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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5204
AN ACT CONCERNING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND FAIR SHARE
PLANS FOR MUNICIPALITIES TO INCREASE AFFORDABLE
HOUSING.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Office of Policy and Management (OPM)
secretary and the Department of Housing (DOH) commissioner to
assess the affordable housing need in each of the state’s planning
regions, allocate this need to municipalities, and require that
municipalities plan to meet the affordable housing need allocated to
them. In carrying out certain requirements under the bill, the OPM
secretary must consult with experts, advocates, and organizations with
expertise in affordable housing, fair housing, and planning and zoning,
as determined by the secretary (hereafter, “housing experts”).
Specifically, the bill requires the OPM secretary, in consultation with
the DOH commissioner and housing experts, to do the following by July
1, 2024:
1. establish a fair share methodology for (a) determining the
minimum need for affordable housing units in each of the state’s
planning regions and (b) fairly allocating a portion of this need
to the municipalities within each planning region to ensure
adequate housing choice (i.e., setting municipal fair share goals);
2. establish a process requiring municipalities to develop, adopt,
and submit to the secretary and commissioner plans to meet their
municipal fair share goals (i.e., municipal fair share plans); and
3. (a) publish and disseminate technical assistance materials and
arrange for related briefings, trainings, and webinars to assist
municipalities in complying with the bill’s requirements and (b)
provide this technical assistance and training every ten years 2022HB-05204-R000286-BA.DOCX
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thereafter.
The bill requires the OPM secretary, in consultation with the DOH
commissioner, to determine by July 1, 2024, the minimum need for
affordable housing units in each planning region and corresponding
municipal fair share goals using the fair share methodology. The
number of affordable housing units set by these goals cannot exceed
20% of a municipality’s occupied dwelling units and must be
recalculated every ten years. Under the bill, an “affordable housing
unit” is a dwelling unit conveyed by an instrument containing a
covenant or restriction (i.e., restrictive deed) that requires that the unit
be sold or rented at or below a price intended to preserve the unit for a
low-income household.
Additionally, the bill requires each municipality, by January 1, 2025,
and every ten years thereafter, to prepare and adopt a municipal fair
share plan that creates a realistic opportunity for achieving the
municipality’s fair share goal.
Finally, the bill requires the OPM secretary, in consultation with the
DOH commissioner and housing experts, to report to the Housing and
Planning and Development committees by January 1, 2026, on (1) the
implementation of the bill’s requirements; (2) the status of
municipalities’ compliance; and (3) recommendations for
implementation, compliance, and enforcement, including approaches
used in other states where municipalities have similar obligations.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2022
FAIR SHARE METHODOLOGY
Development
In developing the fair share methodology, the bill requires the OPM
secretary, in consultation with the DOH commissioner, to consider the
following:
1. appropriate metrics of the minimum need for affordable housing
units in a planning region, including the number of extremely
low-income households in the region, to ensure adequate 2022HB-05204-R000286-BA.DOCX
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housing choice and
2. appropriate factors for fairly allocating this need among the
municipalities within each planning region to set municipal fair
share goals, including a municipality’s compliance with statutes
requiring its zoning regulations and plan of conservation and
development to promote economic housing diversity and
provide for the development of multifamily housing
opportunities.
Under the bill, “low-,” “very low-,” and “extremely low-income
households” mean those with an income at or below 80%, 50%, or 30%,
respectively, of the state median income or the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) area median income,
whichever is less.
Required Components
The bill requires that under the fair share methodology, a municipal
fair share goal generally be increased, relative to other municipalities in
the planning region, based on the following factors:
1. higher equalized net grand list (i.e., an estimate of the market
value of all taxable property in a municipality);
2. higher median income;
3. lower federal poverty rate; and
4. lower population share residing in multifamily housing (i.e.,
residential buildings with at least three dwelling units).
These data must come from the most recent U.S. decennial census or
a similar source, except for the equalized net grand list data, which must
be based on OPM’s calculations of these figures for the purpose of
educational equalization grants.
The fair share methodology must generally rely on figures from
HUD’s Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy data set or a
similar source as determined by the OPM secretary. 2022HB-05204-R000286-BA.DOCX
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MUNICIPAL FAIR SHARE PLANS
Required Components
The bill requires the OPM secretary, in consultation with the DOH
commissioner and housing experts, to establish the following by July 1,
2024:
1. a process requiring municipalities to develop and adopt
municipal fair share plans and submit them to the secretary and
commissioner;
2. requirements for the content and submission of these plans;
3. requirements ensuring that each plan provides for the creation of
enough affordable housing for the municipality to meet its
municipal fair share goal, including (a) rental units; (b) units
available to families, including those with two, three, or more
bedrooms; (c) units affordable to very low- and extremely low-
income households; and (d) affordable housing units available to
individuals or families with special needs or that are homeless or
at risk of homelessness (i.e., supportive housing); and
4. policies ensuring that no municipal fair share plan creates undue
concentrations of households living in poverty within a planning
region as determined by the OPM secretary.
BACKGROUND
Planning Regions
In practice, the boundaries of the state’s nine planning regions are the
same as those of its regional councils of government, which serve as the
formal governance structures of the planning regions.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Housing Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 10 Nay 5 (03/15/2022)