Bill Text: CT HB06575 | 2013 | General Assembly | Introduced

Connecticut House Bill 6575 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: An Act Concerning Certain State Grants To Towns.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-06 - Public Hearing 03/11 [HB06575 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2013-HB06575-Introduced.html


General Assembly		*Raised Bill No. 6575*
*January Session, 2013*		LCO No. 4055
		04055_______FIN
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND BONDING
Introduced by:
(FIN)

AN ACT CONCERNING CERTAIN STATE GRANTS TO TOWNS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 12-20a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013):

(a) On or before January first, annually, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall determine the amount due to each municipality in the state, in accordance with this section, as a state grant in lieu of taxes with respect to real property owned by any private nonprofit institution of higher learning or any nonprofit general hospital facility or free standing chronic disease hospital or an urgent care facility that operates for at least twelve hours a day and that had been the location of a nonprofit general hospital for at least a portion of calendar year 1996 to receive payments in lieu of taxes for such property, exclusive of any such facility operated by the federal government, except a campus of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare Systems, or the state of Connecticut or any subdivision thereof, except The University of Connecticut Health Center, provided that portion of John Dempsey Hospital that is used as a permanent medical ward for prisoners under the custody of the Department of Correction shall remain subject to the provisions of section 12-19a. As used in this section "private nonprofit institution of higher learning" means any such institution, as defined in subsection (a) of section 10a-34, or any independent college or university, as defined in section 10a-37, that is engaged primarily in education beyond the high school level, and offers courses of instruction for which college or university-level credit may be given or may be received by transfer, the property of which is exempt from property tax under any of the subdivisions of section 12-81; "nonprofit general hospital facility" means any such facility which is used primarily for the purpose of general medical care and treatment, exclusive of any hospital facility used primarily for the care and treatment of special types of disease or physical or mental conditions; and "free standing chronic disease hospital" means a facility which provides for the care and treatment of chronic diseases, excluding any such facility having an ownership affiliation with and operated in the same location as a chronic and convalescent nursing home.

Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 22a-478 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

(c) The funding of an eligible water quality project shall be pursuant to a project funding agreement between the state, acting by and through the commissioner, and the municipality undertaking such project and shall be evidenced by a project fund obligation or grant account loan obligation, or both, or an interim funding obligation of such municipality issued in accordance with section 22a-479. A project funding agreement shall be in a form prescribed by the commissioner. Eligible water quality projects shall be funded as follows:

(1) A nonpoint source pollution abatement project shall receive a project grant of seventy-five per cent of the cost of the project determined to be eligible by the commissioner.

(2) A combined sewer project shall receive (A) a project grant of fifty per cent of the cost of the project, and (B) a loan for the remainder of the costs of the project, not exceeding one hundred per cent of the eligible water quality project costs.

(3) A construction contract eligible for financing awarded by a municipality on or after July 1, 2012, as a project undertaken for nutrient removal shall receive a project grant of [thirty] fifty per cent of the cost of the project associated with nutrient removal, a twenty per cent grant for the balance of the cost of the project not related to nutrient removal, and a loan for the remainder of the costs of the project, not exceeding one hundred per cent of the eligible water quality project costs. Nutrient removal projects under design or construction on July 1, 2012, and projects that have been constructed but have not received permanent, Clean Water Fund financing, on July 1, 2012, shall be eligible to receive a project grant of [thirty] fifty per cent of the cost of the project associated with nutrient removal, a twenty per cent grant for the balance of the cost of the project not related to nutrient removal, and a loan for the remainder of the costs of the project, not exceeding one hundred per cent of the eligible water quality project costs.

(4) If supplemental federal grant funds are available for Clean Water Fund projects specifically related to the clean-up of Long Island Sound that are funded on or after July 1, 2012, a distressed municipality, as defined in section 32-9p, may receive a combination of state and federal grants in an amount not to exceed fifty per cent of the cost of the project associated with nutrient removal, a twenty per cent grant for the balance of the cost of the project not related to nutrient removal, and a loan for the remainder of the costs of the project, not exceeding one hundred per cent of the allowable water quality project costs.

(5) A municipality with a water pollution control project, the construction of which began on or after July 1, 2003, which has (A) a population of five thousand or less, or (B) a population of greater than five thousand which has a discrete area containing a population of less than five thousand that is not contiguous with the existing sewerage system, shall be eligible to receive a grant in the amount of twenty-five per cent of the design and construction phase of eligible project costs, and a loan for the remainder of the costs of the project, not exceeding one hundred per cent of the eligible water quality project costs.

(6) Any other eligible water quality project shall receive (A) a project grant of twenty per cent of the eligible cost, and (B) a loan for the remainder of the costs of the project, not exceeding one hundred per cent of the eligible project cost.

(7) Project agreements to fund eligible project costs with grants from the Clean Water Fund that were executed during or after the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2003, shall not be reduced according to the provisions of the regulations adopted under section 22a-482.

(8) On or after July 1, 2002, an eligible water quality project that exclusively addresses sewer collection and conveyance system improvements may receive a loan for one hundred per cent of the eligible costs provided such project does not receive a project grant. Any such sewer collection and conveyance system improvement project shall be rated, ranked, and funded separately from other water pollution control projects and shall be considered only if it is highly consistent with the state's conservation and development plan, or is primarily needed as the most cost effective solution to an existing area-wide pollution problem and incorporates minimal capacity for growth.

(9) All loans made in accordance with the provisions of this section for an eligible water quality project shall bear an interest rate of two per cent per annum. The commissioner may allow any project fund obligation, grant account loan obligation or interim funding obligation for an eligible water quality project to be repaid by a borrowing municipality prior to maturity without penalty.


This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2013, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013	12-20a(a)
Sec. 2	July 1, 2013	22a-478(c)

Statement of Purpose:

To assist municipalities by providing higher grants in lieu of property taxes for The University of Connecticut Health Center and by providing a higher rate of reimbursement to municipalities for phosphorous removal projects.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]