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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 29, 2007

MANDATE RELIEF PROPOSALS TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE LEGISLATURE

Governor Eliot Spitzer and Lieutenant Governor David Paterson today announced a legislative proposal to eliminate unnecessary mandates on local governments. This legislation will make amendments to the Wicks Law, ease local government procurement procedures, provide equal treatment for localities with respect to collateral source payments, reform the laws governing interest rates, and streamline the enforcement of local housing code violations.

“This legislation enacts necessary measures to reduce the heavy financial burden, ease the cumbersome workload, and roll back the excessive mandates that for too long have handcuffed New York State's local governments,” said Governor Spitzer. “By encouraging structural reforms and reducing operational costs, this bill will promote fiscal savings for our taxpayers, increase flexibility for our municipalities, and ensure the long-term economic stability of our state.”

“State mandates have prevented local governments from adjusting to the changing economic climate and evolving needs of their communities,” said Lieutenant Governor David Paterson. "This overdue legislation will provide much needed flexibility and savings for our municipalities and taxpayers.”

Executive director of the New York State Association of Counties, Stephen J. Acquario said, “Over the years, unfunded state mandates have unnecessarily shifted costs to property taxpayers. Property tax relief is critical to the long-term economic revitalization of New York State. Local and state government officials all have a common purpose and serve the same constituency-New Yorkers. We need to work together to identify programs which drive up the cost of government, with the goals of reducing the burden on local property taxpayers. On behalf of the 62 counties of the state, NYSAC applauds the Governor for advancing these important mandate relief initiatives and we look forward to developing consensus with the state Legislature this year.”

The mandate relief package will include the following provisions:

Wicks Law

The Wicks Law is an antiquated statute that requires multiple contracts for all municipal construction projects costing over $50,000 - a monetary threshold that has not been increased since the early 1960s. This legislation will:

  • Increase the threshold to $1,000,000 for Upstate projects and $2,000,000 for projects in New York City, and annually index these new thresholds to adjust for inflation;
  • Strengthen subcontractor protections to ensure that subcontractors are treated fairly in non-Wicks projects; and
  • Authorize the use of project labor agreements, which standardize the terms and conditions for labor on public works contracts, in lieu of Wicks separate specifications in certain circumstances.

    • Local Government Procurement

    This legislation will facilitate local government procurement processes by:

    Collateral Source Laws

    The State’s collateral source laws provide for the deduction of certain third-party payments from jury awards in personal injury and wrongful death actions, to ensure that injured plaintiffs do not get paid twice for the same injury. While most past and future collateral source payments are deducted from jury awards, future payments are not offset in actions against public employers. As a result, local governments end up making future payments to plaintiffs who are already scheduled to receive such payments from other sources. This legislation eliminates that inequity.

    State Laws Governing Interest Rate

    Local governments currently must pay interest on outstanding judgments at a fixed rate of 9% -- which is significantly higher than current market interest rates. This unnecessarily increases the interest costs of local governments, and provides a windfall to third parties. This legislation will reduce those expenses by setting a market-based method of calculating interest rates - similar to the method used for judgments involving the federal government - and by capping interest rates at the current statutory rate of 9%.

    Housing Code Enforcement

    Local governments can currently enforce local housing maintenance codes only through court action, a cumbersome and costly process that has led to significant violation backlogs in some municipalities. This legislation gives local governments the option to use administrative proceedings to streamline the enforcement of local housing code violations.