General Assembly Raised Bill No. 490
February Session, 2018 LCO No. 2560
*02560_______PD_*
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 490
February Session, 2018
LCO No. 2560
*02560_______PD_*
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING SHARED MUNICIPAL SERVICES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 2-79a of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(a) There shall be a Connecticut Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. The purpose of the commission shall be to enhance coordination and cooperation between the state and local governments. The commission shall consist of the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader of the Senate, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, the Commissioners of Education, Energy and Environmental Protection, Economic and Community Development, or their designees, and [sixteen] seventeen additional members as follows: (1) Six municipal officials appointed by the Governor, four of whom shall be selected from a list of nominees submitted to him by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and two of whom shall be selected from a list submitted by the Council of Small Towns. Two of such six officials shall be from towns having populations of twenty thousand or less persons, two shall be from towns having populations of more than twenty thousand but less than sixty thousand persons and two shall be from towns having populations of sixty thousand or more persons; (2) two local public education officials appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be selected from a list of nominees submitted to him by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and one of whom shall be selected from a list submitted by the Connecticut Association of School Administrators; (3) one representative of a regional council of governments appointed by the Governor from a list of nominees submitted to him by the [Regional Planning Association of Connecticut] Connecticut Association of Councils of Governments; (4) five persons who do not hold elected or appointed office in state or local government, one of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, one of whom shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate and one of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; (5) one representative of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities appointed by said conference; [and] (6) one representative of the Council of Small Towns appointed by said council; and (7) one representative of the Connecticut Alliance of Regional Educational Service Centers appointed by said alliance. Each member of the commission appointed pursuant to subdivisions (1) to [(6)] (7), inclusive, of this subsection shall serve for a term of two years. All other members shall serve for terms which are coterminous with their terms of office. The Governor shall appoint a chairperson and a vice-chairperson from among the commission members. Members of the General Assembly may serve as gubernatorial appointees to the commission. Members of the commission shall not be compensated for their services but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
(b) The commission shall: (1) Serve as a forum for consultation among state and local government officials; (2) conduct research on intergovernmental issues; (3) encourage and coordinate studies of intergovernmental issues by universities, research and consulting organizations and others; (4) initiate policy development and make recommendations for consideration by all levels and branches of government regarding issues including, but not limited to, the efficiency of state and local services; and (5) annually develop a list of priorities and focus areas for services and initiatives for use in awarding grants from the regional performance incentive program established pursuant to section 4-124s, as amended by this act. The commission shall issue, from time to time, public reports of its findings and recommendations and shall issue, annually, a public report on its activities.
(c) On or before October 1, 2019, and [every four years] thereafter at the discretion of the commission, the commission shall submit to the General Assembly a report which recommends actions to enhance the efficiency of the delivery of services at municipal and state levels and lists each existing state mandate, as defined in subsection (a) of section 2-32b, and [which] (1) categorizes each mandate as constitutional, statutory or executive, (2) provides the date of original enactment or issuance along with a brief description of the history of the mandate, and (3) analyzes the costs incurred by local governments in implementing the mandate. In each report the commission may also make recommendations on state mandates for consideration by the commission. [On and after October 1, 1996, the] Such report shall be submitted to the joint standing [committee] committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and budgets of state agencies and local governments, to any other joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance and, upon request, to any member of the General Assembly. A summary of the report shall be submitted to the official legislative electronic mail address of each member of the General Assembly. [if the summary is two pages or less and a notification of the report shall be submitted to each member if the summary is more than two pages. Submission shall be by mailing the report, summary or notification to the legislative address of each member of the committees or the General Assembly, as applicable.] The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed to prevent the commission from making more frequent recommendations [on] concerning enhancements in the efficiency of the delivery of services or state mandates.
[(d) Commencing on or before the second Wednesday after the convening of the 1997 regular session of the General Assembly, and every year thereafter except a year in which a report is filed pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the commission shall submit to the General Assembly a supplement to the report required in said subsection (c) identifying any new mandates adopted and any mandates changed in the previous year.]
[(e)] (d) The Office of Policy and Management shall provide such staff as is necessary for the performance of the functions and duties of the Connecticut Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Such persons may be exempt from the classified service.
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 4-124s of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(c) (1) A regional council of governments, an economic development district, a regional educational service center or a local or regional board of education shall submit each proposal in the form and manner the secretary prescribes and shall, at a minimum, provide the following information for each proposal: (A) Service or initiative description; (B) the explanation of the need for such service or initiative; (C) the method of delivering such service or initiative on a regional basis; (D) the organization that would be responsible for regional service or initiative delivery; (E) a description of the population that would be served; (F) the manner in which regional service or initiative delivery will achieve economies of scale; (G) the amount by which participating municipalities will reduce their mill rates as a result of savings realized; (H) a cost benefit analysis for the provision of the service or initiative by each participating municipality and by the entity or board of education submitting the proposal; (I) a plan of implementation for delivery of the service or initiative on a regional basis; (J) a resolution endorsing such proposal approved by the legislative body of each participating municipality; and (K) an explanation of the potential legal obstacles, if any, to the regional provision of the service or initiative.
(2) The secretary shall review each proposal and shall award grants for proposals the secretary determines best meet the requirements of this section. In awarding such grants, the secretary shall (A) give priority to a proposal submitted by [(A)] (i) any entity specified in subsection (a) of this section that includes participation of all of the member municipalities of such entity, and which may increase the purchasing power of participating municipalities or provide a cost savings initiative resulting in a decrease in expenses of such municipalities, allowing such municipalities to lower property taxes, [(B)] (ii) any economic development district, and [(C)] (iii) any local or regional board of education, and (B) take into consideration the list of priorities and focus areas developed by the Connecticut Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations pursuant to subsection (b) of section 2-79a, as amended by this act.
Sec. 3. Subsection (e) of section 8-3 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(e) The [zoning commission] chief executive officer of the municipality shall provide for the manner in which the zoning regulations shall be enforced.
Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 10-158a of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(a) Any two or more boards of education may, in writing, agree to establish cooperative arrangements to provide school accommodations services, programs or activities, special education services, health care services, alternative education, as defined in section 10-74j, or administrative and central office duties to enable such boards to carry out the duties specified in the general statutes. Such arrangements may include the establishment of a committee to supervise such programs, the membership of the committee to be determined by the agreement of the cooperating boards. Such committee shall be a local education agency and have the power, in accordance with the terms of the agreement, to (1) apply for, receive directly and expend on behalf of the school districts which have designated the committee an agent for such purpose any state or federal grants which may be allocated to school districts for specified programs, the supervision of which has been delegated to such committee, provided such grants are payable before implementation of any such program or are to reimburse the committee pursuant to subsection (d) of this section for transportation provided to a school operated by a cooperative arrangement; (2) receive and disburse funds appropriated to the use of such committee by the cooperating school districts, the state or the United States, or given to the committee by individuals or private corporations; (3) hold title to real or personal property in trust, or as otherwise agreed to by the parties, for the appointing boards; (4) employ personnel; (5) enter into contracts; and (6) otherwise provide the specified programs, services and activities. Teachers employed by any such committee shall be subject to the provisions of the general statutes applicable to teachers employed by the board of education of any town or regional school district. For purposes of this section, the term "teacher" shall include each professional employee of a committee below the rank of superintendent who holds a regular certificate issued by the State Board of Education and who is in a position requiring such certification.
Sec. 5. Section 29-297 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(a) The chief executive officer of any town, city or borough, in consultation with the board of fire commissioners or, in the absence of such board, any corresponding authority of each town, city or borough, or, if no such board or corresponding authority exists, the legislative body of each city, the board of selectmen of each town or the warden and burgesses of each borough, or, in the case of an incorporated fire district, the executive authority of such district shall appoint a local fire marshal and such deputy fire marshals, fire inspectors and other fire code inspectors or fire investigators as may be necessary. In making such appointment, preference shall be given to a member of the regular or volunteer fire department of such municipality. Each local fire marshal shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his or her duties by the clerk of the town, city, borough or fire district and shall continue to serve in that office until removed for cause. Such clerk shall record his or her acceptance of the position of local fire marshal and shall report the same in writing to the State Fire Marshal within ten days thereafter, giving the name and address of the local fire marshal and stating the limits of the territory in which the local fire marshal is to serve.
(b) The chief executive officer of any town, city or borough, in consultation with the board of fire commissioners or, in the absence of such board, any corresponding authority of each town, city or borough or, if no such board or corresponding authority exists, the legislative body of each city, the board of selectmen of each town or the warden and burgesses of each borough or, in the case of an incorporated fire district, the executive authority of such district may, upon the death, disability, dismissal, retirement or revocation of certification of the local fire marshal, and in the absence of an existing deputy fire marshal, appoint a deputy fire marshal as the acting fire marshal for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days.
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2018) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, any local or regional school district may develop a school transportation services plan based on the number of students utilizing school transportation services in order to maximize efficiencies and cost savings within such school district. The board of education of such school district may, by vote of its legislative body, approve and implement such plan.
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2018) On or before July 1, 2019, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, governing the processes of municipal consolidation and merger by two or more contiguous municipalities. Such regulations shall include, but not be limited to, a comprehensive timetable of events and goals that shall be achieved in the consolidation or merger process.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2018 2-79a
Sec. 2 July 1, 2018 4-124s(c)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2018 8-3(e)
Sec. 4 July 1, 2018 10-158a(a)
Sec. 5 July 1, 2018 29-297
Sec. 6 July 1, 2018 New section
Sec. 7 July 1, 2018 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2018
2-79a
Sec. 2
July 1, 2018
4-124s(c)
Sec. 3
July 1, 2018
8-3(e)
Sec. 4
July 1, 2018
10-158a(a)
Sec. 5
July 1, 2018
29-297
Sec. 6
July 1, 2018
New section
Sec. 7
July 1, 2018
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To make certain changes to the composition and duties of the Connecticut Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations; specify that the chief executive officer of a municipality shall provide for the manner in which zoning regulations are enforced; specify that a committee established pursuant to a cooperative arrangement agreed to by two or more boards of education shall be a local education agency; specify that the chief executive officer of a municipality shall serve as the appointing authority for the local fire marshal; permit local and regional school districts to develop school transportation services plans; and require the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to develop guidelines governing the processes of municipal consolidation and merger.
[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.]