New York Laws
Article 5 - General Powers of Board of Supervisors
227 - Legalizing Acts.

§ 227. Legalizing acts. 1. Power to legalize. The board of supervisors
of any county shall have power to legalize and validate any act had and
taken in connection with a lawful municipal purpose or for a lawful
municipal object or purpose, by the governing board or other local body,
officer or agency of a municipality wholly within the county if, after a
public hearing held in the affected municipality pursuant to notice and
upon the evidence given thereat, the board of supervisors shall find
that the defect sought to be cured was: (a) failure to perform an act
within the time prescribed by law; (b) that the form of any notice
required by law was defective; (c) that the service, posting or
publication of any notice was not performed within the time and in the
manner required by law; (d) that through an intentional act performed in
good faith to meet an emergency situation or through inadvertence,
mistake or error in accounting methods or otherwise, a fund or
appropriation account has been overdrawn, and the fund or account has
been reimbursed by transfer thereto of unobligated moneys from another
municipal fund or account; (e) that through inadvertence, mistake or
error a mandatory appropriation was omitted from an adopted budget and
the budget was later amended and appropriation made to cure the defect;
(f) that an adopted budget was amended to include a discretionary
appropriation after a public hearing pursuant to notice; (g) that
through inadvertence, mistake or error an act was recorded at a later
date than was prescribed by law, or otherwise that a defect existed in
the manner or method of recording the same; (h) that through
inadvertence, mistake or error, the governing board or other local body,
officer or agency of a municipality charged by law with the duty failed
or neglected to submit a referendum to the electors when required by law
and either at least two years have elapsed since the completion of the
project and payment of the cost thereof, or, in any other case, at least
two years have elapsed since the date when the referendum should have
been held; (i) that through an intentional act performed in good faith
to meet an emergency situation or through inadvertence, mistake or error
in accounting methods or otherwise, obligations have been incurred
against a fund or account in excess of the total amount appropriated or
lawfully transferred thereto; that the officer, body or agency,
incurring such excess obligation, or his or its successor, has furnished
a detailed sworn explanation in writing of the intentional act performed
in good faith to meet an emergency situation or the inadvertence,
mistake or error and has made application for additional funds to pay
such obligation and that the governing board or other local body, after
a public hearing on notice in the same manner as provided in subdivision
two hereof, by at least a two-thirds vote of the whole number of the
members thereof has approved the presentation of a petition to the board
of supervisors to validate and legalize such obligation and to obtain
authorization for its payment.

2. Procedure to legalize. Any municipality or local officer or agency
seeking relief under this section shall present to the board of
supervisors of the county a petition duly verified setting forth the
facts and praying for the relief authorized by this section. Attached to
such petition shall be certified copies of all acts done and proceedings
had in relation to the subject matter sought to be legalized. The board
of supervisors may direct the governing board or officers to do that
which should have been done in the first instance and the time
prescribed by law for the performance of the act shall be deemed
extended to allow compliance therewith, and such acts shall not be
legalized until proof is submitted of such compliance. Notice stating
the time, place and purpose of the public hearing shall be published at
least once in a newspaper designated by the board with due regard for

circulation in the municipality affected, and posted in at least three
public conspicuous places in the municipality at least five days before
the date set for the public hearing. One of such notices shall be posted
upon the bulletin board of the respective city, village or town clerk's
office. The power to conduct such public hearing may be delegated to a
standing or special committee of the board which shall file with the
board a transcript of the evidence produced together with its
recommendations thereon. The board of supervisors or such committee
shall have power to compel the production of, and shall consider, any
documents or other evidence deemed pertinent to the inquiry and may
adjourn from time to time. The legalizing act must be adopted by the
affirmative vote of two-thirds of the whole number of the members of the
board at a regular or special meeting, provided, however, that
legalizing action taken pursuant to paragraph (i) of subdivision one of
this section shall be by local law, and provided further where on
request of the board the state comptroller submits to it his certified
findings and approval of a petition presented pursuant to paragraph (i),
such local law may be adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of
the whole number of the members of the board. The legalizing act shall
recite the filing of the petition and all proceedings taken thereon and
shall contain the text of the act sought to be legalized and the method
of, and the maximum maturity of the bonds or capital notes, if any, for
financing the obligation or obligations so legalized and validated. It
shall state the intentional act, mistake, error or omission cured by the
legalizing act; that such intentional act, mistake, error or omission
was not the result of fraud and that no substantial hardship will result
therefrom and the determination thereon by the board of supervisors
legalizing and validating the same. A copy of the legalizing act
certified by the clerk of the board shall be published at least once a
week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper designated by the board
with due regard for circulation in the municipality affected, the first
publication of which shall be had within twenty days after the
legalizing act is adopted. The petition and related papers, or certified
copies thereof, shall be filed in the office of the county clerk.
Subject to limitations or restrictions prescribed by the board of
supervisors, the amount of any obligations legalized and validated
hereunder may be paid from available funds or shall be deemed to be a
settled claim within the meaning of subdivision thirty-three of
paragraph a of section 11.00 of the local finance law which may be
financed by the issuance of bonds or capital notes, provided, however,
that the maximum maturity of any such bonds shall not exceed six years
from the date of issuance of such bonds or from the date of issuance of
the earliest bond anticipation note issued in anticipation thereof,
whichever date is the earlier, and provided further, however, that the
cost shall be charged against the area normally responsible for the
payment of the obligation which had been legalized and validated. The
cost of all publications under this section shall be a charge upon and
be paid by the petitioner. A copy of the legalizing act duly certified
by the clerk shall be filed with the state comptroller and with the
petitioner. The term "municipality" as used in this section shall
include a city, town or village or a fire district, special district,
special improvement district or other local governmental agency or
authority created by or pursuant to law.

3. Review by the court. Within thirty days after the first publication
of the legalizing act of the board of supervisors, a proceeding may be
brought under article seventy-eight of the civil practice act to review
the same. The legalizing act may be contested only upon the grounds that
the act was not performed in the exercise of a lawful object or purpose,

or that the finding that the act was performed in good faith and no
substantial hardship of fraud resulted is against the weight of
evidence, or that there existed a jurisdictional defect beyond the power
of the board of supervisors to legalize, or that the board of
supervisors did not comply with law in legalizing the same.

4. Application. The provisions of this section shall not apply to
action had or taken by any such governing board or other local body,
officer, or agency of a municipality when a remedy to legalize and
validate the same already exists in law; nor shall it apply to any
action had or taken in violation of the provisions of the state
constitution; nor shall it authorize the board of supervisors to
legalize or validate fraudulent acts of the governing board or other
local body, office or agency of a municipality; nor shall it authorize
the board of supervisors to legalize and validate any act resulting in
unusual hardship to the qualified voters of the petitioner. It is hereby
declared and determined that the powers conferred upon the boards of
supervisors of counties under this section are powers of local
legislation within the meaning and intent of article nine of the
constitution and that the exercise of such powers shall be deemed to be
the exercise of a lawful county function. Nothing in this section
contained shall be construed to restrict the powers of the legislature
in relation to cities, towns, villages or other local governmental
agencies created or established by law.

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