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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7361
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5927
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING MU NICIPALITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (c) and (d) of section 7-239 of the general 1
statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective October 1, 2019): 3
(c) Any municipality, by resolution of its legislative body, may 4
assign, for consideration, any and all liens filed by the superintendent 5
of the waterworks system or tax collector to secure unpaid water 6
charges as provided under the provisions of this chapter. The 7
consideration received by the municipality shall be negotiated between 8
the municipality and the assignee. The assignee or assignees of such 9
liens shall have and possess the same powers and rights at law or in 10
equity as such municipality and municipality's tax collector would 11
have had if the lien had not been assigned with regard to the 12
precedence and priority of such lien, the accrual of interest and the fees 13
and expenses of collection. The assignee shall have the same rights to 14
enforce such liens as any private party holding a lien on real property, 15
including, but not limited to, foreclosure and a suit on the debt. Costs 16 Raised Bill No. 7361
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and reasonable [attorneys'] attorney's fees incurred by the assignee as a 17
result of any foreclosure action or other legal proceeding brought 18
pursuant to this section and directly related to the proceeding shall be 19
taxed in any such proceeding against each person having title to any 20
property subject to the proceedings. Such costs and fees may be 21
collected by the assignee at any time after demand for payment has 22
been made by the assignee. 23
(d) The amount of any such rate or charge which remains due and 24
unpaid for thirty days may, with reasonable [attorneys'] attorney's 25
fees, be recovered by the legislative body in a civil action in the name 26
of the municipality against such owners. The municipality shall be 27
subject to the same rates or charges under the same conditions as other 28
users of such waterworks system. 29
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 7-254 of the general statutes is 30
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 31
October 1, 2019): 32
(c) Any municipality, by resolution of its legislative body, may 33
assign, for consideration, any and all liens filed by the tax collector to 34
secure unpaid sewer assessments as provided under the provisions of 35
this chapter. The consideration received by the municipality shall be 36
negotiated between the municipality and the assignee. The assignee or 37
assignees of such liens shall have and possess the same powers and 38
rights at law or in equity as such municipality and municipality's tax 39
collector would have had if the lien had not been assigned with regard 40
to the precedence and priority of such lien, the accrual of interest and 41
the fees and expenses of collection. The assignee shall have the same 42
rights to enforce such liens as any private party holding a lien on real 43
property, including, but not limited to, foreclosure and a suit on the 44
debt. Costs and reasonable [attorneys'] attorney's fees incurred by the 45
assignee as a result of any foreclosure action or other legal proceeding 46
brought pursuant to this section and directly related to the proceeding 47
shall be taxed in any such proceeding against each person having title 48
to any property subject to the proceedings. Such costs and fees may be 49 Raised Bill No. 7361
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collected by the assignee at any time after demand for payment has 50
been made by the assignee. 51
Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 7-258 of the general statutes is 52
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 53
October 1, 2019): 54
(b) Any municipality, by resolution of its legislative body, may 55
assign, for consideration, any and all liens filed by the tax collector or 56
collector of sewerage system connection and use charges to secure 57
unpaid sewerage connection and use charges as provided under the 58
provisions of this chapter. The consideration received by the 59
municipality shall be negotiated between the municipality and the 60
assignee. The assignee or assignees of such liens shall have and possess 61
the same powers and rights at law or in equity as such municipality 62
and municipality's tax collector would have had if the lien had not 63
been assigned with regard to the precedence and priority of such lien, 64
the accrual of interest and the fees and expenses of collection. The 65
assignee shall have the same rights to enforce such liens as any private 66
party holding a lien on real property, including, but not limited to, 67
foreclosure and a suit on the debt. Costs and reasonable [attorneys'] 68
attorney's fees incurred by the assignee as a result of any foreclosure 69
action or other legal proceeding brought pursuant to this section and 70
directly related to the proceeding shall be taxed in any such 71
proceeding against each person having title to any property subject to 72
the proceedings. Such costs and fees may be collected by the assignee 73
at any time after demand for payment has been made by the assignee. 74
Sec. 4. Subsection (e) of section 7-403a of the general statutes is 75
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 76
October 1, 2019): 77
(e) Upon the recommendation of the chief executive officer and the 78
budget-making authority and approval by the legislative body, (1) any 79
part or the whole of such fund may be used and appropriated to pay 80
only for property or casualty losses and employee retirement benefits, 81 Raised Bill No. 7361
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and expenses related thereto, including court costs and [attorneys'] 82
attorney's fees, incurred by the municipality, or (2) any part or the 83
whole of such fund may be transferred to a trust established to hold 84
and invest the assets of a pension, retirement or other postemployment 85
health and life benefit system of the municipality. Any unexpended 86
portion of such appropriation remaining after such payment, together 87
with all interest accruing on the balance in the fund, shall revert to and 88
be credited to such reserve fund. For the purposes of this section, 89
"property or casualty losses and employee retirement benefits" shall 90
include, but not be limited to, (A) motor vehicle liability, physical 91
damage and collision, (B) loss or damage to, or legal liability for, real 92
or personal property, (C) legal liability for personal injuries or deaths, 93
including but not limited to, workers' compensation and heart and 94
hypertension, and (D) retiree health and life benefits. 95
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 7-239(c) and (d)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 7-254(c)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 7-258(b)
Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 7-403a(e)
Statement of Purpose:
To make technical corrections.
[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.]