What's happening
The bill requires all school districts in New York to join and participate in county-wide shared services panels.
Why it matters
Mandates school district participation in county-wide shared services panels, shifting from previous law where participation was optional. This increases coordination between school districts and other local government entities, potentially leading to more standardized and collaborative decision-making.
Aims to streamline and potentially reduce costs through shared services, such as transportation, purchasing, or administrative functions. By requiring all school districts to join these panels, the law seeks to leverage economies of scale that might not be achievable if districts acted independently.
Removes the requirement for state education department approval for cooperative agreements made through these panels. This could speed up the implementation of shared services and reduce bureaucratic delays, but may also lessen oversight from the state education authorities.
Impacts local control and autonomy of school districts. Districts may have less flexibility to opt out of shared service arrangements, which could affect how they manage their resources and respond to local priorities or unique student needs.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require School Districts to Share
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to local government
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Require School Shared Service Panels
In Assembly Committee · Local Governments · Sponsor Kevin M. Byrne
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7605
IN SENATE
January 29, 2020
Introduced by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Local Government
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to requiring school districts to be part of county-wide shared services panels
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 119-o of the general municipal law, as added by section 2 of part EE of chapter 55 of the laws of 2018, is amended and a new subdivision 5 is added to read as follows:
4. Any [school district or] board of cooperative educational services may join a panel established pursuant to article twelve-I of this chapter, and may further participate in any of the activities of such panel, with any participating county, town, city, village, fire district, fire protection district, or special improvement district participating in such panels. For cooperative agreements which involve functions, services, or provisions permitted by this section, [school districts and] boards of cooperative educational services shall be permitted to create and execute such agreements, when a part of the activity of such panel, without opinion or approval of the state education department.
5. Each school district shall join each county-wide shared services panel established pursuant to article twelve-I of this chapter for each county in which their district is located, and may further participate in any of the activities of such panel, with any participating county, town, city, village, fire district, fire protection district, or special improvement district participating in such panels. For cooperative agreements which involve functions, services, or provisions permitted by this section, school districts shall be permitted to create and execute such agreements, when a part of the activity of such panel, without opinion or approval of the state education department.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03072-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to requiring school districts to be part of county-wide shared services panels
Purpose or general idea of bill
This legislation would require school districts to participate in the countywide shared service panels, as opposed to making it optional.
Summary of provisions
Section 1.Subdivision 4 of section 119-o of the general municipal law, added by section 2 of part EE of chapter 55 of the laws of 2018, is amended and a new subdivision 5 is added to state that each school district shall join each county-wide shared service panel established pursuant to article twelve-I of this chapter for each county in which their district is located.
Section 2.This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeed- ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
Justification
The State of New York has one of the highest tax burdens in the United States. This is particularly true of its property taxes. According to the Tax Foundation, New York ranked fourth in the country in property taxes collected per capita in 2015. This tremendous financial burden has driven New Yorkers out of their homes and forced many to leave the state to live in a less costly part of the country.
In an attempt to stem this tide and ease the financial pain, the state established the "County-Wide Shared Services Initiative" in its 2018 fiscal year budget. According to the New York State guidance document for this initiative, the purpose of the panel is to, "generate property tax savings by facilitating operational collaboration between local governments."
In each county, a shared services panel is created. The panel's goal is to cut property taxes by identifying potential shared service and other cost saving measures at the local levels of government. They then devel- op and submit a plan. In addition, the shared service panel can apply for state matching funds for one year that matches the net savings from the plan.
The panel is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of each County, and every Mayor and Supervisor within the county is a required panel member. School districts within the county have the option to pick one represen- tative from the district to participate in the panel if the Chief Execu- tive Officer invites them to join the panel.
This bill would take out the optional status for school districts, and require they participate in the panel, like Mayors and Supervisors are required. School taxes are the largest portion of local property taxes paid by New Yorkers. Requiring school districts to be part of countywide
shared services panel would provide an opportunity for the panel to find even greater savings.
Prior legislative history
This is a new bill.
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
None
Effective date
Section 2.This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeed- ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.