1203-G - Establishment of the handicapped parking education program.
§ 1203-g. Establishment of the handicapped parking education program. 1. Every county and the city of New York shall establish a separate handicapped parking education program. Each program shall be organized by a coordinator for handicapped parking education and advocacy, who shall be designated by the chief executive officer of the county, if there be one, otherwise by the chair of the governing board of the county, and in the city of New York, a person designated by the mayor thereof. 2. The handicapped parking education program shall be established for the purposes of providing education, advocacy and increased awareness of handicapped parking laws. The program shall provide funding for activities such as public service announcements, public education and awareness campaigns, distribution of literature, and any other activities that are consistent with such purposes. 3. It shall be the duty of the coordinator to: (a) render annually or at the request of the county legislature or other governing body of the county, a verified account of all moneys received and expended by the coordinator or under the coordinator's direction and an account of other pertinent matters; and (b) make a biennial report to the commissioner, which shall be due on the first day of April every second year following implementation of the program and shall include an assessment of the effectiveness of the program, recommendations for expanding and improving the program and any problems or other matters related to the administration of the program. Such report shall also be made available to the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly. 4. Every county and the city of New York that establishes a handicapped parking education program shall establish a separate handicapped parking education fund in the custody of the chief fiscal officer of each such county or city, by April first, two thousand, which shall consist of moneys granted to such county or city pursuant to section eighteen hundred nine-b of this chapter. No provision of law shall be deemed to preclude a county or the city of New York from receiving funds from other sources to be deposited in the handicapped parking education fund, provided such funds are used in a manner and for purposes consistent with this section. The moneys of such fund shall be disbursed to provide education, advocacy and increased awareness of handicapped parking laws and may be used to execute contracts with private organizations for such purposes. Such contracts shall be awarded upon competitive bids after the issuance of requests for proposal.