N.Y. Public Authorities Law § 3667 – County financial plans

1. The county executive shall prepare and submit to the authority a four-year financial plan, initially for the fiscal years ending December thirty-first, two thousand one through two thousand four, together with the proposed budget for the fiscal year ending on December thirty-first, two thousand one, not later than the date required for submission of such budget to the legislature pursuant to the county charter. Such financial plan shall, in addition to the requirements for financial plans set forth in subdivisions two and three of this section, contain actions sufficient to ensure with respect to the major operating funds for each fiscal year of the plan that annual aggregate operating expenses for such fiscal year shall not exceed annual aggregate operating revenues for such fiscal year. For purposes of determining operating revenues in the fiscal years ending December thirty-first, two thousand one through two thousand seven, such plan may assume (a) borrowings by the county or the authority to finance tax certiorari judgments or settlements in annual amounts not exceeding one hundred million dollars, or, in the aggregate for all such years, four hundred million dollars; however, of said four hundred million dollars, no more than fifteen million dollars may be counted as operating revenue in the fiscal year two thousand six and no more than ten million dollars may be counted as operating revenue in fiscal year two thousand seven, and (b) receipt by the county of NCIFA assistance and transitional state aid in the following collective amounts for each respective fiscal year: Amount Fiscal Year 2001 amount 2001 2002 amount 2002 2003 amount 2003 2004 amount 2004. The one hundred million dollars annual limit on assumed tax certiorari borrowings may be waived by the authority respecting any fiscal year, upon its determination that the results of any increased and accelerated settlement or litigation efforts by the county justify such waiver. As used in this subdivision: "2001 amount" means that amount expected to be provided by the authority to ensure balanced major operating fund operations upon its determination that the county has taken recurring actions to close between thirty-five per centum (35%) and forty per centum (40%) of the projected gap. "2002 amount" means that amount expected to be provided by the authority to ensure balanced major operating fund operations upon its determination that the county has taken recurring actions to close between forty-five per centum (45%) and fifty per centum (50%) of the projected gap. "2003 amount" means that amount expected to be provided by the authority to ensure balanced major operating fund operations upon its determination that the county has taken recurring actions to close between sixty per centum (60%) and sixty-five per centum (65%) of the projected gap. "2004 amount" means that amount expected to be provided by the authority to ensure balanced major operating fund operations upon its determination that the county has taken recurring actions to close between eighty per centum (80%) and eighty-five per centum (85%) of the projected gap.
2. Pursuant to the procedures contained in this subdivision, each year during the interim finance period or during a control period the county shall develop, and may from time to time modify, taking into account recommendations of the authority, a four year financial plan covering the county and the covered organizations. Each such financial plan and financial plan modification shall conform to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subdivision and shall provide that the major operating funds of the county will be balanced in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The financial plan shall be developed and approved, and may from time to time be modified, in accordance with the following procedures:
1. (a) The county executive shall prepare and submit to the authority and the legislature a revised financial plan to the authority covering the four year period beginning with the ensuing fiscal year, together with the proposed budget for the ensuing fiscal year, not later than the date required for submission of such budget pursuant to the county charter. On such dates, the county executive shall also submit to the authority a certificate stating that such budget is consistent with the financial plan submitted therewith and that operation within the budget is feasible.
2. (b) Not more than twenty days after submission of a financial plan or more than fifteen days after submission of a financial plan modification, the authority shall determine whether the financial plan or financial plan modification is complete and complies with the provisions of section thirty-six hundred sixty-six and this section and the other requirements of this title, and shall submit its recommendations with respect to the financial plan or financial plan modification in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision.
3. (c) Upon the approval by the county of a budget in accordance with the provisions of the county charter and approval of the financial plan by the legislature, the county executive shall submit such approved budget and financial plan to the authority accompanied by expenditure, revenue and cash flow projections on a quarterly basis and certify to the authority that such budget is consistent with the financial plan to be submitted to the authority.
4. (d) If the authority determines that the financial plan or financial plan modification provided pursuant to paragraphs (c) or (f) of this subdivision is complete and complies with the standards set forth in this subdivision, the authority shall make a certification to the county setting forth revenue estimates agreed to by the authority in accordance with such determination.
5. (e) The authority shall, in the event it disagrees with elements of the financial plan provided pursuant to paragraphs (c) or (f) of this subdivision, provide notice thereof to the county executive, the legislature and the comptroller, with copies to the director of the budget, the state comptroller, the chair of the assembly ways and means committee and the chair of the senate finance committee, if, in the judgment of the authority, such plan:
  1. (i) is incomplete;
  2. (ii) fails to contain projections of revenues and expenditures that are based on reasonable and appropriate assumptions and methods of estimation;
  3. (iii) fails to provide that operations of the county and the covered organizations will be conducted within the cash resources available according to the authority's revenue estimates; or
  4. (iv) fails to comply with the provisions of this title or other requirements of law.
6. (f) After the initial adoption of an approved financial plan, the revenue estimates certified by the authority and the financial plan shall be regularly reexamined by the authority in consultation with the county and the covered organizations and the county executive shall provide a modified financial plan in such detail and within such time periods as the authority may require. In the event of reductions in such revenue estimates, or in the event the county or a covered organization shall expend funds at a rate that would exceed the aggregate expenditure limitation for the county or covered organization prior to the expiration of the fiscal year, the county executive shall submit a financial plan modification to effect such adjustments in revenue estimates and reductions in total expenditures as may be necessary to conform to such revised revenue estimates or aggregate expenditure limitations.
7. (g) If, within a time period specified by the authority, the county fails to make such modifications after reductions in revenue estimates, or to provide a modified plan in detail and within such time period required by the authority, the authority shall adopt a resolution so finding.
8. (h) The county shall amend its budget or shall submit a financial plan modification for the approval of the authority such that the county's budget and the approved financial plan shall be consistent. In no event shall the county operate under a budget that is inconsistent with an approved financial plan.
3. The financial plan shall be in such form and shall contain such information for each year during which the financial plan is in effect as the authority may specify, and shall include the county and all the covered organizations, and shall, in such detail as the authority from time to time may prescribe, include (a) statements of all estimated revenues and of all expenditures and cash flow projections of the county and each of the covered organizations, (b) a report on the status of efforts to reform and streamline the tax certiorari claims process and eliminate the need in each year of the plan for the county to borrow to finance such claims or judgments, including an accounting of the expenditure of any transitional state aid for such purposes, and (c) an accounting of the expenditure of any remaining transitional state aid available to the county for each year of the plan.
4. The financial plan shall include any information which the authority may request to satisfy itself that (a) projected employment levels, collective bargaining agreements and other actions relating to employee costs, capital construction and such other matters as the authority may specify are consistent with the provisions made for such obligations in the financial plan, (b) the county and the covered organizations are taking whatever action is necessary with respect to programs mandated by state and federal law to ensure that expenditures for such programs are limited to and covered by the expenditures stated in the financial plan, (c) adequate reserves are provided to maintain essential programs in the event revenues have been overestimated or expenditures underestimated for any period, and (d) the county has adequate cash resources to meet its obligations. In addition, except to the extent such reporting requirements may be modified pursuant to agreement between the authority and the county, for each fiscal year occurring during the interim finance period or while bonds issued pursuant to this title are outstanding, the county executive shall prepare a quarterly report of summarized budget data depicting overall trends of actual revenues and budget expenditures for the entire budget rather than individual line items and updated quarterly cash flow projections of receipts and disbursements. Such reports shall compare revenue estimates and appropriations as set forth in such budget and in the quarterly revenue and expenditure projections submitted therewith with the actual revenues and expenditures made to date. Such reports shall also compare actual receipts and disbursements with the estimates contained in the cash flow projections, together with variances and their explanation. All quarterly reports shall be accompanied by recommendations from the county executive to the legislature setting forth any remedial action necessary to resolve any unfavorable budget variance including the overestimation of revenues and the underestimation of appropriations. These reports shall be completed within thirty days after the end of each quarter and shall be submitted to the legislature, the authority, the director of the budget and the state comptroller. Except during a control period, for each fiscal year occurring during the interim finance period or while bonds issued pursuant to this title are outstanding, the county executive shall submit a proposed budget or revision thereto to the authority concurrent with submission to the legislature, and shall submit the adopted budget to the authority immediately upon its adoption.
5. For each financial plan and financial plan modification to be prepared and submitted by the county executive to the authority pursuant to the provisions of this section, the covered organizations shall submit to the county such information with respect to their projected expenditures, revenues and cash flows for each of the years covered by such financial plan or modification as the county executive shall determine. Notwithstanding any other provision of law limiting the authority of the county with respect to any covered organization, the county, in the preparation and submission of the financial plan and modifications thereof, shall (except for debt service or for other expenditures to the extent that such expenditures are required by law) have the power to determine the aggregate expenditures to be allocated to any covered organization in the financial plan and any modifications thereto.
6. The authority and the county shall confer concerning the projected effect on the budgets of the county and the covered organizations of any change in generally accepted accounting principles, or change in the application of generally accepted accounting principles to the county and the covered organizations, made or to be implemented after the effective date of this title. If the authority determines that immediate compliance with such change will have a material effect on such budgets over a time period insufficient to accommodate the effect without a substantial adverse impact on the delivery of essential services by the county, the authority may authorize and approve a method of phasing the requirements of such change into such budgets over such reasonably expeditious time period as the authority deems appropriate.