A 3923: Removes requirements for certain smaller municipalities to maintain official websites.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3923 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY January 30, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. KASSAY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to removing certain requirements for official websites of small municipalities; and to amend a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the general municipal law relating to requiring municipalities to maintain munic- ipal websites, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3353-A and A. 2852-A, in relation to the effectiveness thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 300 of the general municipal law, as added by a 2 chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the general municipal law relating 3 to requiring municipalities to maintain municipal websites, as proposed 4 in legislative bills numbers S. 3353-A and A. 2852-A, is amended to read 5 as follows: 6 § 300. Municipal websites. 1. All municipal corporations having a 7 population, as shown by the latest preceding decennial federal census, 8 equal to or greater than one thousand five hundred persons, shall main- 9 tain an official website with a ".gov" domain name that is accessible to 10 the public and update such website regularly[. The], as follows: the 11 official website shall contain basic information on the municipality 12 including but not limited to hours of operations, elected officials and 13 services provided[. The] and the website shall contain a privacy policy 14 that is prominently posted and written in plain language that informs 15 website visitors of any personal information that is being collected and 16 how it is being used; provided however, that any municipal corporation 17 having a population, as shown by the latest preceding decennial federal 18 census, of less than one thousand five hundred persons, shall comply 19 with the provisions of this section to the extent practicable. For 20 purposes of this section, a municipal corporation that hosts its offi- 21 cial website on another municipal corporation's ".gov" Uniform Resource EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02683-01-5 
 A. 3923 2 1 Locator (URL) will satisfy this section's requirement to maintain an 2 official website with a ".gov" domain name. 3 2. [Municipal] All municipal websites of municipal corporations having 4 a population, as shown by the latest preceding decennial federal census, 5 equal to or greater than one thousand five hundred persons shall, at a 6 minimum, contain the following information: 7 a. all documents required by subdivision seven of section thirty of 8 this chapter; 9 b. notice of all municipal elections, public hearings and public meet- 10 ings including regular board or legislative meetings; 11 c. agenda and minutes of municipal meetings as required by article 12 seven of the public officers law; and 13 d. an up to date version of, or an active hyperlink to, the munici- 14 pality's codes or local laws and resolutions; provided however, that any 15 municipal corporation having a population, as shown by the latest 16 preceding decennial federal census, of less than one thousand five 17 hundred persons, shall comply with the provisions of this section to the 18 extent practicable. 19 § 2. Subdivision 7 of section 30 of the general municipal law, as 20 amended by a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the general municipal 21 law relating to requiring municipalities to maintain municipal 22 websites, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3353-A and A. 23 2852-A, is amended to read as follows: 24 7. Each municipal corporation shall make accessible to the public on 25 its [official] municipal website required under article thirteen-E of 26 this chapter documentation pertaining to its most recent annual finan- 27 cial reports, current year budget, most recent independent audit report 28 and most recent fiscal performance plan or multiyear financial plan 29 required pursuant to paragraph g of subdivision ten of section fifty- 30 four of the state finance law, unless such information is covered by 31 subdivision two of section eighty-seven of the public officers law. 32 § 3. Section 3 of a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the general 33 municipal law relating to requiring municipalities to maintain munici- 34 pal websites, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3353-A and A. 35 2852-A, is amended to read as follows: 36 § 3. This act shall take effect [on the one hundred eightieth day] one 37 year after it shall have become a law. 38 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 39 section one and two of this act shall take effect on the same date and 40 in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2024 amending the general 41 municipal law relating to requiring municipalities to maintain munic- 42 ipal websites, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3353-A and A. 43 2852-A, takes effect.