Section 3-301
§ 3-301 Bond of comptroller. Before entering upon the duties of his or
her office the comptroller shall give a bond to the city, conditioned
upon the faithful performance of the duties of the comptroller's office,
in the penal sum of two hundred thousand dollars, with a surety company
or two or more sufficient sureties to justify in double the amount under
oath before a judge of the supreme court, on notice to the corporation
counsel, whereupon the same shall be immediately filed with the city
clerk by the comptroller.
Section 3-302
§ 3-302 Bonds of deputy comptrollers. Each deputy comptroller shall
execute a bond to the city, conditioned for the faithful performance of
the duties of his or her office, with one or more sureties, to be
approved by the comptroller, in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars.
Section 3-303
§ 3-303 Bureaus in office of comptroller. There shall be four bureaus
in the office of the comptroller:
1. A bureau of accountancy, the chief officer of which shall be called
chief accountant. The bureau shall include a central accounting
division, and shall determine the form of the accounts in the department
of finance and other agencies, and shall also direct the accounting
procedure therein in accordance with the requirements of the charter.
2. A bureau of audit, the chief officer of which shall be called chief
auditor of accounts. Such bureau shall audit, revise and settle all
accounts in which the city is concerned as debtor or creditor except
accounts in relation to excise or nonproperty taxes. Such bureau shall
keep an account of each such claim for and against the city, and of the
sums allowed upon each, and certify the same to the comptroller, with
the reasons for the allowance.
3. A bureau of law and adjustment, the head of which shall be known as
chief of the bureau of law and adjustment. Such bureau shall investigate
and report to the comptroller for adjustment all awards made in any
proceeding, and all disputed claims for or against the city, except
proceedings and disputed claims in relation to excise or nonproperty
taxes. It shall also investigate complaints alleging violation of the
labor law and report thereon to the comptroller.
4. A bureau of municipal investigation and statistics, the chief
officer of which shall be called the supervising statistician and
examiner. Such bureau shall determine the scope of and the form in which
statistical information shall be compiled and furnished under section
3-312 of the code, and shall compile and collate all such facts and
statistics and make report to the comptroller concerning the same at
least once annually and oftener, if required by the comptroller, which
reports shall be published in the City Record. Such bureau shall be the
custodian of and shall conveniently locate for reference all records of
the city. Books or records, however, shall not be removed from the
custody of any other agency while such book or record is of use to such
agency in the performance of official duty. All books, records and
reports in the custody of such bureau, and all reports made by such
bureau to the comptroller, except reports upon investigations of
criminal acts, or reports upon investigations to aid in the defense of
actions at law brought against the city, before such acts or actions
have been reviewed by the courts, shall be accessible to the public
under proper regulations for the protection of the same from loss or
defacement, and certified copies thereof shall be furnished to
applicants upon the payment of fees, as provided by law.
Section 3-304
§ 3-304 Other duties of bureaus. All of such bureaus shall perform
such other duties as the comptroller shall from time to time direct.
Section 3-305
§ 3-305 Comptroller; custodian of evidences of debt, contracts. The
comptroller shall keep and file in the comptroller's office all evidence
of debts, contracts, bonds of indemnity and official bonds except as
otherwise provided by law.
Section 3-306
§ 3-306 Report as to outstanding contracts. The comptroller may report
to the mayor, the board of estimate and the council, from time to time,
a statement of all contracts made by the city, or directed or authorized
by the city and not performed or completed or upon which any moneys
remain unpaid; with the amount of money remaining unpaid on each such
contract.
Section 3-306.1
§ 3-306.1 Property of city outside the city limits; payment of taxes.
a. The assessing officers of any town, village, city or school
district, other than the city of New York, in which is situated real
property owned by the city and liable to taxation, shall give written
notice to the comptroller of the city of New York, at least two weeks
prior to the date fixed for hearing objections to assessments made by
them, of the valuation of such property assessed against the city, in
the assessment-list then to be reviewed, and of the amount of any
increase of valuation proposed to be assessed against the city for or on
account of said property above the last assessed valuation thereof, and
the time and place at which complaints in relation thereto will be
heard.
b. It shall be the duty of the several school tax collectors in each
school district, and the officers authorized to collect taxes, including
road and highway taxes in each town in this state in which lands are
owned by the city of New York, within five days after the receipt by
such collector of any and every tax or assessment-roll of his or her
town or district, to prepare and deliver to the county treasurer of the
county in which such town or district, or the greater part thereof, is
situated, a statement showing the assessment against such city appearing
on such roll, and the taxes against such city.
c. Each county treasurer receiving such statement shall immediately
thereafter notify the comptroller of such city of the amount of taxes so
levied and assessed, and within thirty days after the receipt of such
notice from such county treasurer, such city may pay the amount of such
tax or taxes together with such fees now authorized by law to such
county treasurer, who is hereby authorized and directed to receive such
amount and to give proper receipts therefor.
d. In case such city shall fail to pay such tax or taxes within such
thirty days, it shall be the duty of such county treasurer to notify the
collector of the school district or town or highway district in which
such tax or taxes have been assessed, of such failure to pay such tax,
and upon receipt of such notice, it shall be the duty of such collector
to collect such unpaid tax in the manner now provided by law, together
with five percent fees thereon.
e. The several amounts of tax received by any county treasurer in the
state under the provisions of this subchapter of and from such city,
shall by such county treasurer be placed to the credit of the school
district or town or highway district for or on account of which the same
was levied or assessed, and on demand paid over to the collector of
taxes for such town or school district or highway district or other
proper officer, together with any fees for collection authorized by law
and received therewith.
f. Nothing in this section contained shall be construed to hinder,
prevent or prohibit such city from paying such taxes directly to the
collectors or other officers authorized to receive the same, as now
provided by law.
Section 3-307
§ 3-307 Forms for paying money. The comptroller shall prescribe the
manner in which all salaries shall be drawn, and the mode by which all
creditors, officers and employees of the city shall be paid.
Section 3-308
§ 3-308 Payment of salaries. a. Wages and salaries may be paid upon
payrolls, upon which each person named thereon shall separately receipt
for the amount paid to such person, and the comptroller is hereby
authorized and empowered, in his or her discretion, to direct and
require that wages and salaries shall not be paid except upon such
receipt being individually signed by such person.
b. The comptroller is hereby authorized in his or her discretion, to
direct and require, as an alternative to the procedure provided in
subdivision a hereof, that wages and salaries within any department or
agency of the city or any part or unit thereof may be paid upon payrolls
by checks corresponding to such payrolls without any receipt upon such
payroll by the person receiving such check.
Section 3-309
§ 3-309 Audit and payment of county charges and expenses. All county
charges and expenses and salaries of county officers in the counties of
the city and each of them shall be audited by the comptroller and paid
out of the fund or appropriation applicable thereto, and the audit of
the comptroller in respect to such charges and expenses shall extend to
the reasonableness thereof and shall, in all respects, be as full and
complete as the audit of city charges and expenses.
Section 3-310
§ 3-310 Comptroller; monthly reports from agencies. The head of each
agency shall furnish monthly to the comptroller a statement of the
unencumbered and unexpended balances, contract or other liabilities, of
appropriations and other authorizations for his or her agency, in such
form as prescribed by the comptroller.
Section 3-311
§ 3-311 Accounts of city collector and his or her deputies to be
examined. Whenever the city collector or any deputy collector shall
cease to hold office, and within one year thereafter, it shall be the
duty of the comptroller to examine the accounts of such city collector
or deputy, and if found correct, to cause a certificate to that effect
to be filed with the bond of such officer. Such certificate so filed
shall be a full discharge and satisfaction of the conditions of such
bond and the lien or liens thereby created. If at any time during the
city collector's continuance in office the city collector or a deputy
collector shall execute and file with the comptroller a new bond in the
same form and penalty, and for the same period, and approved as provided
in section 11-115 of the code, it shall be the duty of the comptroller
forthwith to cause a certificate to that effect to be filed with the
bond or bonds previously filed by such officer. Such certificate so
filed shall be the full discharge and satisfaction of the condition of
such prior bond or bonds and of the lien or liens thereby created. The
comptroller may settle and adjust all claims in favor of or against the
city, the surety or the principal in such bond, arising out of the
execution of such bonds and in his or her discretion may release from
the lien created by such bonds any piece or parcel of land affected
thereby.
Section 3-312
§ 3-312 Statistical records to be compiled by city officials. Every
official or employee of the city, or of the counties included within the
city, and every board or commission charged by law or by due authority
with the custody of property of the city or the counties thereof, or
with the direction of work done, or services performed, by or on behalf
of the city or the counties therein, or the disbursement or receipt of
moneys from the city or counties therein, and every person, official,
board, commission or corporation receiving or disbursing moneys from the
city or counties therein for public purposes, at such times, under such
conditions, and in the manner directed to do so by the comptroller,
shall furnish reports of facts relating to any or all of the property of
the city, or the counties therein, or of such work or such services, or
of the receipt or disbursement of moneys from the city or counties
therein. Such officials and employees shall compile and maintain in
their respective offices such system of statistical record as the
comptroller may require appertaining to all matters referred to in this
section.
Section 3-313
§ 3-313 Monthly report of unexpended balances of appropriations. The
comptroller shall furnish to each head of an agency, monthly, a
statement of the unexpended balances of the appropriation for his or her
agency.
Section 3-314
§ 3-314 Records; copies when in evidence. A copy of any paper, record,
book, document or map, filed in the office of the comptroller, or the
minutes, records or proceedings, or any portion thereof, of any board or
commission of which the comptroller is or may become a member, when
certified by the comptroller, a deputy comptroller or any assistant
deputy comptroller, to be a correct copy of the original, shall be
admissible in evidence in any trial, investigation, hearing or
proceeding in any court, or before any commissioner, board or tribunal,
with the same force and effect as the original. Whenever a subpoena is
served upon the comptroller or any member of a board or commission of
which the comptroller is a member, or upon any officer or employee of
the office of the comptroller, or upon any officer or employee of such
board or commission, requiring the production upon any trial or hearing
of an original paper, document, book, map, record, minutes or
proceedings, the comptroller in his or her discretion, may furnish a
copy certified as herein provided, unless such subpoena be accompanied
by an order of the court or other tribunal before which the trial or
hearing is had requiring the production of such original.
Section 3-316
§ 3-316 Three following sections; how construed. The three following
sections shall not be construed to affect the powers of any commission
acting under any laws of this state.
Section 3-317
§ 3-317 Awards for grading of streets; definition of terms. When used
in this section and the two following sections, unless otherwise
expressly stated:
1. The term "owner" shall mean only such parties or persons whose
property abuts the street, the grade of which has been established or
changed.
2. The term "lessee" shall mean only such parties or persons whose
lease does not expire in less than three years from the date of
completion and acceptance of the grading by the appropriate city agency.
3. The term "comptroller" shall mean the comptroller of the city of
New York.
4. The term "special grade" shall mean only the following case: When a
street has been graded to a grade which in the opinion of the board of
estimate, has been occasioned by an improvement other than the normal
and usual street improvement, the board of estimate, in its discretion,
may issue a certificate to that effect, within sixty days after the
grading shall have been completed and accepted by the appropriate city
agency in charge of the work. Such certificate shall be transmitted to
the comptroller, together with a plan and profile of the portion of the
street affected by such special grade. Upon such plan and profile there
shall be shown the level which, in the opinion of the board of estimate,
constitutes a normal grade for the street, and the special grade to
which the street has been graded. The comptroller, upon receipt of such
certificate together with the accompanying plan and profile, shall be
authorized and empowered to determine the damage to each owner and
lessee thereof.
5. The term "street" includes street, avenue, road, alley, land,
highway, boulevard, concourse, parkway, driveway, culvert, sidewalk,
cross-walk, boardwalk and viaduct, and every class of public road,
square and place, except marginal streets.
6. The term "real property" includes all lands and improvements, lands
under water, water front property, the water of any lake, pond or
stream, all easements and hereditaments, corporeal or incorporeal, and
every estate, interest and right, legal or equitable, in lands or water,
and right, interest, privilege, easement and franchise relating to the
same, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage
or otherwise.
Section 3-318
§ 3-318 Award of damages to land and improvements by reason of grading
of streets; measure of damages; presentation of claims. a. There shall
be no liability for originally establishing a grade or for changing an
established grade, except as provided in this section:
1. When an owner has built upon or otherwise improved his or her
property prior to the original establishment of a grade by lawful
authority, such owner and the lessee thereof shall be entitled to
damages only to such buildings and improvements for the grading of the
street in accordance with such established grade.
2. When an owner has built upon or otherwise improved his or her
property in conformity with the grade of any street or avenue
established by lawful authority and such grade is changed after such
buildings or improvements have been erected, such owner and the lessee
thereof shall be entitled to damages only to such buildings and
improvements for the change of grade.
3. When a street has been graded to a special grade as set forth in
this section, the comptroller shall be empowered to determine the
damages sustained by each owner or lessee of the land fronting the
portion of the street affected by the special grade. The damages shall
be for the departure of the grade of the street from the normal grade as
shown on the plan and profile submitted by the board of estimate to the
comptroller.
b. No award shall be made unless a claim in writing shall have been
filed with the comptroller within ninety days after the grading shall
have been completed.
Section 3-319
§ 3-319 Power of the comptroller to issue subpoenas and administer
oaths, to compel witnesses to testify. For the purpose of settling or
adjusting claims for damages under section 3-318, the comptroller may
issue subpoenas and administer oaths to witnesses. The comptroller may
issue a subpoena requiring such witness to appear at such time and place
as the comptroller may designate in the subpoena.
Section 3-320
§ 3-320 Action to recover damages. a. No action shall be commenced to
recover damages under section 3-318 until at least thirty days have
elapsed since the demands, claim or claims, upon which such action is
founded, were presented to the comptroller for adjustment and the
comptroller has neglected or refused to make an adjustment or payment
thereof. An allegation to that effect shall be made in a complaint or
other pleadings in such an action. An action under section 3-318 shall
be commenced within one year and ninety days after the grading shall
have been completed.
b. Whenever any such award or compensation shall be paid to any person
not entitled thereto, it shall be lawful for the person to whom such
award or compensation should have been paid to sue for and recover such
award or compensation with interest and costs as so much money had and
received to his or her use by the person or persons to whom the same
shall have been so paid. In the following cases it shall be lawful for
the city to pay an award to the commissioner of finance, to be secured,
disposed of and invested as the supreme court shall direct when
1. the owners, parties or persons entitled thereto are
(a) under a legal disability, or
(b) absent from the city or
2. the owners, parties or persons entitled thereto
(a) cannot be found after diligent search, or
(b) are involved in a dispute as to their title to receive such
awards.
Such payment shall be as valid and effectual in all respects as if
made to the owner or other person entitled thereto.