The bill permits the state to assume the costs of public defender services over several years starting in 2017, paying for 25 percent and increasing its share 10 percent each year. In order to qualify for indigent legal services, a single person with no dependents must make less than $14,850. The bill follows a 2014 settlement reached with the New York Civil Liberties Union involving indigent legal services, which called on the state to cover over seven years the cost of the services in Suffolk, Washington, Ontario, Onondaga and Schuyler counties. With an ever-shrinking tax cap to follow, the county officials said it becomes challenging to produce the lowest possible local tax rates, provide local services and pay for unfunded state-mandated programs.