A 5910: Removes language requiring the state from moving public safety surcharge funds into the state general fund; increases from seventy-five million dollars to one million dollars available for grants or reimbursements to counties for the development, consolidation, or operation of public safety communications systems or networks designed to support statewide interoperable communications for first responders.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5910 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 24, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. JONES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to the public safety surcharge The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 186-f of the tax law, as added by 2 section 3 of part B of chapter 56 of the laws of 2009, paragraph (b) as 3 amended by section 1 of part Q of chapter 55 of the laws of 2014, is 4 amended to read as follows: 5 5. Deposits of surcharge monies collected and received. Notwithstand- 6 ing any provision of law to the contrary, all surcharge monies collected 7 and received by the commissioner under this section must be deposited 8 daily to the credit of the comptroller with those responsible banks, 9 banking houses or trust companies the comptroller may designate. Those 10 deposits must be kept separate and apart from all other monies in the 11 possession of the comptroller. The comptroller must require adequate 12 security from all such depositories. Of the total revenue collected or 13 received under this section, the comptroller must retain in the comp- 14 troller's hands an amount determined by the commissioner to be necessary 15 for refunds under this section, out of which the comptroller will pay 16 any refunds to which taxpayers are entitled under the provisions of this 17 section. The comptroller, after reserving the amount to pay refunds, 18 must, on or before the tenth day of each month, pay all surcharge monies 19 collected and received under this section and remaining to the comp- 20 troller's credit as follows: 21 [(a) forty-one and seven-tenths of the revenues collected and received 22 under this section into the state general fund; and 23 (b)] after deducting the amount [paid under paragraph (a) of this 24 subdivision and the amount] retained by wireless communications suppli- 25 ers pursuant to paragraph (d) of subdivision two of this section, the 26 balance of the revenues collected under this section into the statewide EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00573-01-5 
 A. 5910 2 1 public safety communications account of the miscellaneous special reven- 2 ue fund, created pursuant to section ninety-seven-qq of the state 3 finance law. 4 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 6 of section 186-f of the tax law, 5 as amended by section 38 of part B of chapter 56 of the laws of 2010, is 6 amended to read as follows: 7 (c) Up to the sum of [seventy-five] one hundred million dollars annu- 8 ally may be used for the provision of grants or reimbursements to coun- 9 ties for the development, consolidation, or operation of public safety 10 communications systems or networks designed to support statewide inter- 11 operable communications for first responders, to be distributed pursuant 12 to standards and guidelines issued by the state. Annual grants may 13 consider costs borne by a municipality related to the issuance of local 14 public safety communications bonds pursuant to section twenty-four 15 hundred thirty-two of the public authorities law, when the municipality 16 has qualified as an approved participant in a statewide interoperable 17 communications system under the standards and guidelines issued by the 18 state, and maintains compliance with such standards and guidelines. The 19 grant amount will be prescribed pursuant to an agreement with the muni- 20 cipality, and may not exceed thirty percent of the annual cost borne by 21 the municipality in relation to such bonds; 22 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.