§ 273-a. State aid for library construction. 1. State aid shall be
provided for up to fifty percent of the total project approved costs,
excluding feasibility studies, plans or similar activities, for projects
for the acquisition, construction, renovation or rehabilitation,
including leasehold improvements, of buildings of public libraries and
library systems chartered by the regents of the state of New York or
established by act of the legislature subject to the limitations
provided in subdivision four of this section and upon approval by the
commissioner. For purposes of this subdivision, an amount of eight
hundred thousand dollars shall be available for each calendar year. Aid
shall be provided on approved expenses incurred during the period
commencing July first and ending June thirtieth for up to three years,
or until the project is completed, whichever occurs first. Ninety
percent of such aid shall be payable to each system or library upon
approval of the annual application. The remaining ten percent shall be
payable upon project completion.
2. Each application for state aid shall be submitted by the board of
trustees of the library or library system responsible for the operation
of the subject building to the commissioner for his review and approval,
after having been reviewed and approved by the governing board of the
public library system of which such library is a member. Each
application shall:
a. demonstrate that resources are or shall be available to provide for
maximum utilization of the project if approved;
b. contain verification in such form as may be acceptable to the
commissioner that the total cost of the project, exclusive of state aid,
has been or will be obtained;
c. demonstrate that library operations would be made more economical
as a consequence of approval;
d. be limited to one project concerning such building, provided that
no building shall be the subject of more than one application per year;
and
e. provide such other information as may be required by the
commissioner.
3. In approving any application the commissioner shall consider the
condition of existing libraries and, where appropriate, the needs of
isolated or economically disadvantaged communities, provided that no
application shall be approved for a project that is deemed by the
commissioner to have been completed prior to the date of the
application.
4. Aid shall be distributed pursuant to this section as follows:
a. sixty percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to this section
shall be made available to libraries within each system by the
commissioner in such manner as to insure that the ratio of the amount
received within each system to the whole of the aid made available
pursuant to this paragraph is no greater than the ratio of the
population served by such system to the population of the state;
b. forty percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to this section
shall be made available to library systems or libraries within each
system by the commissioner in such manner as to insure that an equal
amount is received within each system in the state;
c. any funds made available pursuant to paragraph a or b of this
subdivision which by April first of each succeeding fiscal year, are
declined by such libraries or library systems for any reason, or which
cannot otherwise be used by such libraries or library systems for any
reason, shall be made available by the commissioner to other eligible
libraries within such system, or if no such library can use such funds
shall be reallocated among the other library systems and their libraries
in a manner that will to the extent possible provide from such
reallocated funds an equal amount to each such system.
5. The commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations as are necessary
to carry out the purposes and provisions of this section.
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