Section 10-C - Consolidated local highway assistance payments1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter or any other law, and subject to an appropriation made therefor and in accordance with the provisions of this section and with the rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner in connection therewith, on and after the first day of April, nineteen hundred eighty-two, a consolidated local highway assistance program is hereby established for the purpose of making payments toward the construction, operation and/or maintenance of highways, bridges and highway-railroad crossings that are not on the state highway system. For purposes of this section, such program shall apply to any county, city, town or village highway, bridge and/or highway-railroad crossing within the state that is not on the state highway system and not under the maintenance and/or operational jurisdiction of the state. The commissioner shall promulgate all necessary rules and regulations to carry out the program so that an equitable distribution of aid shall be made for the construction, operation and/or maintenance of any county, city, town and village highways, bridges and highway-railroad crossings.2. On or before the twenty-fifth day of April, June, September and November of each state fiscal year commencing with the state fiscal year beginning on April first, nineteen hundred eighty-four there shall be distributed and paid to counties, cities, towns and villages an amount equal to the moneys appropriated for the purposes of this section divided by the number of payment dates in that state fiscal year. Such amounts shall be distributed and paid pursuant to subdivision three of this section.3. Amounts shall be distributed for local highways, bridges and highway-railroad crossings in accordance with the following three step process:(a) First, 41.40 percent of moneys so appropriated or authorized by the legislature for distribution pursuant to this subdivision in any fiscal year shall be distributed to New York city and to the counties outside of New York city, fifty percent on the basis of their relative shares of motor vehicle registration and fifty percent on the basis of the relative shares of center line highway mileage, except interstate and state highways, under the maintenance jurisdiction of the city of New York and the several counties.(b) Second, the balance of the moneys so appropriated or authorized by the legislature for distribution pursuant to this subdivision in any fiscal year shall be distributed among four jurisdictional systems based on relative vehicle miles of travel as follows: JURISDICTIONAL PERCENT OF SYSTEM VEHICLE MILES OF TRAVEL Cities 42.7 Counties 18.5 Villages 10.7 Towns 28.1 ----- Total 100.0 Within each jurisdictional system, the distribution made to each municipality shall be based on the ratio of the number of lane miles under the maintenance jurisdiction, except interstate and state highways, of each municipality that is devoted to the movement of traffic, excluding lanes devoted to the parking of vehicles, to the total number of such lane miles under the operational jurisdiction, except interstate and state highways, of all municipalities in the state within each jurisdictional system.
(c) Third, the amounts distributed to each municipality in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision shall be adjusted so that such amounts will not be less than the "funding level" as defined in subdivision five of this section for each such municipality. In order to achieve the objectives of this paragraph, to the extent necessary the amounts in excess of the funding levels to be distributed to each municipality under paragraphs (a) and (b) hereof shall be reduced in equal proportion.4.(a) For each fiscal year commencing on and after April first, nineteen hundred eighty-two and prior to April first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven, amounts shall be distributed pursuant to an annual appropriation from the local assistance account of the general fund of thirty-four million dollars in accordance with the percentums established in subdivision five of section two hundred thirty-two of the transportation law.(b) For each fiscal year set out in the schedule hereinbelow amounts shall be distributed pursuant to an annual appropriation from the local assistance account of the general fund in an amount set out in such schedule for the corresponding state fiscal year. Each fiscal year distribution shall be made in accordance with the per centums established in subdivision five of section two hundred thirty-two of the transportation law: State Fiscal Year Appropriation 1987-88 $65,000,000 1988-89 $70,000,000 1989-90 $75,000,000 1990-91 $80,000,000 1991-92 $85,000,000 1992-93 $87,000,000 (c) Sub-allocations within each percentum shall be made in accordance with the allocations established by the commissioner pursuant to chapter three hundred sixty-nine of the laws of nineteen hundred seventy-nine.(d) The amounts distributed pursuant to this subdivision shall be paid in four equal payments on or before the twenty-fifth day of April, June, September and November.(e) Funds allocated for local street or highway projects under this subdivision shall be used to undertake work on a project either with the municipality's own forces or by contract, provided however, that whenever the estimate for the construction contract work exceeds one hundred thousand dollars but does not exceed three hundred fifty thousand dollars such work must be performed either with the municipality's own forces or by contract let by competitive bid in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred three of the general municipal law and provided further, however, that whenever the estimate for the construction contract work exceeds three hundred fifty thousand dollars such work must be performed by contract let by competitive bid in accordance with the provisions of section one hundred three of the general municipal law.5. For amounts to be distributed pursuant to this section above the funding level, as defined in this subdivision, received by any municipality, such municipality shall use at least seventy-five percent of such apportioned moneys for the construction, reconstruction or improvement of local highways, bridges and/or highway-railroad crossings, including right of way acquisition, preliminary engineering, and construction supervision and inspection, where the service life of the project is at least ten years. Such moneys made available may be used to match other state and federal funds made available for such projects under federal-aid highway acts. The remainder of the apportionment, may be used for any highway purposes, except debt service, including but not limited to, the acquisition of materials and equipment devoted to operation and maintenance of local highways, bridges and/or highway-railroad crossings and the payment of any costs directly attributable to operation and maintenance of local highways, bridges and/or highway-railroad crossings. At the discretion of the commissioner, the requirement specified in this subdivision may be waived for assistance payments in amounts of less than five thousand dollars. For purposes of this section "funding level" shall mean the average amounts, calculated for each municipality, received over two years ending March thirty-first, nineteen hundred eighty-two from the provisions of the town highway improvement program, the distribution made by former section one hundred twelve of this chapter, as repealed by section twenty-one of the transportation systems assistance and financing act of 1981 of amounts collected from taxes on motor fuel imposed by sections two hundred eighty-four and two hundred eighty-four-a of the tax law and on Diesel motor fuel imposed by sections two hundred eighty-two-a and two hundred eighty-two-b of the tax law, and from motor vehicle fees collected from residents pursuant to the vehicle and traffic law, and the distribution made by former section two hundred seventy-nine of this chapter, as repealed by section twenty-one of the transportation systems assistance and financing act of 1981. 6. On the first day of the third month following the end of its fiscal year ending in nineteen hundred eighty-three and each succeeding fiscal year, each municipality which has received five thousand dollars or more in total funds paid pursuant to subdivision two or four of this section during the preceding fiscal year shall certify to the commissioner, pursuant to rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner in relation thereto, that the expenditure by such municipality in such fiscal year of nonstate funds raised by the municipality for the operation and maintenance (exclusive of capital construction) of its highways, bridges and/or highway-railroad crossings was not reduced below the level of the average of the previous two years. Provided, however, that in calculating the expenditures and revenues of the municipality to determine the local maintenance of effort for the fiscal year being certified and the expenditure level of the average of the previous two years, municipalities shall not be required to include the amount of revenues and expenditures for operation and maintenance of its highways, bridges, and/or highway-railroad crossings necessitated by any unforeseen event for which the municipality was officially declared a disaster area. Where a reduction in such spending or non-use has occurred, the distributions above the funding level to such municipality in the then-current state fiscal year shall be reduced by an amount equivalent to the amount of such reduction or non-use, except that no reduction to the funding level shall be taken for an amount caused by any unforeseen event for which the municipality was officially declared a disaster area. Municipalities not required to certify under this section may continue such non-certifying status, with the approval of the commissioner, if the apportionment to such municipality is increased to more than five thousand dollars but less than seven thousand dollars in any local fiscal year. For the purposes of this section, a municipality shall mean a county, city, town or village or two or more such jurisdictions acting jointly. 7. For any city, town, or village which consolidates or merges with another municipality, the resulting successor government shall file with the office of the state comptroller a certificate of any such consolidation, merger and any accompanying dissolution. In the event that the amount which would otherwise be apportioned to the individual governments exceeds the amount which is payable to the successor government pursuant to this section, such successor government shall receive no less in consolidated local highway apportionments than the predecessor governments would have received in the aggregate had the merger or consolidation not occurred. 8.(a) For each fiscal year set out in the schedule hereinbelow amounts shall be distributed pursuant to annual appropriation from the local assistance account of the general fund in an amount set out in such schedule for the corresponding state fiscal year: State Fiscal Year Appropriation 1993-94 $72,652,000 1994-95 $72,652,000 1995-96 $72,652,000 1996-97 $72,652,000 (b) For each fiscal year set out in the schedule hereinbelow amounts shall be distributed pursuant to annual appropriation from the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund or by authorization by the legislature for capital projects in an amount set out in such schedule for the corresponding state fiscal year: State Fiscal Year Appropriation 1993-94 $170,000,000 1994-95 $175,000,000 1995-96 $180,000,000 1996-97 $185,000,000 (c) The moneys appropriated or authorized in each fiscal year pursuant to the schedules in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision shall be distributed in accordance with the procedures contained in subdivisions three and four of this section. The total of funds distributed in accordance with the procedures in subdivision three of this section shall equal one hundred forty-five million dollars in each fiscal year. The balance of funds shall be distributed in accordance with the procedures in subdivision four of this section. For purposes of calculating distributions in accordance with subdivision three of this section, the "funding level" shall be proportioned between amounts distributed pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision.Amended by New York Laws 2020, ch. 58,Sec. A-1, eff. 4/3/2020.