Section 195. County aid for construction, improvement and maintenance of town highways

1. The board of supervisors of a county may aid a town or  towns in the construction or improvement  of  a  town  highway  or  town
  highways  therein, and shall designate the highway or highways which the
  town or towns are to construct or improve by the aid of the county. Such
  county may prepare a map showing the highways to be improved under  this
  section   in   that   county.  This  section  shall  not  apply  to  the
  construction, improvement or maintenance of any such highway with  state
  moneys,  as  defined  by article six, except provisions hereof which, by
  that article, are expressly made applicable thereto. No highway or  part
  thereof within the county road system established as provided in article
  six  shall  be  constructed  or  improved  under  the provisions of this
  section, except with the consent of the commissioner  of  transportation
  and  in  accordance with a written outline of the work, approved by him,
  showing the course, width, thickness and type of the proposed road.
    2. The board may by resolution direct  the  county  superintendent  to
  supervise  the  preparation  of  grade  and  culvert  work  of a road so
  designated by said map for improvement, by the  town  superintendent  of
  the  town  in  which such improvement shall be made, and upon the county
  superintendent's certification that the road is prepared  and  that  the
  town is equipped with sufficient machinery to properly perform the work,
  such  machinery  to  be furnished by the town and used during the road's
  construction, the construction of an improved road or town  highway  may
  proceed  under the direction of the county superintendent of highways or
  of a  committee  known  as  the  highway  officials  of  the  county  as
  hereinafter  provided.  The  construction work shall be under the charge
  and  supervision  of  a  competent  person  designated  by  the   county
  superintendent  by and with the advice and consent of the town board and
  the compensation of such person shall be a town charge. In the event the
  board of supervisors of any county in which roads are to be  constructed
  under  this  section  shall so determine, the same may be constructed by
  the county to be paid for by the town and county as herein provided  and
  constructed   under  the  direct  personal  supervision  of  the  county
  superintendent of highways or some person designated  by  him;  and  for
  that  purpose  such  county  superintendent of highways, or his nominee,
  shall have power and authority  to  employ  labor  and  teams,  purchase
  necessary  material  and  do  all work necessary for the construction of
  such highway. The board of supervisors with the county superintendent of
  highways shall have power and authority to purchase at  the  expense  of
  the county any machinery which they may deem necessary to be used in the
  construction of such highways.
    3.  The  employment  of convict labor on roads so constructed shall be
  authorized and permitted, in  the  discretion  of  the  commissioner  of
  correction,  upon  the  requisition  of  the  county  superintendent  of
  highways. The board of supervisors of Erie county shall have  power,  if
  they  deem  it proper, to employ convicts, sentenced to be confined in a
  penitentiary situate within the territorial limits of  such  county  and
  liable  to be employed at hard labor, upon any highway or work connected
  therewith within such county, and such board of supervisors  shall  have
  power to make all necessary appointments, rules and regulations for such
  employment  within  such  county,  including the right to fix a per diem
  compensation for such employment at a rate not to exceed ten cents.
    4. A board of  supervisors  of  a  county  shall  decide  whether  the
  direction  of the work shall be by the county superintendent of highways
  or a committee known as the highway officials of the county. The highway
  officials of the county under this section shall consist of  the  county
  superintendent,  three  members of the board, appointed by the chairman.
  The supervisor of the town in which a road  or  town  highway  is  being

  improved  shall  be  a  member  of  the  said committee on all questions
  involving the work in the town of which he is the supervisor. Unless the
  advice and direction of the county superintendent of highways or of  the
  highway  officials  shall be followed in the prosecution of the work, no
  liability therefor shall accrue to the county for its share of the  cost
  of work.
    5.  Upon ordering the construction of an improved road or town highway
  under this section, the  board  of  supervisors  shall,  by  resolution,
  determine  the proportions thereof to be borne by the county and town or
  towns respectively. The part, if any, to be borne by a town, as shown by
  such determination may be a town charge, and  the  residue  shall  be  a
  county  charge.  The amounts to be borne by the county shall be provided
  for by a tax, to be levied upon the taxable property of the  county  and
  collected  in  the  same manner as for other county charges and shall be
  paid into the county treasury. The amount thereof to  be  borne  by  the
  town may by resolution of the town board, be paid from any funds in such
  town that may be legally used for highway purposes.
    6.  The  board  of supervisors may, in its discretion, appropriate and
  make immediately available from county funds either  the  whole  of  the
  moneys  to complete the construction of such road or town highway or the
  part thereof to be provided by the county.  Nothing  contained  in  this
  section  shall be construed to prevent the county or town from financing
  its share, in whole or in part, pursuant to the local finance law.
    7. Where the improvement of a road to be constructed  or  improved  at
  the  joint  expense  of a county and a town or towns therein involves or
  necessitates the widening of a highway already existing  or  acquirement
  or  extinguishment  of any easements or rights in land within or without
  the boundaries of an existing highway, the board of supervisors of  such
  county  or  the  town  board or town boards of the town or towns through
  which such road passes, separately or in combination, may  acquire  land
  for such widening and acquire or extinguish such easements and rights in
  land. The cost of acquiring such lands and of acquiring or extinguishing
  such easements and rights in land the expenses connected therewith shall
  be  deemed a part of the cost of the construction or improvement of such
  highway.
    8. The board of supervisors shall, from time to time, impose upon  the
  taxable  property  of the county a tax sufficient to pay at maturity any
  county obligations issued to carry out the purposes of this section, and
  interest thereon, and upon the  taxable  property  of  any  town  a  tax
  sufficient  to  pay  at  maturity  any such obligations of the town, and
  interest. Payments from time to time by the county treasurer  of  moneys
  provided  under  this  section shall be made for the prosecution of such
  work upon the certificate of the county superintendent countersigned  by
  the  chairman of the board of supervisors. Said orders shall be drawn to
  the order of the supervisors of the respective towns where roads or town
  highways are being constructed to be disbursed by  them,  upon  vouchers
  approved  by  the town superintendent or person designated in his stead,
  in accordance with the agreement as provided by section two hundred  and
  eighty-four of this chapter. The board of supervisors may determine that
  the  amount,  if  any, to be borne by the town shall be paid by the town
  into the county treasury, and the whole  of  such  money  including  the
  share  of  the  county and of the town, if any, shall be paid out by the
  county treasurer  on  orders  drawn  by  the  county  superintendent  of
  highways  and  countersigned by the chairman of the board of supervisors
  to be accounted for on forms of report as may be prescribed by the state
  comptroller and printed in the next issue  of  the  proceedings  of  the
  board of supervisors.

    Such  roads  and highways, when completed and accepted by the board of
  supervisors shall be thereafter repaired and  maintained  by  the  towns
  wherein  such  highways are located in the same manner as all other town
  highways; except there shall be raised annually by the county and by the
  town  a  tax of not less than one hundred dollars per mile for each mile
  of highways improved in a town under the  provisions  of  this  section.
  The  amount  thereof  to  be borne by the county or by the town or towns
  shall be apportioned by the board of supervisors. The part, if  any,  to
  be  borne by a town or towns, as shown by such apportionment, shall be a
  charge against the town or towns and  the  residue  shall  be  a  county
  charge.  The amount to be borne by the county shall be provided for by a
  tax to be levied upon the taxable property of the county  and  collected
  in  the  same  manner as for other county charges and shall be paid into
  the county treasury. The amount thereof to be borne by the  town  shall,
  by  resolution  of  the  town board, be paid from any funds in such town
  that may be legally used for highway purposes. The resolution  providing
  for  such  apportionment  shall  also indicate the amount which shall be
  paid to each such town, and a certified copy thereof shall be filed with
  the county treasurer. On receipt of  such  money  the  supervisor  shall
  credit the amount to the town highway fund. The board of supervisors may
  determine that such highways be thereafter repaired and maintained under
  the  supervision  and direction of the county superintendent of highways
  and thereafter the amount, if any, to be borne by the town shall be paid
  by the town into the  county  treasury  and  the  whole  of  such  money
  including the share of the county and of the town, if any, shall be paid
  out  by  the  county  treasurer  for  the repair and maintenance of such
  highways on orders signed by the county superintendent of highways,  and
  countersigned by the chairman of the board of supervisors.
    9.  The  board  of supervisors may aid a town, or towns, in the repair
  and maintenance of a highway  formerly  constructed  by  the  state  and
  abandoned   to   a  town  by  official  order  of  the  commissioner  of
  transportation or a  predecessor  thereof  in  the  same  manner  as  is
  provided  for  the  repair  and maintenance of a highway built under the
  provisions of this section and outlined under subdivision eight above.