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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6104
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2642
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING RE GIONAL PLANNING AND COUNCILS OF
GOVERNMENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 4-66k of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 2
(a) There is established an account to be known as the "regional 3
planning incentive account" which shall be a separate, nonlapsing 4
account within the General Fund. The account shall contain any moneys 5
required by law to be deposited in the account. Except as provided in 6
subsection [(d)] (e) of this section, moneys, in the account shall be 7
expended by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management in 8
accordance with subsection (b) of this section for the purposes of first 9
providing funding to regional planning organizations in accordance 10
with the provisions of subsections (b) [and (c)] to (d), inclusive, of this 11
section and then to providing grants under the regional performance 12
incentive program established pursuant to section 4-124s, as amended 13
by this act. 14
(b) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, funds from the regional 15 Raised Bill No. 6104
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planning incentive account shall be distributed to each regional 16
planning organization, as defined in section 4-124i, revision of 1958, 17
revised to January 1, 2013, in the amount of one hundred twenty-five 18
thousand dollars. Any regional council of governments that is 19
comprised of any two or more regional planning organizations that 20
voluntarily consolidate on or before December 31, 2013, shall receive an 21
additional payment in an amount equal to the amount the regional 22
planning organizations would have received if such regional planning 23
organizations had not voluntarily consolidated. 24
(c) [Beginning in] For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, and 25
[annually thereafter] each fiscal year thereafter until July 1, 2021, funds 26
from the regional planning incentive account shall be distributed to each 27
regional council of governments formed pursuant to section 4-124j, in 28
the amount of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars plus fifty cents 29
per capita, using population information from the most recent federal 30
decennial census. Any regional council of governments that is 31
comprised of any two or more regional planning organizations, as 32
defined in section 4-124i, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2013, 33
that voluntarily consolidated on or before December 31, 2013, shall 34
receive a payment in the amount of one hundred twenty-five thousand 35
dollars for each such regional planning organization that voluntarily 36
consolidated on or before said date. 37
(d) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, and each fiscal year 38
thereafter, funds from the regional planning incentive account in a total 39
amount equal to one-third of the moneys required to be deposited in 40
such account in the prior fiscal year or four million one hundred 41
thousand dollars, whichever is greater, shall be distributed to regional 42
councils of governments formed pursuant to section 4-124j. The 43
secretary shall distribute to each regional council of governments one 44
hundred eighty-five thousand five hundred dollars, plus sixty-eight 45
cents per capita, using population information from the most recent 46
federal decennial census, except that if such total amount exceeds four 47
million one hundred dollars, the secretary shall additionally distribute 48
such excess amount proportionally among each regional council of 49 Raised Bill No. 6104
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governments on a per capita basis using such population information. 50
The secretary may reduce the amount of any such distribution, provided 51
for any such reduction proposed by the secretary that is greater than five 52
per cent of the amount of such distribution, prior to making such 53
reduction the secretary shall submit a report explaining and detailing 54
such reduction to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 55
having cognizance of matters relating to planning and development in 56
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a. 57
[(d)] (e) There is established a regionalization subaccount within the 58
regional planning incentive account. If the Connecticut Lottery 59
Corporation offers online its existing lottery draw games through the 60
corporation's Internet web site, online service or mobile application, the 61
revenue from such online offering that exceeds an amount equivalent to 62
the costs of the debt-free community college program under section 10a-63
174 shall be deposited in the subaccount, or, if such online offering is not 64
established, the amount provided under subsection (b) of section 364 of 65
public act 19-117 for regionalization initiatives shall be deposited in the 66
subaccount. Moneys in the subaccount shall be expended only for the 67
purposes recommended by the task force established under section 4-68
66s. 69
Sec. 2. Section 4-66r of the general statutes is repealed and the 70
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 71
For the fiscal year ending June 30, [2018] 2022, and each fiscal year 72
thereafter, each regional council of governments shall [, within available 73
appropriations,] receive a grant-in-aid to be known as a regional 74
services grant, the amount of which shall be based on [a formula to be 75
determined by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. 76
No such council shall receive a grant for the fiscal year ending June 30, 77
2018, unless the secretary approves a spending plan for such grant 78
moneys submitted by such council to the secretary on or before 79
November 1, 2017. No such council shall receive a grant for the fiscal 80
year ending June 30, 2019, or any fiscal year thereafter, unless the 81
secretary approves a spending plan for such grant moneys submitted by 82 Raised Bill No. 6104
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such council to the secretary on or before July 1, 2018, and annually 83
thereafter] the formula established pursuant to section 4-66k, as 84
amended by this act. Each regional council of governments shall use 85
such grant funds for planning purposes and to achieve efficiencies in 86
the delivery of municipal services, without diminishing the quality of 87
such services. On or before October 1, [2018] 2022, and annually 88
thereafter, each regional council of governments shall submit a report, 89
in accordance with section 11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the 90
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to planning 91
and development and finance, revenue and bonding, and to the 92
secretary. Such report shall (1) summarize the expenditure of such grant 93
funds, (2) describe any regional program, project or initiative currently 94
provided or planned by the council, (3) review the performance of any 95
existing regional program, project or initiative relative to its initial goals 96
and objectives, (4) analyze the existing services provided by member 97
municipalities or by the state that, in the opinion of the council, could 98
be more effectively or efficiently provided on a regional basis, and (5) 99
provide recommendations for legislative action concerning potential 100
impediments to the regionalization of services. 101
Sec. 3. Subsections (b) to (e), inclusive, of section 4-124s of the general 102
statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 103
(Effective July 1, 2021): 104
(b) There is established a regional performance incentive program 105
that shall be administered by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 106
Management. [On or before December 31, 2011, and annually thereafter, 107
any regional council of governments, any two or more municipalities 108
acting through a regional council of governments, any economic 109
development district, any regional educational service center or any 110
combination thereof may submit a proposal to the secretary for: (1) The 111
joint provision of any service that one or more participating 112
municipalities of such council, educational service center or agency 113
currently provide but which is not provided on a regional basis, (2) a 114
planning study regarding the joint provision of any service on a regional 115
basis, or (3) shared information technology services. A copy of said 116 Raised Bill No. 6104
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proposal shall be sent to the legislators representing said participating 117
municipalities.] In furtherance of the purposes of such program, the 118
secretary shall make available an amount equal to not less than ninety 119
per cent of the moneys remaining annually in the regional planning 120
incentive account, established pursuant to subsection (a) of section 4-121
66k, after the distribution of funds to each regional council of 122
government under the formula established pursuant to section 4-66k, as 123
amended by this act. The secretary may provide funding for: (1) The 124
joint provision of any government service, or (2) a planning study 125
regarding the joint provision of any service on a regional basis. Any 126
local or regional board of education or regional educational service 127
center serving a population greater than one hundred thousand may 128
submit a proposal to the secretary for a regional special education 129
initiative. 130
(c) (1) A regional council of governments, an economic development 131
district, a regional educational service center or a local or regional board 132
of education shall submit each proposal in the form and manner the 133
secretary prescribes and shall [, at a minimum, provide the following 134
information for each proposal: (A) Service or initiative description; (B) 135
the explanation of the need for such service or initiative; (C) the method 136
of delivering such service or initiative on a regional basis; (D) the 137
organization that would be responsible for regional service or initiative 138
delivery; (E) a description of the population that would be served; (F) 139
the manner in which regional service or initiative delivery will achieve 140
economies of scale; (G) the amount by which participating 141
municipalities will reduce their mill rates as a result of savings realized; 142
(H) a cost benefit analysis for the provision of the service or initiative by 143
each participating municipality and by the entity or board of education 144
submitting the proposal; (I) a plan of implementation for delivery of the 145
service or initiative on a regional basis; (J) a resolution endorsing such 146
proposal approved by the legislative body of each participating 147
municipality; and (K) an explanation of the potential legal obstacles, if 148
any, to the regional provision of the service or initiative] provide a 149
resolution endorsing such proposal approved by the regional council of 150 Raised Bill No. 6104
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governments of each planning region in which the jointly provided 151
government service or planning study thereon is to be conducted. On or 152
before December 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, the Connecticut 153
Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, established 154
pursuant to section 2-79a, may recommend to the secretary any specific 155
proposal for achieving additional cost savings through regional 156
efficiencies. The secretary may provide funding, within available 157
resources, to a regional council of governments, an economic 158
development district, a regional educational service center or any 159
combination thereof for the purpose of administering any such 160
proposal. Said commission shall submit each proposal in the form and 161
manner the secretary prescribes. 162
(2) The secretary shall review each proposal and shall award grants 163
for proposals the secretary determines best meet the requirements of 164
this section. [In awarding such grants, the secretary shall give priority 165
to a proposal submitted by (A) any entity specified in subsection (a) of 166
this section that includes participation of all of the member 167
municipalities of such entity, and which may increase the purchasing 168
power of participating municipalities or provide a cost savings initiative 169
resulting in a decrease in expenses of such municipalities, allowing such 170
municipalities to lower property taxes, (B) any economic development 171
district, and (C) any local or regional board of education.] 172
(d) On or before December 31, 2013, and annually thereafter until 173
December 31, 2018, in addition to any proposal submitted pursuant to 174
this section, any municipality or regional council of governments may 175
apply to the secretary for a grant to fund: (1) Operating costs associated 176
with connecting to the state-wide high speed, flexible network 177
developed pursuant to section 4d-80, including the costs to connect at 178
the same rate as other government entities served by such network; and 179
(2) capital cost associated with connecting to such network, including 180
expenses associated with building out the internal fiber network 181
connections required to connect to such network, provided the secretary 182
shall make any such grant available in accordance with the two-year 183
schedule by which the Bureau of Enterprise Systems and Technology 184 Raised Bill No. 6104
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recommends connecting each municipality and regional council of 185
governments to such network. Any municipality or regional council of 186
governments shall submit each application in the form and manner the 187
secretary prescribes. 188
(e) The secretary shall submit to the Governor and the joint standing 189
[committee] committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 190
matters relating to planning and development and finance, revenue and 191
bonding a report on the grants provided pursuant to this section. Each 192
such report shall include information on the amount of each grant, and 193
the potential of each grant for leveraging other public and private 194
investments. The secretary shall submit a report for the fiscal year 195
commencing July 1, 2011, not later than February 1, 2012, and shall 196
submit a report for each subsequent fiscal year not later than the first 197
day of March in such fiscal year. [Such reports shall include the property 198
tax reductions achieved by means of the program established pursuant 199
to this section.] 200
Sec. 4. Section 4-124n of the general statutes is repealed and the 201
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 202
A regional council of governments shall adopt bylaws for the conduct 203
of its business and shall annually elect from among the representatives 204
to the council a chairman, a vice-chairman, a secretary, a treasurer [, who 205
shall be bonded,] and such other officers as may be designated or 206
permitted in the bylaws. The bylaws may provide for alternate 207
representatives of the council to attend and vote at any meeting in place 208
of absent representatives and may provide for the organization of a 209
regional planning commission. [No representative shall be eligible to 210
serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office.] The bylaws 211
[shall] may provide for an executive committee of the council and [an 212
executive committee of the regional planning commission and may 213
provide] for additional committees including nonvoting advisory 214
committees. Meetings of the council shall be called [by the chairman or 215
as the bylaws shall otherwise provide] pursuant to the bylaws and 216
minutes of all meetings of the council, its committees and other official 217 Raised Bill No. 6104
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actions shall be filed in the office of the council and shall be of public 218
record. 219
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 4-66k
Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 4-66r
Sec. 3 July 1, 2021 4-124s(b) to (e)
Sec. 4 July 1, 2021 4-124n
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) make certain modifications to the administration of the regional
planning incentive account and related programs, and (2) revise the
bylaws requirements for officers and conduct of regional councils of
governments.
[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.]