MEMO OF SUPPORT
S5418-C (Cooney) / A6601-A (Rivera)
Establishes NY State Aid and Incentives for Municipalities Redesign Task Force
July 2021
Title
An act in relation to establishing the New York State Aid and Incentives for Municipalities Redesign Task Force; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof.
Summary
Section 1 establishes the New York State Aid and Incentives for Municipalities Redesign Task Force. The Task Force is to consist of seven members:
- Division of Budget Director or their designee (chair of Task Force)
- Comptroller or their designee
- Executive Director of the NYS Conference of Mayors or their designee
- Executive Director of the NYS Association of Counties or their designee
- Executive Director of NYS Association of Towns or their designee
- One appointee of the Senate Temporary President
- One appointee of the Assembly Speaker
The Task Force shall prepare a report for the Governor, Temporary President and Speaker within a year of the act’s effective date. The report shall contain:
- A review and analysis of the formula and allocations for current aid and incentives to municipalities
- An analysis of alternatives to the current model including models in other states
- Recommendations for formula redesign based on the analysis of alternatives (which cannot recommend allocations for municipalities not currently receiving funding)
- Any other information deemed relevant by the Task Force.
All appointments shall be made within 60 days of the bill’s effective date. The Task Force shall meet as often as it deems necessary, and without compensation except for necessary expenses. The Division of Budget shall provide the Task Force with data requested by the Task Force in a format set forth by the New York State Open Data Handbook. To fulfill its mission, the Task Force may also consult with whatever entity deemed necessary.
Section 2 states that the act is effective immediately and will be deemed repealed on December 31, 2022.
Statement of Support
Reinvent Albany supports this bill because we believe that New York’s current models for distributing local funding such as aid and incentives to municipalities (AIM) is outdated, and that the proposed Task Force can help bring the system into the twenty-first century.
This bill establishes a Task Force that would democratize reform by allowing organizations representing counties and municipalities to weigh in on updating the system. Rather than having the majority of Task Force members appointed by a single elected official, members of the Task Force will come from a variety of sectors and appointing authorities, with no single interest group dominant. We believe the diversity of perspectives will be conducive to better solutions for modernizing AIM.
We also appreciate the bill’s spirit of transparency: The Task Force will have access to open data that will allow members to better assess issues with AIM and propose changes. We urge that transparency doesn’t stop there, and that the Task Force abides by the Open Meetings Law, have a web page, and that state leaders make the report available to the public.
The legislation has passed both houses. We urge the Governor to sign the bill.