New York Laws
Article 35 - Union Free School Districts
1726 - Lease and Lease-Purchase of Buildings.

§ 1726. Lease and lease-purchase of buildings. 1. Notwithstanding any
inconsistent provision of law, the board of education of any union free
school district may enter into agreements pursuant to the provisions of
this section for the lease or lease-purchase of buildings for school
purposes, to be placed or erected on a site owned by the district.

1-a. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the board of
education of any union free school district may enter into agreement
with the dormitory authority for the lease or lease-purchase for school
purposes from the dormitory authority of a dormitory (or any part
thereof), as defined in section sixteen hundred seventy-six of the
public authorities law, including, if the agreement so provides, land,
buildings, any attendant facilities, and equipment, provided such
dormitory (a) is owned by or in the possession of the dormitory
authority, and (b) was originally provided or financed by the authority
for an educational institution as defined in subdivision one of section
sixteen hundred eighty of the public authorities law and (c) is no
longer being used by such educational institution. Any such agreement
may provide for the alteration, reconstruction or rehabilitation of any
such dormitory or part thereof by the school district or the authority
as capital items. The provisions of subdivisions three, four, six, eight
and nine of this section shall not apply to any agreement with the
dormitory authority authorized by this subdivision, provided,
nevertheless, that the lease or lease-purchase agreement may not be made
for a period in excess of the applicable period of probable usefulness
for the building or buildings, as so altered, reconstructed or
rehabilitated, and provided, further, that the plans and specifications
for such building or buildings, as so altered, reconstructed or
rehabilitated, shall be subject to approval of the commissioner of
education, before such alteration, reconstruction or rehabilitation may
be authorized by the board of education of such school district.

2. Before executing any such agreement, the board of education shall
adopt a resolution determining that such agreement is in the best
financial interests of the school district and stating the basis of that
determination.

3. Such agreements shall be subject to the bidding requirements of the
general municipal law, except that the provisions of section one hundred
one of the general municipal law shall not apply to lease or
lease-purchase of pre-manufactured items delivered to the site, but
shall apply to installation and other work to be performed on the site.

4. No agreement for the lease of a building or buildings may be made
for a term of more than five years, beginning with the time of
occupancy. No lease-purchase agreement may be made for a period
exceeding the applicable period of probable usefulness pursuant to the
provisions of the local finance law. Nothing herein contained shall be
deemed to prohibit a board of education from entering into a renewal of
such lease agreement of such building or buildings for like periods,
provided, however, that the total lease payments or the total amount of
lease-purchase agreement payments over the period of any such agreement
including all lease renewals, may not exceed the purchase price of such
building or buildings, together with interest of not to exceed six
percent per annum on any unpaid balance.

5. A board of education may not enter into any lease or lease-purchase
agreement authorized by this section without the previous approval of
the voters of the district; provided that a board of education may, with
the approval of the commissioner, lease necessary space in case of an
unforeseeable emergency.

6. Any agreement by which a building is leased to a school district
for installation on land owned by the district must include provision

for the removal of such building by the lessor within ninety days after
termination of the lease, unless such lease is renewed or title to the
building passes to the school district in accordance with the provisions
of this section.

7. The commissioner, with the approval of the director of the budget,
shall establish a uniform procedure for allocation of payments under
lease-purchase agreements for the purpose of determining operating aid
and aid for building purposes, respectively; provided, however, that no
building aid shall be paid unless and until the school district has
legally committed itself to the purchase in accordance with the
provisions of this section.

8. Plans and specifications and the proposed lease, lease renewal or
lease-purchase agreement for buildings to be leased or purchased
pursuant to the provisions of this section must be approved by the
commissioner before a board of education may authorize or execute any
agreement, or renewal thereof, for such purposes.

9. The term "lease", as used in this section, shall include a lease
with an option to purchase; provided, however, that in the case of a
lease with an option to purchase, no part of any lease payments may be
counted against the purchase price, in case the option to purchase is
exercised.

10. The term of no lease agreement including renewals thereof, may
exceed the period of probable usefulness provided for such building or
buildings by the local finance law.

11. No annual installment of lease-purchase payment may exceed any
other such installment under any such agreement by more than fifty per
centum thereof.

12. Any school district entering into any lease-purchase agreement
under this section, shall pledge its full faith and credit for the full
performance of all obligations under such agreement, including all
annual payments required to be made thereunder.

13. The annual payments to be made by the school district under any
such agreement shall commence within two years after the execution of
any such agreement, or within thirty days from the time the board of
education shall have approved such building for occupancy, whichever
shall be later.

14. The total amount of any unpaid annual payments of a lease-purchase
agreement in relation to the principal of any such indebtedness, in case
of a school district in a city as defined in the local finance law shall
be deemed to be indebtedness of the school district for a capital
improvement within the meaning of subparagraph (b) of subdivision three
of paragraph a of section 135.00 of the local finance law.

15. The annual payments by such a school district in a city in
relation to such indebtedness and interest shall be deemed to be
"indebtedness" and "interest" within the meaning of section ten of
article eight of the state constitution.

16. No such agreement shall be renegotiated or amended in such manner
as to constitute a refunding within the meaning of section two of
article eight of the state constitution.