Heather Nellis - For the Express

ALBANY — Bills seeking to dissolve the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District are expected to move quickly through the state Legislature — perhaps this week, officials said — though the ramifications of such a move are still not decided.

Assemblyman Marc Butler, R-Newport, said while he's had discussions with Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, D-Cohoes, who introduced the bill, "it's difficult to say" how confident he is the issues will be teased out before a vote happens.

"We're slipping into shutdown mode, so everything is moving at a quicker pace. The issue of the budget is hanging over everything. It's hard to say where our focus is going to be in the next few days, but our last scheduled day here is next Monday, and if something is going to happen, it will have to happen quickly."

The legislation, which was introduced in both the state Senate and Assembly Friday, seek to eliminate the regulating district, which oversees the Great Sacandaga Lake, devolving its powers to the state Power Authority.

Christine Pritchard, vice president of media and corporate communications for the Power Authority, said the agency is declining to comment on the legislation at this time.

Butler referred to the legislation as "brief and broad," and said the bulk of concerns expressed from his constituents — mostly from Fulton County — relate to the resulting "mechanics" of a power transfer.

"We're not sure how this would filter out taxes, which is our immediate concern. I do believe the upside of this would address the taxes — it's the major reason for doing this. If they aren't, I see no reason for the bill at all."

Butler said the Power Authority has a "broader ability to take in revenues," which could be the "upside of this."

Regulating District Executive Director Glenn LaFave said since the news of the bills broke, staff are in the process of analyzing the legislation.

"In order to understand it, we have to look at the current legislation and see how they're different and see what stays the same. It's too early to understand what would happen if these bills were passed."

LaFave did say, however, that preliminary interpretation of the bills show the Power Authority would become responsible for paying school and property taxes.

That would be music to the ears of area superintendents, as the regulating district poses as the biggest revenue source for Mayfield Central School, Broadalbin-Perth Central School, and Northville Central School districts. The schools have been operating without hundreds of thousands of dollars due to them.

Mayfield Central School District Superintendent Paul Williamsen, whose district is owed $354,000 for the 2009-10 school year, "is not banking on the money for [2010-11]," as the regulating district has notified them they would not be able to pay the bill. The regulating district had told Williamsen 2009-10 bills would be "delayed," but have yet to receive it, though the bills were due last fall.

"It's not a good situation for Mayfield, and we're not alone," Williamsen said, noting that in two years the district will be out more than $700,000. "Another year without payment means 6 percent more money on my tax levy, which is not happening. My property taxpayers will not go for that. So that means I'll need to cut back on expenses more than I already have, and I can't keep doing that to sustain programs."

The Sacandaga Protection Committee has announced its opposition to the bills. The committee was formed 2009 to protect the interests of access permit holders when the regulating district and the state Department of Environmental Conservation threatened to take away the "exclusive use" of the GSL shoreline.

"[This legislation] does not address the main issues facing the HRBRRD, it just moves them to another public benefit corporation," a press release distributed Tuesday said.

According to the release, based on research from Hodgson Russ, the committee's attorneys, President Joe Sullivan said, a transfer of the state Power Authority "would detract from the authority's fundamental purpose," and "does not consider the taxable status of the district's property after transfer."

"NYPA already owns lands throughout the state that are used for reservoir purposes that are not used for taxation ... If the HRBRRD's property is brought within [the Power Authority's] tax exemption, who will make up the difference?"

State Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Along with managing a network of dams and reservoirs, the regulating district administers a 70-year-old Access Permit System, which grants exclusive use of the Great Sacandaga Lake's shoreline to landowners. The district also owes $2.6 million in local school district and county property taxes — which have gone unpaid over the past year because of severe financial difficulties.

The district's Hudson River area has been in the red since a federal Court of Appeals ruling deemed the district's taxation of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-licensed hydropower plants illegal in November 2008.

The regulating district hoped to rectify those financial difficulties by taxing Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties approximately $4.5 million, based on a flood-control assessment from operations at Great Sacandaga Lake.

The counties responded with a lawsuit, and the legislation. Albany County Executive Mike Breslin's brother, state Sen. Neil Breslin, introduced the legislation.