§ 1210-A — Sales and compensating use tax for purposes of the Suffolk county drinking water protection program

1210-A. Sales and compensating use tax for purposes of the Suffolk\ncounty drinking water protection program. (a) In addition to the taxes\nimposed by section twelve hundred ten or any other provision of this\narticle, the county of Suffolk is hereby authorized and empowered to\nadopt and amend a local law, ordinance or resolution imposing within the\nterritorial limits of said county an additional sales and compensating\nuse tax at the rate of one-quarter of one percent for the period\nbeginning December first, nineteen hundred eighty-four and ending\nNovember thirtieth, two thousand sixty, which tax shall be identical to\nthe tax imposed by said county pursuant to section twelve hundred ten of\nthis article. Except as hereinafter provided, all provisions of this\narticle, including the definition and exemption provisions and the\nprovisions relating to the administration, collection and distribution\nby the commissioner, shall apply for purposes of the tax imposed by this\nsection in the same manner and with the same force and effect as if the\nlanguage of this article had been incorporated in full in this section\nand had expressly referred to the tax imposed by this section; provided,\nhowever, that any provision relating to a maximum rate shall be\ncalculated without reference to the additional sales and compensating\nuse tax herein authorized. For purposes of part IV of this article,\nrelating to the disposition of revenues resulting from taxes collected\nand administered by the commissioner, the additional sales and\ncompensating use tax herein provided shall be deemed to be imposed under\nthe authority of section twelve hundred ten of this article and all\nprovisions relating to the deposit, administration and disposition of\ntaxes, penalties and interest relating to a tax imposed by a county\nunder the authority of section twelve hundred ten of this article shall,\nexcept as otherwise specifically provided in this section, apply to the\nadditional sales and compensating use tax imposed pursuant to this\nsection.\n (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the\ncontrary, the net collections from the tax imposed pursuant to\nsubdivision (a) of this section for the period beginning December first,\nnineteen hundred eighty-four and ending November thirtieth, nineteen\nhundred eighty-eight shall, upon payment to the county of Suffolk, and\nmoneys due said fund pursuant to subdivisions (c) and (d) of this\nsection, be deposited in a special fund, to be designated as an\nassessment stabilization reserve fund, to be created by said county\ntherefor separate and apart from any other funds and accounts of the\ncounty. Moneys in such fund shall be deposited and secured in the manner\nprovided by section ten of the general municipal law. Pending\nexpenditure from such fund, moneys therein may be invested in the manner\nprovided in section eleven of the general municipal law. Any interest\nearned or capital gain realized on the moneys so deposited or invested\nshall accrue to and become part of such fund. Moneys in said fund may be\nappropriated from and transferred to or expended in any fiscal year only\nfor the purposes and in the order as follows:\n (i) to an account or accounts for the Southwest Sewer District of said\ncounty in such amount or amounts as shall be determined by the county\nexecutive of said county and approved by the county legislature of said\ncounty as necessary to stabilize assessments in such sewer district in\nany given year;\n (ii) to an account or accounts for any other sewer district\nestablished by the county of Suffolk in such amount or amounts as shall\nbe determined by the county executive of said county and approved by the\ncounty legislature of said county as necessary to stabilize assessments\nin any such sewer district in any given year; and\n (iii) for distribution to the towns and villages within said county\nwhich have established or created a sewer district or benefitted area to\nprovide sewer improvements or constructed or are constructing a sewer or\nsewerage system in such amount or amounts as shall be determined by the\ncounty executive of said county and approved by the county legislature\nof said county as necessary to stabilize assessments or taxes, as the\ncase may be, in any such sewer district or benefitted area or for any\nsuch sewer system in any given year.\n (c) To the extent necessary to continue the tax stabilization of those\nsewer districts receiving appropriations pursuant to subdivision (b) of\nthis section, the net collections from the tax imposed pursuant to\nsubdivision (a) of this section for the period beginning December first,\nnineteen hundred eighty-eight and ending November thirtieth, nineteen\nhundred eighty-nine, together with interest thereon at a rate equal to\nthe interest rate for one year United States Treasury bills as of the\ndate such funds were invested, shall constitute a guarantee and shall be\nmade available and paid to the assessment stabilization reserve fund set\nforth in subdivision (b) of this section on a first priority basis from\nall of the net collections of the tax imposed pursuant to this section.\n (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the\ncontrary, the net collections from the tax imposed pursuant to\nsubdivision (a) of this section for the period beginning December first,\nnineteen hundred eighty-eight and ending November thirtieth, two\nthousand sixty shall, upon payment to the county of Suffolk, be\ndeposited in a special fund, to be designated as a drinking water\nprotection reserve fund, to be created by said county therefor separate\nand apart from any other funds and accounts of the county. Moneys in\nsuch fund shall be deposited in one or more of the banks or trust\ncompanies designated, in the manner provided by law, as a depository of\nthe funds of such county. Pending expenditure from such fund, moneys\ntherein may be invested in the manner provided in section eleven of the\ngeneral municipal law. Any interest earned or capital gain realized on\nthe moneys so deposited or invested shall accrue to and become part of\nsuch fund. Moneys in said fund may be appropriated from and transferred\nto or expended in any fiscal year only for the purposes of making\npayments pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) of this section for the\nperiod beginning December first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight, to the\nextent that moneys in said fund are remaining, and if authorized by\nlocal law, for the following purposes:\n (i) for the purposes of specific environmental protection (acquisition\nof: farmland development rights; open space, wetlands, woodlands, pine\nbarrens and other lands for passive recreational uses; lands for hamlet\ngreens, hamlet parks, pocket parks, historic parks, cultural parks and\nother lands for active/parkland recreational uses; lands necessary for\nmaintaining and protecting the quality of surface water, groundwater and\ncoastal resources);\n (ii) for a water quality protection and restoration program or\nprograms and land stewardship initiatives;\n (iii) for the purposes of county-wide property tax protection; and\n (iv) for the purpose of sewer taxpayer protection (25% of the net\ncollections from the tax). Beginning with the first fiscal year after\nthe adoption of the water quality restoration fund, a portion of the net\ncollections of such tax apportioned for this purpose as provided for\nherein, shall be transferred to the water quality restoration fund,\nestablished pursuant to subdivision eleven of section two hundred\nfifty-six-b of the county law. Said revenues shall be dedicated solely\nto funding individual septic system projects as defined in such\nsubdivision. The portion of net collections of the tax transferred to\nthe water quality restoration fund each year shall be as follows:\nYear Percentage\n1 5%\n2 5%\n3 5%\n4 5%\n5 20%\n6 30%\n7 40%\n8 50%\n9 70%\n10 70%\nFor all subsequent years, the portion of net collections transferred to\nthe water quality restoration fund shall be fifty percent.\n Notwithstanding any special or local law, resolution or charter\nprovision to the contrary, moneys in said fund which have not been\nappropriated from and transferred to or expended in any fiscal year for\nthe purposes of making payments pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) of\nthis section, may alternatively be appropriated for the purposes of\npaying debt service on any new indebtedness incurred after the effective\ndate of the chapter of the laws of two thousand one that enacted this\nparagraph pursuant to the local finance law in order to effectuate the\npurposes described in paragraph (i) or (ii) of this subdivision. For the\npurpose of allocating moneys in said fund pursuant to local law among\nthe purposes described in paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) of this\nsubdivision, moneys applied to the payment of debt service under the\nauthority of the previous sentence shall be considered by said county to\nhave been expended for the purposes for which such indebtedness was\nincurred.\n