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Unfunded Mandate Relief

Unfunded Mandate Relief
Source: NYSBA Municipal Law Section, Special Committee on Mandate Relief

On February 28, 2011 the New York State Bar Association?s Municipal Law Section?s Special Committee on Mandate Relief sent its comments* concerning the need for relief of certain mandates imposed on political subdivisions of the State, i.e., counties, cities, towns, villages and school districts, to the Governor?s Office.

The Special Committee said that:

?Municipal officials have long been managing mandates handed down by the state government, whether the mandate is funded, under-funded or unfunded.1 As there is no uniformly accepted definition of what constitutes an ?unfunded mandate,? there is no recognized, comprehensive inventory of the unfunded mandates that are placed on municipalities. Nevertheless, there are a number of laws and regulations that are universally recognized as such due to their prevalence and associated costs on municipal affairs.

?Some require that certain services or programs be offered to the public by the municipality for the benefit of the public at large. Others establish procedural or administrative parameters within which a municipality must operate, but do not provide any identifiable benefit to the municipality or the public at large. Often, this latter mandate category is designed to promote a legislatively determined public policy of the state, benefiting a narrow class of individuals, at the cost of the municipality. It is from this latter category of mandate that the need for fiscal relief is greatest?.

Noting that its comments ?are not intended to question the validity or wisdom of the various public policies underlying mandates; rather, these comments are intended to identify those mandates that have the greatest impact on municipal expenses and to highlight the inequity of having municipalities bear the financial burden of carrying out these policies.?

The Special Committee addressed the following issues:

Disability Benefits for Law Enforcement and Firefighters (GML §§ 207-c; 207-a)

Public Pensions

Wicks Law (Gen. Mun. Law 101)

Prevailing Wage (Labor Law § 220)

Triborough Amendment to the Taylor Law [Civil Service Law § 209-a.1(e)]

* A complimentary copy of the Special Committee?s report is available from NYPPL. E-mail your request to publications@nycap.rr.com
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Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on March 02, 2011 (boomark / email).