S 1237: Repeals the rebates for stock transfer tax paid; dedicates funds of the stock transfer tax fund and stock transfer incentive fund to various funds; establishes the safe water and infrastructure action program.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1237 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance AN ACT to amend the state finance law, in relation to the repeal of the rebate for stock transfer tax paid and the funds of the stock transfer tax fund and the dedicated infrastructure investment fund; to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to establishing the safe water infrastructure action program for the purpose of making payments toward the replacement and rehabilitation of existing local municipally-owned and funded drinking water, storm water and sanitary sewer systems; to amend the tax law, in relation to taxes imposed in certain transactions; to repeal section 280-a of the tax law relating to the rebate for stock transfer tax paid; to repeal section 92-i of the state finance law relating to the stock transfer incentive fund; and to repeal certain provisions of the administrative code of the city of New York relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 280-a of the tax law is REPEALED. 2 § 2. Section 92-i of the state finance law is REPEALED. 3 § 3. Section 92-b of the state finance law, as added by chapter 91 of 4 the laws of 1965, subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 878 of the laws of 5 1977, subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 724 of the laws of 1979, 6 subdivision 5 as added and subdivision 6 as renumbered by section 2 of 7 chapter 3 of the laws of 1966, subdivision 7 as added by section 10 of 8 part SS1 of chapter 57 of the laws of 2008 and such section as renum- 9 bered by section 1 of chapter 3 of the laws of 1966, is amended to read 10 as follows: 11 § 92-b. Stock transfer tax fund. 1. There is hereby established in the 12 custody of the commissioner of taxation and finance a special fund, to 13 be known as the stock transfer tax fund. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00700-02-5 
 S. 1237 2 1 2. Such fund shall consist of the revenues derived from the stock 2 transfer tax imposed by article twelve of the tax law and all other 3 moneys credited or transferred thereto from any other fund or source 4 pursuant to law. 5 3. The moneys received from such tax and other sources in such fund[, 6 after deducting the amount the commissioner of taxation and finance 7 shall determine to be necessary for] shall be used to cover the reason- 8 able costs of the state tax commission in administering, collecting and 9 distributing [such] the stock transfer tax, commencing with the fiscal 10 year ending March thirty-first, [nineteen hundred seventy-seven] two 11 thousand twenty-seven, [shall be appropriated to (i) the municipal 12 assistance corporation for the city of New York created pursuant to 13 title three of article ten of the public authorities law in order to 14 enable such corporation to fulfill the terms of any agreements made with 15 the holders of its notes and bonds and to carry out its corporate 16 purposes including the maintenance of the capital reserve fund and (ii) 17 to the extent such moneys are not required by such corporation as 18 provided in subdivision seven of section ninety-two-d of this chapter 19 and, after deducting the amount such commissioner shall determine to be 20 necessary for reasonable costs of the state tax commission in adminis- 21 tering and making distributions in accordance with the provisions of 22 section two hundred eighty-a of the tax law from the stock transfer 23 incentive fund, to the stock transfer incentive fund created pursuant to 24 section ninety-two-i of this chapter to enable rebates to be made from 25 such fund under the provisions of section two hundred eighty-a of the 26 tax law and (iii) to the extent such moneys are not required by such 27 fund, as certified by the commissioner of taxation and finance, the 28 balance shall be appropriated to the city of New York, for the support 29 of local government.] and the remainder shall be deposited into the 30 state general fund. Commencing with the fiscal year ending March thir- 31 ty-first, two thousand twenty-seven, such remainder shall be deposited 32 into the following funds: 33 (i) ten percent shall be directed to the metropolitan transportation 34 authority financial assistance fund established pursuant to section 35 ninety-two-ff of this article, of which fifty percent shall be used for 36 the purpose of operations and fifty percent shall be used for the 37 purpose of capital projects; 38 (ii) five percent shall be directed to the division of housing and 39 community renewal and five percent to the New York city housing authori- 40 ty for the purpose of affordable housing programs, capital projects and 41 other improvements to address issues relating to affordable housing, 42 conditions of governance and habitability, including but not limited to, 43 heating, mold, or lead, and other such conditions affecting the health 44 and safety of residents; 45 (iii) five percent shall be directed to the highway and bridge capital 46 account in the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund established 47 pursuant to section eighty-nine-b of this article; 48 (iv) five percent shall be directed to the dedicated highway and 49 bridge trust fund established pursuant to section eighty-nine-b of this 50 article, to be directed towards the infrastructure, maintenance and 51 development of rail lines for AMTRAK in the northeast corridor; 52 (v) five percent shall be directed to the local infrastructure account 53 of the general fund established pursuant to section seventy-two of this 54 article to be directed to the Consolidated Local Street and Highway 55 Improvement Program (CHIPS); 
 S. 1237 3 1 (vi) five percent shall be directed to the local infrastructure 2 account of the general fund to be dedicated to the safe water and 3 infrastructure action program as established by section 3-0323 of the 4 environmental conservation law; 5 (vii) five percent shall be directed to the municipal assistance state 6 aid fund established pursuant to section ninety-two-e of this article; 7 (viii) five percent shall be directed to the dedicated mass transpor- 8 tation trust fund to the credit of the non-MTA account for payment to 9 downstate transit systems other than those transit systems operated by 10 the metropolitan transportation authority; 11 (ix) five percent shall be directed to the dedicated mass transporta- 12 tion trust fund to the credit of the non-MTA account for payment to 13 upstate transit systems; 14 (x) ten percent shall be directed to the energy research development 15 operating fund pursuant to the provisions of section eighteen hundred 16 fifty-nine of the public authorities law, to be directed to the clean 17 energy fund and shall be divided equally among the four investment port- 18 folios that make up such fund; 19 (xi) two and one-half percent shall be directed to the city university 20 of New York, of which fifty percent shall be used for the purpose of 21 capital improvements and infrastructure projects and fifty percent shall 22 be used for the purpose of supporting academic programs at city of New 23 York institutions; 24 (xii) two and one-half percent shall be directed to the state univer- 25 sity of New York institutions, of which fifty percent shall be used for 26 the purposes of supporting and expanding services and care at state 27 university of New York hospitals, state university of New York academic 28 medical centers and fifty percent shall be used for the purpose of 29 supporting academic programs at state university of New York insti- 30 tutions; 31 (xiii) ten percent shall be directed to the department of education 32 for the purpose of supporting foundation aid; 33 (xiv) ten percent shall be directed to the department of health to 34 support health care; and 35 (xv) ten percent shall be directed to the department of agriculture, 36 department of environmental conservation, and office of parks, recre- 37 ation and historic preservation for the purposes of reforestation, soil 38 conservation, sustainable agriculture, local parks and open space. 39 4. [After the deduction of such costs of the state tax commission in 40 administering, collecting and distributing such tax, the balances in the 41 stock transfer tax fund so appropriated shall be distributed and paid on 42 the last business day of September, December, March and June into the 43 special account established for the municipal assistance corporation for 44 the city of New York in the municipal assistance tax fund established 45 pursuant to subdivision one of section ninety-two-d of this chapter, 46 unless and to the extent the balances in such fund on each such payment 47 day are not required by such corporation as provided in said subdivision 48 seven of said section ninety-two-d in which case the balance not so 49 required, if any, after the deduction of such costs of the state tax 50 commission in administering and making distributions in accordance with 51 the provisions of section two hundred eighty-a of the tax law from the 52 stock transfer incentive fund shall be distributed and paid to the stock 53 transfer incentive fund in the custody of the commissioner of taxation 54 and finance established pursuant to section ninety-two-i of this chapter 55 and unless and to the extent that the balances in the stock transfer tax 56 fund on each such payment day are not required by the stock transfer 
 S. 1237 4 1 incentive fund as provided in such section ninety-two-i of this chapter 2 in which case the balance not so required, if any, shall be distributed 3 and paid to the chief fiscal officer of the city of New York to be paid 4 into the treasury of the city to the credit of the general fund or paid 5 by the commissioner of taxation and finance to such other account or 6 fund as may be designated in writing by such chief fiscal officer at 7 least ten business days prior to such last day and on each such day, the 8 commissioner of taxation and finance shall certify to the comptroller 9 the amount deducted for administering, collecting and distributing such 10 tax during such quarterly period and shall pay such amount into the 11 general fund of the state treasury to the credit of the state purposes 12 fund therein. In no event shall any amount (other than the amount to be 13 deducted for administering, collecting and distributing such tax) be 14 distributed or paid from the stock transfer tax fund to any person other 15 than the municipal assistance corporation for the city of New York 16 unless and until the aggregate of all payments certified to the comp- 17 troller as required by such corporation in order to comply with its 18 agreements with the holders of its notes and bonds and to carry out its 19 corporate purposes, including the maintenance of the capital reserve 20 fund, which remain unappropriated or unpaid to such corporation shall 21 have been appropriated to such corporation and shall have been paid in 22 full provided, however, that no person, including such corporation or 23 the holders of its notes or bonds shall have any lien on such tax and 24 such agreements shall be executory only to the extent of the balances 25 available to the state in such fund. If the balances in such fund are 26 not required by such corporation pursuant to the provisions of this 27 subdivision, on each such last business day of September, December, 28 March and June, the commissioner of taxation and finance shall certify 29 to the comptroller the amount deducted for administering and making 30 distributions in accordance with the provisions of section two hundred 31 eighty-a of the tax law from the stock transfer incentive fund during 32 such quarterly period and he shall pay such amount into the general fund 33 of the state treasury to the credit of the state purposes fund therein. 34 To the extent such moneys are not required by such corporation, as 35 provided in subdivision seven of section ninety-two-d of this chapter, 36 no amount thereof (other than such amount to be deducted for administer- 37 ing, collecting and distributing such tax and such costs in administer- 38 ing and making distributions in accordance with the provisions of 39 section two hundred eighty-a of the tax law from the stock transfer 40 incentive fund) shall be distributed or paid from the stock transfer tax 41 fund other than to such stock transfer incentive fund in the custody of 42 the commissioner of taxation and finance unless and until the aggregate 43 of all payments certified to the comptroller by such commissioner pursu- 44 ant to the provisions of such incentive fund as necessary to provide 45 payments on account of rebates authorized pursuant to section two 46 hundred eighty-a of the tax law which remain unappropriated or unpaid to 47 such fund shall have been appropriated to such fund and shall have been 48 paid in full provided, however, that no person, including any taxpayer 49 under article twelve of the tax law or any member or dealer referred to 50 in subdivisions two-a and six of section two hundred eighty-a of such 51 law, shall have any lien on this fund or the stock transfer incentive 52 fund. 53 5. In no fiscal year shall the total amount paid from the fund exceed 54 the total collections during such fiscal year from the stock transfer 55 tax pursuant to the provisions of article twelve of the tax law and as 56 deposited to the credit of the stock transfer tax fund. 
 S. 1237 5 1 6.] All payments from the stock transfer tax fund shall be made on the 2 audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers approved by the commis- 3 sioner of taxation and finance. 4 [7. When all the notes and bonds of the municipal assistance corpo- 5 ration for the city of New York have been fully paid and discharged, 6 together with interest thereon and interest on unpaid installments of 7 interest, and the chairman of the corporation makes the final certif- 8 ication required by subdivision seven of section ninety-two-d of this 9 article, the comptroller must notify the commissioner of taxation and 10 finance that all remaining funds held in the stock transfer tax fund 11 must be released to the stock transfer incentive fund. From that time 12 forward, all funds previously deposited in the stock transfer tax fund 13 pursuant to subdivision two of this section will be deposited directly 14 into the stock transfer incentive fund pursuant to all the rules, regu- 15 lations or instructions that the commissioner may prescribe, after 16 deducting the amount the commissioner determines to be necessary for 17 reasonable costs of the department in administering, collecting and 18 distributing the tax imposed by article twelve of the tax law. Notwith- 19 standing any other provisions of this article, to the extent those 20 moneys are not required by the stock transfer incentive fund for the 21 purpose of administering and making distributions in accordance with the 22 provisions of section two hundred eighty-a of the tax law, as certified 23 by the commissioner of taxation and finance, the balance will be appro- 24 priated to the city of New York for the support of local government.] 25 § 4. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 93-b of the state 26 finance law, as added by section 1 of part H of chapter 60 of the laws 27 of 2015, is amended to read as follows: 28 (c) Sources of funds. The sources of funds shall consist of all moneys 29 collected therefor, or moneys credited, appropriated or transferred 30 thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law or any other 31 moneys made available for the purposes of the fund, including but not 32 limited to funds transferred from the stock transfer tax fund pursuant 33 to subdivision three of section ninety-two-b of this article and funds 34 transferred from the stock transfer incentive fund established by 35 section ninety-two-i of this article and repealed by a chapter of the 36 laws of two thousand twenty-five, which amended this paragraph. Any 37 interest received by the comptroller on moneys on deposit shall be 38 retained and become part of the fund, unless otherwise directed by law. 39 § 5. Subdivision (c) of section 11-503 of the administrative code of 40 the city of New York is REPEALED. 41 § 6. Subdivision 12 of section 11-604 of the administrative code of 42 the city of New York is REPEALED. 43 § 7. All monies accumulated in the stock transfer incentive fund 44 established pursuant to section 92-i of the state finance law on the 45 effective date of this act shall be transferred to the dedicated infras- 46 tructure investment fund as established by section 93-b of the state 47 finance law for the purposes set forth in such section. 48 § 8. The environmental conservation law is amended by adding a new 49 section 3-0323 to read as follows: 50 § 3-0323. Safe water and infrastructure action program. 51 1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter or any other 52 law and subject to an appropriation made therefor and in accordance with 53 the provisions of this section and with the rules and regulations 54 promulgated by the commissioner in connection therewith, on and after 55 the first day of April, two thousand twenty-six, a consolidated local 56 infrastructure program is hereby established for the purpose of making 
 S. 1237 6 1 payments toward the replacement and rehabilitation of existing local 2 municipally-owned and funded drinking water, storm water and sanitary 3 sewer systems. For purposes of this section, such program shall apply to 4 any county, city, town or village drinking water system, storm water 5 system or sanitary sewer system within the state that is not under the 6 maintenance and/or operational jurisdiction of the state nor any private 7 entity. The commissioner, in conjunction with the environmental facili- 8 ties corporation, shall promulgate all necessary rules and regulations 9 to carry out the program so that an equitable distribution of aid shall 10 be made for the general operation and/or general maintenance of any 11 existing county, city, town and village drinking water system, storm 12 water system or sanitary sewer system. 13 2. On or before the twenty-six day of April, June, September and 14 November of each state fiscal year commencing with the state fiscal year 15 beginning on April first, two thousand twenty-seven, there shall be 16 distributed and paid to counties, cities, towns and villages an amount 17 equal to the moneys appropriated for the purposes of this section 18 divided by the number of payment dates in that state fiscal year. Such 19 amounts shall be distributed and paid pursuant to subdivision three of 20 this section. 21 3. Amounts shall be distributed for local drinking water, storm water 22 and sanitary sewer systems based upon the total length and width of all 23 pipelines and mains owned and operated by the municipality. 24 4. Monies made available may be used to match other state and federal 25 funds made available for such projects. The funds may also be used to 26 support special improvement districts created to provide drinking water, 27 waste water and storm water services under articles twelve, twelve-A, 28 twelve-C and thirteen of the town law. The remainder of the apportion- 29 ment may be used for any existing drinking water, storm water or sewer 30 system purchases, including but not limited to, the acquisition of mate- 31 rials for the replacement or rehabilitation. 32 5. For any city, town, or village which proposes infrastructure 33 consolidation under this section or merges with another municipality, 34 the funds appropriated under this section may fund costs associated with 35 such consolidation. 36 6. For each fiscal year, starting in two thousand twenty-seven, funds 37 shall be made available to the local infrastructure assistance account 38 of the general fund, and distributed from that account, in an amount 39 that is at least equal to those appropriated and made available in the 40 Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS). 41 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 270 of the tax law, as amended by chap- 42 ter 301 of the laws of 1967, is amended and two new subdivisions 3-a and 43 9 are added to read as follows: 44 3. It shall be the duty of the person or persons [making or effectu- 45 ating the sale or transfer, including the person or persons] to whom the 46 sale or transfer is made, to pay the tax provided by this article, 47 unless the parties to the sale or transfer agree to otherwise allocate 48 the cost of such tax among themselves; provided, however, that this 49 subdivision shall not apply to any sale or transfer wherein the vendor 50 or transferor is a governmental entity or international organization 51 which is not subject to the tax. 52 3-a. No purchaser of a stock or other certificate in a transaction 53 covered under this article shall have legal title or ownership of such 54 stock or certificate unless such purchaser has proof of purchase demon- 55 strating that such tax has been paid. Such proof of purchase shall 56 consist of either: (a) a receipt for the transaction showing that such 
 S. 1237 7 1 tax has been paid, the amount of such tax paid, and a representation 2 that such amount constitutes payment in full; or (b) a stamp required 3 pursuant to subdivision four of this section. 4 9. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, a transaction 5 referred to in subdivision one of this section is subject to tax if any 6 activity in furtherance of the transaction occurs within the state or if 7 a party involved in the transaction satisfies a nexus with New York 8 state which shall be defined as broadly as is permitted under the United 9 States Constitution. 10 § 10. This act shall take effect immediately.