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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 6476
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5172
Referred to Committee on HOUSING
Introduced by:
(HSG)
AN ACT ALLOWING A DEDUCTION FOR THE CO ST OF SERVICE
ANIMALS FROM RENTAL PAYMENTS FOR SUBSIDI ZED HOUSING.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) In the cases of any tenant 1
who is blind, physically disabled or has a mental or intellectual 2
disability, as those terms are defined in section 46a-51 of the general 3
statutes, and living with a service animal in assisted housing, as 4
defined in section 8-30g of the general statutes, the cost of food and 5
veterinary care for the service animal shall be considered a medical 6
expense deductible from gross family income when calculating the 7
tenant's rent. As used in this section, "service animal" means a dog that 8
is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person who 9
has a disability. 10
Sec. 2. Section 8-72 of the general statutes is repealed and the 11
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 12
(a) Each developer or housing authority shall manage and operate 13
its housing projects in an efficient manner so as to enable it to fix the 14
rentals for dwelling accommodations at the lowest possible rates 15
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consistent with providing decent, safe and sanitary dwelling 16
accommodations, and no housing authority or nonprofit corporation 17
shall construct or operate any such project for profit. To this end, an 18
authority or a nonprofit corporation shall fix the rentals for dwelling in 19
its projects at no higher rates than it finds to be necessary in order to 20
produce revenues which, together with all other available money, 21
revenues, income and receipts of the authority or nonprofit 22
corporation from whatever sources derived, will be sufficient [(a)] (1) 23
to pay, as the same become due, the principal and interest on the 24
bonds of the authority or nonprofit corporation; [(b)] and (2) to meet 25
the cost of, and to provide for, maintaining and operating the projects, 26
including the cost of any insurance, and the administrative expenses of 27
the authority or nonprofit corporation; provided nothing in this section 28
shall be construed as prohibiting any authority or nonprofit 29
corporation from providing for variable rentals based on family 30
income. In the operation or management of housing projects an 31
authority or nonprofit corporation shall, at all times, rent or lease the 32
dwelling accommodations therein at rentals within the financial reach 33
of families of low income. 34
(b) The Commissioner of Housing may establish maximum income 35
limits for admission and continued occupancy of tenants, provided 36
such maximum income limits and all revisions thereof for housing 37
projects operated pursuant to any contract with any agency of the 38
federal government shall be subject to the prior approval of such 39
federal agency. The Commissioner of Housing shall define the income 40
of a family to provide the basis for determining eligibility for the 41
admission, rentals and for the continued occupancy of families under 42
the maximum income limits fixed and approved. The definition of 43
family income, by the Commissioner of Housing, may provide for the 44
exclusion of all or part of the income of family members which, in the 45
judgment of said commissioner, is not generally available to meet the 46
cost of basic living needs of the family, and, in the case where a family 47
member has a disability, shall provide for the exclusion of any 48
maintenance costs for a service animal, as provided in section 1 of this 49
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act. 50
(c) No housing authority or developer shall refuse to rent any 51
dwelling accommodation to an otherwise qualified applicant on the 52
ground that one or more of the proposed occupants are children born 53
out of wedlock. 54
(d) Each housing authority and developer shall provide a receipt to 55
each applicant for admission to its housing projects stating the time 56
and date of application and shall maintain a list of such applications, 57
which shall be a public record as defined in section 1-200. The 58
Commissioner of Housing shall, by regulation adopted in accordance 59
with the provisions of chapter 54, provide for the manner in which 60
such list shall be created, maintained and revised. 61
(e) No provision of this part shall be construed as limiting the right 62
of the authority to vest in an obligee the right, in the event of a default 63
by such authority, to take possession of a housing project or cause the 64
appointment of a receiver thereof or acquire title thereto through 65
foreclosure proceedings, free from all the restrictions imposed by this 66
chapter with respect to rental rates and tenant selection. The 67
Commissioner of Housing shall approve an operation or management 68
plan of each housing project, which shall provide an income adequate 69
for debt service, if any, administration, including a state service charge, 70
other operating costs and establishment of reasonable reserves for 71
repairs, maintenance and replacements, vacancy and collection losses. 72
Said commissioner shall have the right of inspection of any housing 73
during the period between the date on which construction thereof 74
begins and the date the state loan is fully paid or, in the case of a grant, 75
during the period for which any housing project built pursuant to such 76
grant is used for housing for families of low and moderate income. An 77
authority or developer shall semiannually submit to said 78
commissioner a sworn statement setting forth such information with 79
respect to the tenants and rentals for each housing project hereunder 80
and the costs of operating each housing project under its jurisdiction as 81
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said commissioner requires. 82
(f) Any person who makes a false statement concerning the income 83
of the family for which application for admission to or continued 84
occupancy of housing projects is made may be fined not more than 85
five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six months or both. 86
With regard to a family who, since the last annual recertification, 87
received any public assistance or state-administered general assistance 88
and received earnings from employment, the authority or developer 89
shall not require any interim recertification due to an earnings 90
increase. At the annual recertification, the authority or developer shall 91
base rent levels on such family's average income throughout the 92
preceding twelve months. During the subsequent twelve-month 93
period, the authority or developer shall not require any interim 94
recertifications due to increased earnings from employment. However, 95
if a family's income has decreased, nothing in this section shall 96
preclude an interim recertification or recertification based on the 97
reduced income level. 98
Sec. 3. Section 8-45 of the general statutes is repealed and the 99
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 100
(a) Each housing authority shall manage and operate its housing 101
projects in an efficient manner so as to enable it to fix the rentals for 102
dwelling accommodations at the lowest possible rates consistent with 103
providing decent, safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations, and no 104
housing authority shall construct or operate any such project for profit 105
or as a source of revenue to the municipality. To this end, an authority 106
shall fix the rentals for dwelling in its projects at no higher rates than it 107
finds to be necessary in order to produce revenues which, together 108
with all other available money, revenues, income and receipts of the 109
authority from whatever sources derived, will be sufficient [(a)] (1) to 110
pay, as the same become due, the principal and interest on the bonds 111
of the authority; [(b)] (2) to meet the cost of, and to provide for, 112
maintaining and operating the projects, including the cost of any 113
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insurance, and the administrative expenses of the authority; and [(c)] 114
(3) to create, during not less than six years immediately succeeding its 115
issuance of any bonds, a reserve sufficient to meet the largest principal 116
and interest payments which will be due on such bonds in any one 117
year thereafter and to maintain such reserve. 118
(b) In the operation or management of housing projects, an 119
authority shall, at all times, rent or lease the dwelling accommodations 120
therein at rentals within the financial reach of families of low income. 121
The authority, subject to approval by the Commissioner of Housing, 122
shall fix maximum income limits for the admission and for the 123
continued occupancy of families in such housing, provided such 124
maximum income limits and all revisions thereof for housing projects 125
operated pursuant to any contract with any agency of the federal 126
government shall be subject to the prior approval of such federal 127
agency. The Commissioner of Housing shall define the income of a 128
family to provide the basis for determining eligibility for the admission 129
and for the continued occupancy of families under the maximum 130
income limits fixed and approved. The definition of family income, by 131
the Commissioner of Housing, may provide for the exclusion of all or 132
part of the income of family members which, in the judgment of said 133
commissioner, is not generally available to meet the cost of basic living 134
needs of the family, and, in the case where a family member has a 135
disability, shall provide for the exclusion of any maintenance costs for 136
a service animal, as provided in section 1 of this act. 137
(c) No housing authority shall refuse to rent any dwelling 138
accommodation to an otherwise qualified applicant on the ground that 139
one or more of the proposed occupants are children born out of 140
wedlock. Each housing authority shall provide a receipt to each 141
applicant for admission to its housing projects stating the time and 142
date of application and shall maintain a list of such applications which 143
shall be a public record as defined in section 1-200. The Commissioner 144
of Housing shall, by regulation adopted under the provisions of 145
chapter 54, provide for the manner in which such list shall be created, 146
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maintained and revised. 147
(d) No provision of this chapter shall be construed as limiting the 148
right of the authority to vest in an obligee the right, in the event of a 149
default by such authority, to take possession of a housing project or 150
cause the appointment of a receiver thereof or acquire title thereto 151
through foreclosure proceedings, free from all the restrictions imposed 152
by this chapter with respect to rental rates and tenant selection. 153
Sec. 4. Section 8-48 of the general statutes is repealed and the 154
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 155
In the cases of any tenants who are the recipients of one hundred 156
per cent social services aid from the Department of Social Services of 157
the state or any municipality and who have no income from any other 158
source, rentals shall be fixed by each housing authority for the ensuing 159
rental year established by the authority based on one-half of the costs 160
and expenses set forth in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 8-161
45, as amended by this act, plus the full amount of costs and expenses 162
set forth in [subsections (b) and (c)] subdivisions (2) and (3) of said 163
[section] subsection, as set forth in the operating statements of the 164
authority for the preceding fiscal year, which total amount shall be 165
divided by the total number of rooms contained in all low-rent 166
housing projects operated by such housing authority to establish the 167
rental cost per room per annum for such tenants, from which figure 168
shall be computed the rent per month per room. [Said] Such rentals 169
shall govern for [said] such rental year. 170
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 8-72
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 8-45
Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 8-48
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Statement of Purpose:
To allow a person with a disability in subsidized housing to deduct the
cost of maintenance of service animals as a medical deduction from
their rental costs.
[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.]
Co-Sponsors: REP. SANTIAGO H., 84th Dist.; REP. HAMPTON, 16th Dist.
H.B. 6476