics setting forth for the guidance of its officers and employees the standards of conduct reasonably expected of them. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary, a fire district code of ethics shall also apply to the volunteer members of the fire district fire department. Codes of ethics shall provide standards for officers and employees with respect to disclosure of interest in legislation before the local governing body, holding of investments in conflict with official duties, private employment in conflict with official duties,

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future employment, nepotism, and such other standards relating to the conduct of officers and employees as may be deemed advisable. Such codes may: (i) regulate or prescribe conduct which is not expressly prohibited by this article but may not authorize conduct otherwise prohibited [. Such codes may provide for the prohibition of]; (ii) prohibit contracts or conduct [or] that is either expressly or by implication permitted by section eight hundred two or section eight hundred five-a of this article; and (iii) provide for the disclosure of information and the classification of employees or officers. Every five years, the governing body of each municipality that adopts a code of ethics shall review and, when deemed necessary, update its code of ethics.

§ 8. Subdivision 2 of section 806 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 238 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: