§ 227 — Legalizing acts

New York § 227

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law CNT: County
• Art. 5: General Powers of Board of Supervisors

Text

§ 227. Legalizing acts. 1. Power to legalize. The board of supervisors\nof any county shall have power to legalize and validate any act had and\ntaken in connection with a lawful municipal purpose or for a lawful\nmunicipal object or purpose, by the governing board or other local body,\nofficer or agency of a municipality wholly within the county if, after a\npublic hearing held in the affected municipality pursuant to notice and\nupon the evidence given thereat, the board of supervisors shall find\nthat the defect sought to be cured was: (a) failure to perform an act\nwithin the time prescribed by law; (b) that the form of any notice\nrequired by law was defective; (c) that the service, posting or\npublication of any notice was not performed within the time and in the\nmanner required by law; (d) that through an intentional act performed in\ngood faith to meet an emergency situation or through inadvertence,\nmistake or error in accounting methods or otherwise, a fund or\nappropriation account has been overdrawn, and the fund or account has\nbeen reimbursed by transfer thereto of unobligated moneys from another\nmunicipal fund or account; (e) that through inadvertence, mistake or\nerror a mandatory appropriation was omitted from an adopted budget and\nthe budget was later amended and appropriation made to cure the defect;\n(f) that an adopted budget was amended to include a discretionary\nappropriation after a public hearing pursuant to notice; (g) that\nthrough inadvertence, mistake or error an act was recorded at a later\ndate than was prescribed by law, or otherwise that a defect existed in\nthe manner or method of recording the same; (h) that through\ninadvertence, mistake or error, the governing board or other local body,\nofficer or agency of a municipality charged by law with the duty failed\nor neglected to submit a referendum to the electors when required by law\nand either at least two years have elapsed since the completion of the\nproject and payment of the cost thereof, or, in any other case, at least\ntwo years have elapsed since the date when the referendum should have\nbeen held; (i) that through an intentional act performed in good faith\nto meet an emergency situation or through inadvertence, mistake or error\nin accounting methods or otherwise, obligations have been incurred\nagainst a fund or account in excess of the total amount appropriated or\nlawfully transferred thereto; that the officer, body or agency,\nincurring such excess obligation, or his or its successor, has furnished\na detailed sworn explanation in writing of the intentional act performed\nin good faith to meet an emergency situation or the inadvertence,\nmistake or error and has made application for additional funds to pay\nsuch obligation and that the governing board or other local body, after\na public hearing on notice in the same manner as provided in subdivision\ntwo hereof, by at least a two-thirds vote of the whole number of the\nmembers thereof has approved the presentation of a petition to the board\nof supervisors to validate and legalize such obligation and to obtain\nauthorization for its payment.\n 2. Procedure to legalize. Any municipality or local officer or agency\nseeking relief under this section shall present to the board of\nsupervisors of the county a petition duly verified setting forth the\nfacts and praying for the relief authorized by this section. Attached to\nsuch petition shall be certified copies of all acts done and proceedings\nhad in relation to the subject matter sought to be legalized. The board\nof supervisors may direct the governing board or officers to do that\nwhich should have been done in the first instance and the time\nprescribed by law for the performance of the act shall be deemed\nextended to allow compliance therewith, and such acts shall not be\nlegalized until proof is submitted of such compliance. Notice stating\nthe time, place and purpose of the public hearing shall be published at\nleast once in a newspaper designated by the board with due regard for\ncirculation in the municipality affected, and posted in at least three\npublic conspicuous places in the municipality at least five days before\nthe date set for the public hearing. One of such notices shall be posted\nupon the bulletin board of the respective city, village or town clerk's\noffice. The power to conduct such public hearing may be delegated to a\nstanding or special committee of the board which shall file with the\nboard a transcript of the evidence produced together with its\nrecommendations thereon. The board of supervisors or such committee\nshall have power to compel the production of, and shall consider, any\ndocuments or other evidence deemed pertinent to the inquiry and may\nadjourn from time to time. The legalizing act must be adopted by the\naffirmative vote of two-thirds of the whole number of the members of the\nboard at a regular or special meeting, provided, however, that\nlegalizing action taken pursuant to paragraph (i) of subdivision one of\nthis section shall be by local law, and provided further where on\nrequest of the board the state comptroller submits to it his certified\nfindings and approval of a petition presented pursuant to paragraph (i),\nsuch local law may be adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of\nthe whole number of the members of the board. The legalizing act shall\nrecite the filing of the petition and all proceedings taken thereon and\nshall contain the text of the act sought to be legalized and the method\nof, and the maximum maturity of the bonds or capital notes, if any, for\nfinancing the obligation or obligations so legalized and validated. It\nshall state the intentional act, mistake, error or omission cured by the\nlegalizing act; that such intentional act, mistake, error or omission\nwas not the result of fraud and that no substantial hardship will result\ntherefrom and the determination thereon by the board of supervisors\nlegalizing and validating the same. A copy of the legalizing act\ncertified by the clerk of the board shall be published at least once a\nweek for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper designated by the board\nwith due regard for circulation in the municipality affected, the first\npublication of which shall be had within twenty days after the\nlegalizing act is adopted. The petition and related papers, or certified\ncopies thereof, shall be filed in the office of the county clerk.\nSubject to limitations or restrictions prescribed by the board of\nsupervisors, the amount of any obligations legalized and validated\nhereunder may be paid from available funds or shall be deemed to be a\nsettled claim within the meaning of subdivision thirty-three of\nparagraph a of section 11.00 of the local finance law which may be\nfinanced by the issuance of bonds or capital notes, provided, however,\nthat the maximum maturity of any such bonds shall not exceed six years\nfrom the date of issuance of such bonds or from the date of issuance of\nthe earliest bond anticipation note issued in anticipation thereof,\nwhichever date is the earlier, and provided further, however, that the\ncost shall be charged against the area normally responsible for the\npayment of the obligation which had been legalized and validated. The\ncost of all publications under this section shall be a charge upon and\nbe paid by the petitioner. A copy of the legalizing act duly certified\nby the clerk shall be filed with the state comptroller and with the\npetitioner. The term "municipality" as used in this section shall\ninclude a city, town or village or a fire district, special district,\nspecial improvement district or other local governmental agency or\nauthority created by or pursuant to law.\n 3. Review by the court. Within thirty days after the first publication\nof the legalizing act of the board of supervisors, a proceeding may be\nbrought under article seventy-eight of the civil practice act to review\nthe same. The legalizing act may be contested only upon the grounds that\nthe act was not performed in the exercise of a lawful object or purpose,\nor that the finding that the act was performed in good faith and no\nsubstantial hardship of fraud resulted is against the weight of\nevidence, or that there existed a jurisdictional defect beyond the power\nof the board of supervisors to legalize, or that the board of\nsupervisors did not comply with law in legalizing the same.\n 4. Application. The provisions of this section shall not apply to\naction had or taken by any such governing board or other local body,\nofficer, or agency of a municipality when a remedy to legalize and\nvalidate the same already exists in law; nor shall it apply to any\naction had or taken in violation of the provisions of the state\nconstitution; nor shall it authorize the board of supervisors to\nlegalize or validate fraudulent acts of the governing board or other\nlocal body, office or agency of a municipality; nor shall it authorize\nthe board of supervisors to legalize and validate any act resulting in\nunusual hardship to the qualified voters of the petitioner. It is hereby\ndeclared and determined that the powers conferred upon the boards of\nsupervisors of counties under this section are powers of local\nlegislation within the meaning and intent of article nine of the\nconstitution and that the exercise of such powers shall be deemed to be\nthe exercise of a lawful county function. Nothing in this section\ncontained shall be construed to restrict the powers of the legislature\nin relation to cities, towns, villages or other local governmental\nagencies created or established by law.\n