§ 854. Definitions. As used in this act, unless the context otherwise\nrequires:\n (1) "Agency"--shall mean an Industrial Development Agency created\npursuant to this act.\n (2) "Bonds"--shall mean the bonds, notes, interim certificates and\nother obligations issued by the agency pursuant to this act.\n (3) "Municipality"--shall mean any county, city, village, town or\nIndian reservation in the state.\n (4) "Project" - shall mean any land, any building or other\nimprovement, and all real and personal properties located within the\nstate of New York and within or outside or partially within and\npartially outside the municipality for whose benefit the agency was\ncreated, including, but not limited to, machinery, equipment and other\nfacilities deemed necessary or desirable in connection therewith, or\nincidental thereto, whether or not now in existence or under\nconstruction, which shall be suitable for manufacturing, warehousing,\nresearch, commercial, renewable energy or industrial purposes or other\neconomically sound purposes identified and called for to implement a\nstate designated urban cultural park management plan as provided in\ntitle G of the parks, recreation and historic preservation law and which\nmay include or mean an industrial pollution control facility, a\nrecreation facility, educational or cultural facility, a horse racing\nfacility, a railroad facility, a renewable energy project or an\nautomobile racing facility, provided, however, no agency shall use its\nfunds or provide financial assistance in respect of any project wholly\nor partially outside the municipality for whose benefit the agency was\ncreated without the prior consent thereto by the governing body or\nbodies of all the other municipalities in which a part or parts of the\nproject is, or is to be, located, and such portion of the project\nlocated outside such municipality for whose benefit the agency was\ncreated shall be contiguous with the portion of the project inside such\nmunicipality.\n (5) "Governing body"--shall mean the board or body in which the\ngeneral legislative powers of the municipality are vested.\n (6) "Mortgage"--shall mean a mortgage or other security device.\n (7) "Revenues"--shall mean all rents, revenues, fees, charges and\nother sources of income derived by the agency from the leasing, sale or\nother disposition of a project or projects.\n (8) "Industrial pollution control facility"--shall mean any equipment,\nimprovement, structure or facility or any land and any building,\nstructure, facility or other improvement thereon, or any combination\nthereof, and all real and personal property deemed necessary therewith,\nwhich if within any city are not of a character or nature then or\nformerly furnished or supplied by the city, having to do with or the end\npurpose of which is the control, abatement or prevention of land, sewer,\nwater, air, noise or general environmental pollution deriving from the\noperation of industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, commercial,\nrecreation and research facilities, including, but not limited to any\nair pollution control facility, noise abatement facility, water\nmanagement facility, waste water collecting system, waste water\ntreatment works, sewage treatment works system, sewage treatment system\nor solid waste disposal facility or site.\n (9) "Recreation facility"--shall mean any facility for the use of the\ngeneral public as spectators or participants in recreation activities,\nincluding but not limited to skiing, golfing, swimming, tennis, ice\nskating or ice hockey facilities, together with all buildings,\nstructures, machinery, equipment, facilities and appurtenances thereto\nwhich the agency may deem necessary, useful or desirable in connection\nwith the construction, improvement or operation of any such facility,\nincluding overnight accommodations and other facilities incidental\nthereto and facilities that may permit the use of recreation facilities\nby the general public as participants in recreation activities, but\nshall not include facilities for automobile or horse racing or other\nsimilar activities.\n (10) "Horse racing facility"--shall mean any facility for the use of\nthe general public for purpose of conducting pari-mutuel wagering,\nlicensed by the state gaming commission, as of January first, nineteen\nhundred seventy-seven, except non-profit racing associations, including\nbuildings, structures, machinery, equipments, facilities and\nappurtenances thereto, the construction, reconstruction, acquisition\nand/or improvement of which shall have been approved by the state gaming\ncommission, and that the agency may deem necessary, useful or desirable\nin connection with the construction, improvement or operation of such\nracing facility.\n (11) "Railroad facility"--shall mean, but shall not be limited to,\nrailroad rights-of-way, beds, bridges, viaducts, tracks, switches and\nrolling stock and any other attendant structure, equipment, facility or\nproperty necessary or appropriate to railroading conducted in\nconjunction with industrial, commerical, manufacturing, recreational or\nwarehousing operations; provided, however, that (i) no agency shall\nitself operate a railroad facility for freight or passenger service, but\nmay lease or otherwise make such facility available to an operator,\nsubject to an agreement for the maintenance and operation of such\nfacility for freight or passenger service, provided that passenger\nservice does not constitute the primary purpose of the railroad\nfacility; (ii) prior to undertaking any project involving acquisition,\nconstruction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, equipping or\nfurnishing of a railroad facility, an agency shall submit its plans for\nthe proposed project to the commissioner of transportation; the\ncommissioner shall, within sixty days of his receipt of the proposal,\nsubmit an analysis of the financial and operational feasibility of the\nproposed project, along with any recommendations for modification for\nimproving the project's viability, to the agency, the governor, the\ncommissioner of commerce, the temporary president of the senate, the\nspeaker of the assembly and the governing body of the municipality in\nwhich the agency is located; and (iii) no agency shall enter into any\ncontract for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement,\nmaintenance, equipping or furnishing of a railroad facility until\nfifteen days after the submission of the analysis and recommendations of\nthe commissioner of transportation, or seventy-five days after\nsubmission of the agency's plan to the commissioner, whichever is\nearlier.\n (12) "Educational or cultural facility"--shall mean any facility\nidentified and called for to implement a state designated heritage area\nmanagement plan as provided in title G of the parks, recreation and\nhistoric preservation law that is open to the public at large as\nparticipants in educational and cultural activities including but not\nlimited to theaters, museums, exhibitions and festival and interpretive\nfacilities, together with buildings, structures, machinery, equipment,\nfacilities and appurtenances thereto which the agency may deem\nnecessary, useful or desirable in connection with the construction,\nimprovement or operation of any such facility, including overnight\naccommodations and other facilities incidental thereto and facilities\nthat may permit the use of educational or cultural facilities by the\ngeneral public.\n (14) "Financial assistance" - shall mean the proceeds of bonds issued\nby an agency, straight-leases, or exemptions from taxation claimed by a\nproject occupant as a result of an agency taking title, possession or\ncontrol (by lease, license or otherwise) to the property or equipment of\nsuch project occupant or of such project occupant acting as an agent of\nan agency.\n (15) "Straight-lease transaction" - shall mean a transaction in which\nan agency takes title, possession or control (by lease, license or\notherwise) to the property or equipment of a project occupant, entitling\nsuch property or equipment to be exempt from taxation according to the\nprovisions of section eight hundred seventy-four of this article, and no\nfinancial assistance in the form of the proceeds of bonds issued by the\nagency is provided to the project occupant.\n (16) "Affected tax jurisdiction" - shall mean any municipality or\nschool district, in which a project is located, which will fail to\nreceive real property tax payments, or other tax payments which would\notherwise be due, except for the tax exempt status of an agency involved\nin a project.\n (17) "Payments in lieu of taxes" - shall mean any payment made to an\nagency, or affected tax jurisdiction equal to the amount, or a portion\nof, real property taxes, or other taxes, which would have been levied by\nor on behalf of an affected tax jurisdiction if the project was not tax\nexempt by reason of agency involvement.\n (18) "Highly distressed area" - shall mean (a) a census tract or\ntracts or block numbering areas or areas or such census tract or block\nnumbering area contiguous thereto which, according to the most recent\ncensus data available, has:\n (i) a poverty rate of at least twenty percent for the year to which\nthe data relates or at least twenty percent of households receiving\npublic assistance; and\n (ii) an unemployment rate of at least 1.25 times the statewide\nunemployment rate for the year to which the data relates; or\n (b) a city, town, village or county within a city with a population of\none million or more for which: (i) the ratio of the full value property\nwealth, as determined by the comptroller for the year nineteen hundred\nninety, per resident to the statewide average full value property wealth\nper resident; and (ii) the ratio of the income per resident; as shown in\nthe nineteen hundred ninety census to the statewide average income per\nresident; are each fifty-five percent or less of the statewide average;\nor\n (c) an area which was designated an empire zone pursuant to article\neighteen-B of this chapter.\n (19) "Continuing care retirement community" - shall mean any facility\nthat has been granted a certificate of authority pursuant to article\nforty-six or forty-six-A of the public health law and is established to\nprovide, pursuant to continuing care retirement contracts approved\npursuant to article forty-six of the public health law, or\nfee-for-service continuing care contracts approved pursuant to article\nforty-six-A of the public health law, a comprehensive, cohesive living\narrangement for the elderly, and certified by the commissioner of\nhealth, that (i) has been approved for the issuance of industrial\ndevelopment agency bonds by the continuing care retirement community\ncouncil pursuant to section forty-six hundred four-a of the public\nhealth law except that paragraphs b and g of subdivision two of section\nforty-six hundred four-a of the public health law shall not apply to a\ncontinuing care retirement community granted a certificate of authority\npursuant to article forty-six-A of the public health law and (ii) is a\nnot-for-profit corporation as defined in section one hundred two of the\nnot-for-profit corporation law that is (a) eligible for tax-exempt\nfinancing under section forty-six hundred four-a of the public health\nlaw and this chapter and (b) is exempt from taxation pursuant to section\n501(c)(3) of the federal internal revenue code; except that "continuing\ncare retirement community" shall not include a facility granted a\ncertificate of authority upon application of a state or local government\napplicant.\n (20) "Automobile racing facility" shall mean any closed-course\nmotorsports complex and its ancillary grounds that has at least fifty\nthousand fixed seats for race patrons and hosts at least one NASCAR\nSprint Cup series race and at least two other nationally recognized\nracing events each calendar year.\n (21) "Renewable energy project" shall mean any project and associated\nreal property on which the project is situated, that utilizes any system\nor equipment as set forth in section four hundred eighty-seven of the\nreal property tax law or as defined pursuant to paragraph b of\nsubdivision one of section sixty-six-p of the public service law as\nadded by chapter one hundred six of the laws of two thousand nineteen.\n