§ 141 — Harbors of refuge

§ 141. Harbors of refuge. (a) The commissioner, on behalf of the\nstate, is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with the federal\ngovernment and with municipalities, and municipalities are hereby\nauthorized to enter into agreements with the commissioner, concerning\nthe construction, operation and maintenance of harbors of refuge.\n (b) In any such agreement with the federal government the state may\nagree to pay, within amounts appropriated therefor as allocated by the\ndirector of the budget, a portion of the cost of construction of a\nharbor of refuge, except (1) that no moneys shall be expended for the\nproject unless the federal government has similarly appropriated and\nmade available funds for the project, and (2) no agreement shall be\nentered into hereunder with the federal government unless a municipality\nhas agreed to reimburse the state in an amount determined pursuant to\nsubdivision (c) of this section, or unless the harbor of refuge is\nconstructed or improved in conjunction with a state park or state marine\nfacility.\n (c) (i) Any agreement with a municipality pursuant to this section\nshall include a provision requiring operation and maintenance of the\nproject by the municipality, except when the federal government shall\ndetermine to operate and maintain the project.\n (ii) In any such agreement with a municipality, the municipality shall\nagree to reimburse the state, upon completion of the project, in an\namount equal to fifty per cent of the non-federal share of the cost of\nthe project; provided, however, subject to the prior authorization and\napproval of the governor, the commissioner may, where there is a\ndemonstrated financial hardship on the municipality and certified as\nsuch by the governing body of such municipality, enter into an agreement\nwith the municipality providing for reimbursement of the state in an\namount less than fifty per cent of the non-federal share of the cost of\nthe project.\n (iii) Whenever two or more municipalities agree to participate in a\nproject, such municipalities, by agreement with the commissioner and\neach other, shall agree to an equitable share of the local share of the\nnon-federal share of the cost of the project which each shall pay to the\nstate upon completion of the project.\n (iv) For the purpose of reimbursing the state for the local share of\nthe non-federal share of the cost of a project each participating\nmunicipality is hereby authorized to determine that its share shall be a\ngeneral charge against all taxable real property located therein, or\nshall be borne as a special assessment upon the real property benefited\nthereby, or partly as a general charge and partly as such a special\nassessment, and each such participating municipality shall have power to\nfinance its share by the issuance of obligations pursuant to the local\nfinance law. In the event a municipality shall fail to pay to the state\nthe municipality's share of the cost of a project within six months of\nthe certification to the municipality by the state comptroller of the\namount of such share, the state comptroller shall cause to be withheld\nfrom state assistance to which the municipality would otherwise be\nentitled, a sum sufficient to reimburse the state for any amount\nremaining unpaid, together with interest on any such unpaid amount at\nthe rate of three per cent per annum from the date of such\ncertification. Such moneys so withheld shall be credited against the\namount payable to the state by such municipality on account of such\nproject.\n (d) This section shall not apply to facilities incidental to a project\nwhich are not constructed by the federal government, whether or not such\nfacilities may be required by the federal government as a prerequisite\nfor federal participation; such facilities shall be governed by section\none hundred forty-two or section one hundred forty-three of this article\nas the case may be.\n