Municipalities and Quasi-Governmental Agencies

Industry Team

Harris Beach attorneys’ significant government experience, ranging from municipal corporation counsel to commissioners and executives at state regulatory agencies and authorities, provides us with a unique perspective for assisting municipalities and quasi-governmental agencies. Through our statewide representation of over 150 municipalities and agencies of all sizes, our attorneys and consulting professionals have earned a strong reputation for providing creative solutions to their fiscal, operational, and economic challenges.

Ensuring responsible and efficient governance, implementing effective policies, addressing finance goals, and adhering to local, state, and federal regulations are some of the challenges shared by all municipalities and quasi-governmental agencies. Harris Beach represents agencies, authorities, municipal corporations, municipal boards, industrial development agencies (IDAs), and local development corporations (LDCs) in a diverse array of legal, policy, regulatory, and programmatic matters.

Our services include:

General Municipal Law

Harris Beach provides a full range of legal services to municipalities and quasi-governmental agencies throughout New York state. Our attorneys assist these entities with legislative formation, board configuration, policy development, program planning and implementation, transactions, financing matters, real property management and disposition, fiscal matters, bidding and procurement procedures, audit control, audit implementation, labor and employment issues, as well as general litigation.

Our efforts include keeping clients current with the requirements of frequently-changing legislation, such as helping authorities comply with the Public Authorities Accountability Act of 2005 (PAAA), the Procurement Lobbying Act, and the Public Employee Ethics Reform Act of 2007. Additionally, the State of New York Authority Budget Office has approved Harris Beach as a trainer for the PAAA.

Harris Beach professionals offer insight based on diverse back-grounds and years of experience working for and on behalf of municipalities and quasi-governmental agencies. Our team includes professionals who serve as or have served in the public sector as policy makers. This unique collection of experience provides Harris Beach clients with an unmatched perspective and counsel on the following challenging matters:

Regulatory Compliance and Oversight

Public authorities and agencies are required to comply with increasing numbers of federal and state laws, regulations, and policies. Harris Beach is cognizant of the intense public scrutiny that agencies and authorities often face in connection with their policies and transactions. With the focus on accountability, the depth of compliance challenges has increased. Harris Beach offers broad programmatic expertise to agency and authority clients seeking assistance in compliance and public oversight.

Municipal Litigation

Harris Beach has had reported cases in the areas of municipal litigation involving procurements and inter-municipal agreements, commercial litigation, employment discrimination, and Article 78 Petitions or hybrid claims.

Government Consolidation

New York and other states are experiencing a growing trend toward municipal consolidation in an effort to bring greater efficiency to governmental agencies. This movement includes inter-municipal cooperation to eliminate wasteful duplication of services and the privatization of municipal services to cut governmental agency operational costs. These efforts to consolidate fragmented systems, eliminate redundancies, and streamline public bureaucracies ultimately lead to better government service to the public.

Community Planning

Through our consulting subsidiary HB Solutions LLC, our consultants provide a full range of community planning services to municipalities and quasi-governmental agencies. Our comprehensive approach helps clients efficiently conduct the strategic planning, economic analysis, and community outreach necessary to ensure the successful execution of projects and multi-year economic development plans. Our trademark is our ability to organize and manage the multi-dimensional aspects of major economic initiatives and achieve consensus and collaboration across business, community and political groups.

Grant Writing and Administration

Successful grant writing involves planning, data and resource research, and proposal writing, packaging, submission, and follow-up. Harris Beach offers these services to assist municipalities, quasi-governmental agencies, and other applicants with grant proposals for a variety of funding purposes.

Harris Beach attorneys have extensive experience with inter-governmental affairs, municipal privatization, and grant administration on the federal, state, and local levels. We have administered grant and loan programs through the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA), the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and its Restore New York Communities Initiative, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Governor’s Office for Small Cities (GOSC), and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. We have also coordinated and administered grants through New York state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program and the Environmental Quality Bond Act (EQBA) which respectively support hazardous waste site clean-ups the redevelopment and reuse of contaminated properties.

Economic Development

Our Public Finance & Economic Development Group attorneys are highly experienced in the administration and capture of business tax incentives. On a daily basis, this group works on complex projects at the state and federal levels involving Taxable and Tax-Exempt Bond Financing, Payment-in-Lieu-of-Tax (PILOT) Increment Financing, Tax Increment Financing, Brownfield Redevelopment Tax Credits, New Market Tax Credits, Empire Zone Credits, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Empowerment Zone Incentives, Renewal Community Incentives, and Historic Tax Credits.

We represent municipalities throughout New York state on a full range of issues, as well as more than 80 school districts. Harris Beach is listed as a recognized bond counsel firm in the “Municipal Bond Attorneys” section of “The Bond Buyer’s Municipal Marketplace” (the Red Book). Harris Beach has rendered opinions in thousands of transactions, involving in excess of $95 billion aggregate principal amount of tax-exempt obligations.

Our attorneys provide counsel on debt limitation, reserve requirements, issuance authority, disclosure requirements, rating agency concerns, qualifying investment candidates, and other bond-related issues. Harris Beach also offers expertise in special district formation and financing for expanding municipal infrastructure needs.

For more than a decade, Harris Beach has been involved with the Renaissance of the city of Yonkers through economic development, providing counsel for the IDA, urban renewal, Empire Zone, Empowerment Zone, and Brownfield Cleanup Program projects. There are currently over $4.5 billion in projects underway in Yonkers and Harris Beach is currently working on what could be the largest use of Tax Increment Financing in New York state history.

Labor and Employment

Keeping your agency running smoothly may require periodic consultations with an attorney on human resources matters. With one of the largest and most active labor law practices in New York state, Harris Beach handles all aspects of labor and employment law and litigation, including collective bargaining, negotiations, union organizing, labor contract administration, employment discrimination, employee benefits, occupational safety and health, and personnel policies. Our attorneys have extensive trial experience with all types of discrimination, including age, gender, sexual harassment, national origin, race, religion, and disability matters.

Our Labor & Employment Law and Litigation practice group assisted one of the largest counties in New York state by negotiating nine labor agreements covering approximately 4,500 employees in various divisions of county government. The prior contracts had expired and the county was facing a projected budget deficit over the next two years of more than $100 million. Through an intensive negotiations process, our attorneys were able to assist the client in reducing health insurance costs and keeping wage increases at a modest rate to achieve a projected cumulative savings for the county of over $87 million over the life of the new contracts.

Real Estate and Project Management

Nearly every governmental and quasi-governmental agency is involved in project management and real estate ventures. Our multi-disciplinary team includes experts in commercial real estate, construction and surety law, environmental law, and other areas.

We work to maximize the financial savings available through the capture of Empire Zone and Brownfield Redevelopment Tax Credits. Harris Beach represents agencies in the acquisition, disposition, development, leasing, and financing of property. Our attorneys counsel clients on all aspects of acquisition, including purchase and sale agreements, zoning and development approvals, architectural and construction contracting, joint ventures, financing packages, equity and syndications, and the formation of the appropriate entity structures to implement transactions.

Our attorneys ensure they are at the forefront of current municipal issues, including condemnation powers governed by New York’s Eminent Domain Procedure Law. Harris Beach has extensive experience representing agencies authorities, and others in condemnation proceedings, and coordinating public hearings, arbitrating disputes, building coalitions, providing real property valuation, and serving as litigation counsel when needed.

The scope of representation in the construction and surety law group includes negotiating agreements with architects, construction managers, and contractors; contract administration; assisting with claims; litigation and arbitration; bid process and contests; mechanic’s liens; surety claims; payment and performance bond claims; insurance; labor disputes; and contract rights analyses.

Additionally, Harris Beach subsidiary HB Cornerstone LLC offers owner representation, design, and facilities management services to provide a comprehensive solution for clients seeking to build, expand, or move. By exclusively representing the owner, free of conflict from other roles and responsibilities, HB Cornerstone helps ensure our clients’ best interests are being met.

Land Use, Zoning, and Development

Our attorneys have extensive experience in the areas of land use, zoning and development, real property acquisition and financing, architectural and construction contracting, municipal law, and leasing.

As zoning and development counsel, the firm is available to assist, as needed, in all phases of a project, including all aspects of site acquisitions (which can be done by negotiated purchase or government assisted condemnation), financing for the project (which may include conventional construction and permanent mortgage loans or lease financing), negotiation of agreements with architects, general contractors and/or construction managers, negotiation of leases and assistance in the local government approval processes, including zoning, subdivision, and environmental approvals.

Environmental Law

Harris Beach also provides legal counsel to municipalities and public benefit corporations on a broad range of environmental law issues. Our attorneys advise clients on the responsibilities, exposures, and liabilities that result from federal, state, and local environmental legislation and regulations. We guide clients through environmental impact review processes such as the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the New York City Environmental Quality Review Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, statutes, and the myriad of federal and state regulations relating to traffic patterns, air pollution, coastal areas, and wetlands. We also handle regulatory issues relating to land use, hazardous substances, and asbestos. Additional services include: audits and assessments, Brownfields redevelopment, Clean Air Act issues, Clean Water Act issues, government investigations, defense of enforcement proceedings, Environmental Impact Statements, environmental review/land use representation, government and communications strategies, health and safety issues, insurance coverage litigation, lender liability, negotiation of consent orders, permitting, project management, Superfund allocations and litigation, and toxic tort litigation. Harris Beach served as lead counsel for a municipality in a series of lawsuits challenging its authority to change its municipal water service provider.

Energy

Securing project funding, maximizing renewable and alternative energy technologies, and ensuring compliance with evolving state and federal energy regulations are a few of the challenges associated with energy usage and development. At Harris Beach, we recognize key energy issues because our attorneys have significant experience in this area. We work with those who own, develop, purchase, or sell energy, and we represent a diverse group of clients including Fortune 100 corporations, privately-held businesses, municipalities, public benefit corporations, and not-for-profit organizations.
We provide a wide variety of energy-related services including strategic advice related to public affairs, federal and state regulatory matters, general compliance counseling, competitive energy markets and trading, securing regulatory approvals, negotiating contracts, and environmental permitting.

Representative clients in the public sector include local governments, public benefit corporations, municipal distribution agencies, and LDCs and IDAs involved in the generation, transmission, purchase, and sale of conventional and alternative energy. This work includes development, permitting, and financing matters involving both conventional and alternative energy production facilities throughout New York state, including ethanol, biodeisel, biogas and wind facilities.

Communications and Crisis Management Services

Professional communications support is another area of value to agencies. Conveying an organization’s actions in the most positive light or handling controversial, unexpected, or crisis situations can be a difficult task. The communications team at Harris Beach works with municipalities, quasi-government agencies, and school districts to implement both proactive and response plans to preserve their public image and instill community confidence. These services include strategic communications planning; crisis communications management, audit, and planning; media training; and public forum training and preparation.