The Authorities Budget Office is required by Section 6(b) of Public Authorities Law to maintain a comprehensive inventory of state and local authorities. There are four different types of authorities that file annual reports with the ABO:
State Authority: A public authority or public benefit corporation with one or more of its members appointed by the governor or who serve as members by virtue of holding a civil office of the state, other than an interstate or international authority or public benefit corporation, including subsidiaries of such public authority or public benefit corporation.
Local Authority: A public authority or public benefit corporation whose members do not hold a civil office of the state, are not appointed by the governor or are appointed by the governor specifically upon the recommendation of the local government or governments.
Industrial Development Agency: A public authority or public benefit corporation established pursuant to the authority of Article 18-A of the General Municipal Law or Title 11 or 15 of Article 8 of the Public Authorities Law.
Local Development Corporation: Section 2(2)b of Public Authorities Law defines a not-for-profit corporation affiliated with, sponsored by, or created by a county, city, town or village government as a "local authority". The most common type of not-for-profit corporations that meet this definition are local development corporation (LDCs), formed pursuant to Section 1411 of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law. Unlike other authorities, LDCs are not authorized by special acts of the Legislature, but are incorporated through the filing of certificates of incorporation with the Department of State. The ABO uses "LDC" as a generic term to include not-for-profit corporations not incorporated under Section 1411, but which were formed to perform a mission and purpose similar to those corporations formed pursuant to Section 1411. These corporations were created for lawful business purposes that achieve a public or quasi-public objective. Their certificates of incorporation often characterize their mission as reducing unemployment, promoting employment, or attracting new industry or expanding existing industry in the community. The term 'LDC' is also intended to include land banks established under Section 1600 of Not-for-Profit Corporation Law.
This directory includes basic contact information about all the Public Authorities that are covered by the ABO. Note that not all of the public authorities included in the directory have submitted annual reports. Public authorities that have not submitted annual reports are not included in the other datasets made available by the ABO. The directory is updated periodically to remove public authorities that are dissolved or disbanded or include newly created public authorities.