Can a New York city use a charter revision commission to change the budget process for its public library, when the library was created by state legislation?
Plain-English summary
Oneonta's charter revision commission proposed changes to the budget process for the Huntington Memorial Library, the city's public library. The library had been embedded in the city's original 1908 state-enacted charter, and that charter (revised in 1964 but with the library provisions preserved) gave the library board of trustees substantial autonomy. The board prepared a budget and submitted it to the mayor, who could veto items, which the board could override by a four-fifths vote. The final budget got rolled into the school-tax levy, collected by the city chamberlain, and deposited into a separate library fund payable on the trustees' order.
The City Attorney asked: can the City use its charter revision authority under Municipal Home Rule Law § 36 to change the budget process for the library?
The AG said no. Public libraries chartered by the Board of Regents are education corporations, distinct and separate from the city or county that collects taxes for them (Buffalo & Erie Co. Public Library; Education Law §§ 216, 216-a(1)). They are part of the State's education system: "higher education" includes educational work connected with libraries (Education Law § 2(8)), and incorporated libraries are listed as institutions of the University of the State of New York (Education Law § 214).
Education is a substantial state concern (Lanza v. Wagner). Local home-rule authority does not run to superseding state laws governing education. Municipal Home Rule Law § 11(1)(c) makes that explicit: a local law cannot supersede state law concerning "the maintenance, support or administration of the educational system in such local government." The library's budget process, set in the original state-enacted charter, sits inside that prohibition.
The opinion concluded that any change to the library budget process required state legislation. The City could not do it through a local charter amendment.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2012. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: How is a public library separate from the city that funds it?
A: A library chartered by the Board of Regents is a corporation in its own right (Education Law §§ 216, 216-a(1); General Construction Law §§ 65(c)(2), 66(6)). The city collects taxes for it and houses funds for it, but does not own it. Buffalo & Erie Co. Public Library v. County of Erie made this point at the appellate level and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Q: Why does education trigger the state-concern doctrine so strongly?
A: Lanza v. Wagner is the canonical statement: "public education shall be beyond control by municipalities and politics." That principle has produced a string of cases protecting state oversight of educational institutions from local interference. The AG cited the Greece v. Rochester case for the same proposition in a school-district context.
Q: What does Municipal Home Rule Law § 11(1)(c) actually prohibit?
A: It bars local supersession of state law concerning the "maintenance, support or administration of the educational system in such local government." Budget process for a public library, which is part of the state's educational system, falls within those terms.
Q: Can a city ever change its public library's budget process?
A: Yes, but only through state legislation. The opinion explicitly says "Such changes would require state legislation." A city interested in changing the process would need to seek a state-enacted amendment, the same path that created the original charter language in 1908 and the 1922 name-change amendment.
Q: Is this consistent with the more flexible answer in 2012-1 about home rule?
A: It's the same doctrine, applied differently. Home rule lets a city act unless the state law concerns a substantial state matter or the Legislature has preempted the field. Site plan review by a special board (the 2012-1 question) was within the city's authority because the Legislature had not occupied the field. Budget control over a public library was outside the city's authority because education is a substantial state concern with explicit MHRL § 11 protection.
Q: What kinds of charter changes would still be available to a charter revision commission?
A: Plenty. The opinion cabins only changes that touch the library's state-rooted budget process. Other charter revisions, including those affecting non-library city departments, restructuring the city legislative body, or revising executive functions, remain on the table to the extent they don't conflict with state law in some other way.
Background and statutory framework
The Huntington Memorial Library traces its formal status to the 1908 Oneonta charter (Act of May 21, 1908, ch. 454). The original charter set up a five-trustee board appointed by the mayor with common-council approval, vested the trustees with exclusive care, custody, management, and control of the library, and created a tax-funded budget process that ran through the mayor's veto and the council's school-tax levy. A 1922 amendment changed the library's name. The 1964 charter revision left those library provisions intact.
Public-library status under New York's Education Law has long been treated as a part of the state's education system. Education Law § 2(8) defines higher education to include educational work connected with libraries. Section 214 lists incorporated libraries as institutions of the University of the State of New York. Section 216 charters them through the Regents. Section 259(1) makes clear that local government collects taxes on the library's behalf and can spend library funds only at the trustees' direction.
Municipal Home Rule Law § 36 is the statutory basis for charter revision commissions. Section 36(5)(a) limits the commission's proposals to provisions or results that "may be made or effected by local law" under the Municipal Home Rule Law. That carve-out is what defeated the proposed amendment: the local-law authority simply does not reach the library budget process.
Citations and references
Statutes:
- Municipal Home Rule Law § 10
- Municipal Home Rule Law § 11
- Municipal Home Rule Law § 36
- Education Law § 216 (chartering of libraries)
- Education Law § 259 (local libraries)
- Education Law § 260 (free libraries)
Cases:
- Lanza v. Wagner, 11 N.Y.2d 317 (1962) (public education beyond municipal control)
- Buffalo & Erie Co. Public Library v. County of Erie, 171 A.D.2d 369 (4th Dep't 1991), aff'd, 80 N.Y.2d 938 (1992) (library is corporation distinct and separate from local government)
Source
- Landing page: https://ag.ny.gov/libraries-documents/opinions/opinions-year
- Original PDF: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/2012-4_pw.pdf
Original opinion text
Municipal Home Rule Law §§ 10, 11(1)(c), 36, 36(5)(a); Session Laws 1908, Ch 454
§ 244, 1908, Ch 454 § 247, 1908, Ch 454 § 249; Education Law §§ 2(8), 214, 216,
216(1), 259(1), 260(1); General Construction Law §§ 65(c)(2), 66(6)
City charter cannot be amended locally to change the budget process as it relates
to monies used by the library. Such amendments would encroach on the State's
authority over education and would violate the prohibition of Municipal Home Rule
Law § 11.
July 13, 2012
David S. Merzig
City Attorney
City of Oneonta
City Hall
258 Main Street
Oneonta, New York 13820-2589
Informal Opinion
No. 2012-4
Dear Mr. Merzig:
You have requested an opinion regarding whether the City is authorized to
amend the provisions of its charter that relate to the public library. The City has
appointed a charter revision commission in accord with Municipal Home Rule Law
§ 36. You have explained that as part of its review and recommendations relating to
the charter, the commission has proposed certain changes to the budgetary process as
it relates to the monies used by the library. You therefore have asked whether the City
has the authority to adopt this type of charter amendment. As explained below, we are
of the opinion that the City is not so authorized.
The state law that established the City's original charter included provisions
relating to the library. Pursuant to that state law, the library is managed by a board of
trustees, who are appointed to five-year terms by the mayor subject to the approval of
the common council. Act of May 21, 1908, ch. 454, § 244, 1908 N.Y. Laws 1369, 1476;
see also Education Law § 260(1). The powers of the board of trustees include selecting
its president and secretary from among its members; having exclusive care, custody,
management, and control of the public library and its property; paying the salaries of
its librarian and library employees and other expenses in the care and maintenance of
the library; and applying to the State for grants. Chapter 454, § 247, 1908 N.Y. Laws
at 1477-78. These provisions, like those described immediately below, appropriately
remained intact in the charter when the City revised it in 1964.
The power of the library board of trustees to raise money by taxes, and the
procedure for doing so, also was established by state law in the City's original charter.
Chapter 454, § 249, 1908 N.Y. Laws at 1478-79. The board prepares a statement of the
sums of money it deems necessary for the upcoming fiscal year and submits it to the
mayor for approval. Id. The mayor can veto items in the statement, which the board of
trustees can override by four-fifths vote. Id. The final statement is filed with the city
clerk, and the common council then includes the amount in the statement in the
annual levy for school taxes. Id. The taxes are collected by the city chamberlain, who
deposits them into a separate library fund. Id. Moneys of the fund are paid out by the
chamberlain upon an order of the board of trustees signed by the board's president and
secretary. Id.; see also Education Law § 259(1) (local government assesses and collects
taxes on behalf of library; library funds may be expended by treasurer for local
government only under direction of library trustees).
As a public library, chartered by the Board of Regents, the library is not a
department of the City but instead is an education corporation, "distinct and separate"
from the local government that assesses and collects taxes on its behalf. Education
Law §§ 216, 216-a(1); General Construction Law §§ 65(c)(2), 66(6); Buffalo & Erie Co.
Public Library v. County of Erie, 171 A.D.2d 369, 372 (4th Dep't 1991); aff'd on opn.
below, 80 N.Y.2d 938 (1992). It is in fact a component of the State's education system.
See Education Law § 2(8) ("higher education" includes educational work connected with
libraries); id. § 214 (institutions of University of State of New York include
incorporated libraries); see also Op. St. Comptr. 83-96.
The city charter commission is charged with reviewing the existing city charter
and preparing a draft of a proposed new or revised charter. Municipal Home Rule Law
§ 36(5)(a). The proposal "may contain such provisions or effect such results as may be
made or effected by local law" pursuant to the Municipal Home Rule Law. Id.
The Municipal Home Rule Law grants broad authority to a local government to
adopt local laws, including with respect to its "property, affairs, and government,"
which presumably includes the City's budget process. Municipal Home Rule Law § 10.
This authority, however, is not unlimited. Education is an area of state concern and
therefore a local government may not adopt a local law that supersedes the State's laws
in the area. Lanza v. Wagner, 11 N.Y.2d 317, 326 (1962) ("public education shall be
beyond control by municipalities and politics"); Bd. of Educ. of Union Free Sch. Dist.
No. 4 of Town of Greece v. Bd. of Educ. of City of Rochester, 23 A.D.2d 805 (4th Dep't
1965); Op. Att'y Gen. (Inf.) No. 83-13 (local law relating to students of community
college not authorized); Op. St. Comptr. No. 83-96 (local law granting library board
authority to mandate amount to be appropriated by sponsoring local government not
within local government's power to adopt). Indeed, the Legislature explicitly has
prohibited local legislation that supersedes state law in certain areas, including the
"maintenance, support or administration of the educational system in such local
government." Municipal Home Rule Law § 11(1)(c). We are of the opinion that the
City's charter cannot be amended locally to change the budget process as it relates to
monies used by the library because such amendments would encroach on the State's
authority over education and would violate the prohibition of Municipal Home Rule
Law § 11. Such changes would require state legislation. Cf. Op. Att'y Gen. (Inf.) No.
2007-6 (city cannot amend charter to abolish state-created independent water board).
The Attorney General issues formal opinions only to officers and departments of
state government. Thus, this is an informal opinion rendered to assist you in advising
the municipality you represent.
Very truly yours,
KATHRYN SHEINGOLD
Assistant Solicitor General
in Charge of Opinions