§ 96. Fees and refunds. Except as otherwise provided by section ninety-six-a of this chapter, the department of state shall collect the following fees: 1. For searching the records of the department for the availability of a corporate, limited partnership or limited liability company name, five dollars for each name submitted. 2. For searching the records of the department other than as set forth in subdivision one hereof, five dollars for each name in excess of five submitted by or on behalf of an applicant for a search. 3. For a copy of any paper or record not required to be certified or otherwise authenticated, fifty cents per page; except that the fee for a copy of any paper or record not required to be certified or otherwise authenticated which is furnished by the bureau of corporations of the department of state, shall be five dollars, regardless of the number of pages. 4. For a certified or exemplified copy of any law, record or paper, except a photostatic copy furnished by the department of state, one dollar per page; for a certified or exemplified copy of any law, record or paper reproduced by photostat by the department of state, fifty cents per page and in either case five dollars additional for the certificate under the official seal of the department of state, affixed thereto; except that the fee for a certified or exemplified copy of any record or paper which is furnished by the bureau of corporations of the department of state, shall be ten dollars, regardless of the number of pages or regardless of whether such document is reproduced by photostat. 5. For a certificate or authentication under the great seal of the state, ten dollars. 6. For a certificate as to the official character of a commissioner of deeds residing in another state or foreign country, one dollar. 7. For every other certificate under the official seal of the department of state, twenty-five dollars. 8. For registering and recording a notice of a mining claim as required by section eighty-two of the public lands law, fifty dollars. 9. (a) For filing under the general associations law or any corporation law, except the business corporation law and not-for-profit corporation law: a certificate of incorporation, one hundred twenty-five dollars; a certificate or report of voluntary dissolution, including the issuance of duplicate certificates by the secretary of state, and a certified copy of an order or judgment of dissolution, sixty dollars; the statement and designation of a foreign corporation, including the issuance of a certificate of authority, two hundred twenty-five dollars; a certificate of designation or change of address or any certificate of change of mailing address or office of a foreign corporation, other than a moneyed corporation, thirty dollars; any other certificate or instrument, sixty dollars.

(b) For filing under the business corporation law and the not-for-profit corporation law as set forth in those chapters. 10. For service of process on the secretary of state, acting as agent for a third party pursuant to law, except as otherwise specifically provided by law, forty dollars. No fee shall be collected for process served on behalf of a county, city, town or village or other political subdivision of the state. The fees paid the secretary of state shall be a taxable disbursement. 11. (a) For the special handling of requests made to the division of corporations of the department of state for any service for which a fee is collected as prescribed by law, twenty-five dollars. For the purposes of this section the term "special handling" shall mean the completion of the request within twenty-four hours of receipt of the request, except in those cases where the twenty-four hour period shall end on a Saturday, Sunday, holiday or day on which the division of corporations of the department of state is not open for business, in which case the twenty-four hour period shall be extended to the appropriate hour of the next succeeding business day on which such division is open for business.

(b) For the same day expedited handling of requests made to the division of corporations of the department of state for any service for which a fee is collected as prescribed by law, seventy-five dollars. For the purposes of this section the term "same day expedited handling" shall mean the completion of the request on the same day as the day of request.

(c) For the two hour priority handling of requests made to the division of corporations of the department of state for any service for which a fee is collected as prescribed by law, one hundred fifty dollars. For the purposes of this section the term "two hour priority handling" shall mean the completion of the request within two hours on the same day as the day of the request.

(d) For handling of non-expedited requests made to the division of corporations of the department of state for any service for which a fee is collected as prescribed by law, the completion of such request shall be accomplished within seven business days. 12. For the filing, recording or registering of any certificate, notice or other paper required to be filed, recorded or registered, the fee for which is not otherwise prescribed by law, twenty-five dollars. 13. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, the department of state may refund, within three years from the date of payment and upon audit of the state comptroller, any fee or portion of a fee paid pursuant to any of the statutes which the department is charged by law to administer, in any case in which: a. the license, permit, or certificate applied for is not issued, or does not take effect, or b. the filing or certification requested is not made, or c. the service requested is not rendered, or d. the payment made is in excess of the amount prescribed by such statute, or e. the licensee has entered the active armed services of the United States in which event the refund shall be such proportion of the license fee paid as the number of full months remaining unexpired of the license period bears to the total number of months in such period. 14. No fee shall be collected for copies of records furnished to state officers as defined in the public officers law, section two, for use in their official capacity. 15. The department of state shall on or before the tenth day of each month, out of the moneys collected during the preceding month pursuant to subdivision nine of this section, pay over to each county clerk in whose office a certified copy of a corporation certificate or other instrument relating to a domestic or foreign corporation shall have been filed by the department during the preceding month pursuant to law the sum of six dollars for each such copy of a corporation certificate or other instrument for which the department shall have collected a filing fee of thirty dollars or more, and the sum of one dollar for each such copy of a corporation certificate or other instrument for which the department shall have collected a sum of less than thirty dollars, and such payment shall be received by the county clerk in full satisfaction of all fees for filing such copy, any other general or special law to the contrary notwithstanding. All such moneys remaining after such payments to the county clerks shall be paid pursuant to section one hundred twenty-one of the state finance law. 16. Consistent with the provisions of the corporate laws of the state of New York, the department of state shall produce or reproduce the content of any informational systems maintained pursuant to such laws. The secretary of state shall establish the type and amount of the reasonable fees to be collected by the department of state for such informational systems. Such fees shall be subject to approval of the director of the budget and shall be promulgated in the official rules and regulations of the department of state in accordance with the provisions of the state administrative procedure act.