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Proposals
Past Legislation
2015 Proposals

Helping our taxpayers

Preserve Municipal Tax Bases

  • Require that new properties purchased by non-profit hospitals and private colleges and universities remain on the tax rolls. HB 6965 (RAISED), AN ACT CONCERNING THE PRESERVATION OF MUNICIPAL TAX BASES. (PD)
  • Create a tiered PILOT program that reimburses towns based on the percentage of property that is tax exempt.  It will incorporate the current State and College and Hospital PILOT programs as well as all other tax exempt property such as non-profits, churches, etc…in its calculations. SB 1070 (RAISED), AN ACT CONCERNING PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES. (PD)
  • Enable, by local option, municipalities to apply a fee to the price of a ticket for a sporting or entertainment event held at an on campus facility of a college or university. 

Allow for the Bifurcation of Municipal Tax Bills

  • Provide more transparent tax bills so taxpayers can view the expenditures of municipal and board of education budgets. HB 6953 (RAISED), AN ACT ALLOWING THE BIFURCATION OF MUNICIPAL TAX BILLS. (PD)

Public Safety Answering Points

  • Save taxpayers money, by consolidating PSAP's into regional emergency answering centers. HB 6970 (RAISED), AN ACT CONCERNING EMERGENCY SERVICE PERSONNEL. (PS)

Regional Animal Control and Shelters

  • Create a bond fund to encourage municipalities to regionalize animal shelters. HB 7036 (RAISED), AAC BONDING FOR REGIONAL DOG POUNDS

Helping our schools

Implement the Common School Calendar

  • No more delays. Put into effect for the 2015-2016 school year.

Make Changes to Minimum Budget Requirements

  • Remove caps on the savings allowed from declining enrollment and efficiencies.
  • Take into consideration district performance
  • Explore MBR savings agreements.
    HB 7019 (RAISED), AN ACT CONCERNING THE MINIMUM BUDGET REQUIREMENT. (ED)

Special Education Reform

  • Provide a more efficient system and provide more accessibility to quality special education by regionalizing services and programs.
  • Centralize and coordinate transition services under one state agency.
  • Re-purpose Regional Education Service Centers (RESCs) into regional special education districts.
    HB 7016 (RAISED), AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE MORE COMMISSION SPECIAL EDUCATION SELECT WORKING GROUP. (ED)

School Construction Services and Prototyping

  • Allow schools within a region to use the same construction services and individuals for design. Savings would be realized through standardization since each municipality would not incur the costs of hiring their own firms. HB 7022 (RAISED), AN ACT CONCERNING AUTHORIZATION OF STATE GRANT COMMITMENTS FOR SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECTS AND CHANGES TO THE STATUTES CONCERNING SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECTS. (ED)

Helping our municipalities

Provide incentives for municipalities that regionalize collective bargaining

  • Remove obstacles and promote regional contracting. Encourage shared operational expenses between the local government and its Board of Education. HB 6930 (RAISED), AN ACT CONCERNING REGIONAL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. (LAB)

Fighting Blight

  • Allow municipalities to adopt a common blight code and share the costs of a regional blight office.
    SB 1068 (RAISED), AN ACT CONCERNING REGIONAL BLIGHT. (PD)

Municipal Newspaper Postings

  • Allow municipalities to use a truncated version of municipal postings in newspapers as long as the town's web site is included in the posting. This will allow for citizens to access all of the information. HB 6966 (RAISED). AN ACT CONCERNING MUNICIPAL NEWSPAPER POSTINGS. (PD)

Regionalizing Municipal Services and Functions

  • Allow for the regional training of municipal employees, including Election Day employees such as Registrars of Voters. Proposed HB 5300, AN ACT CONCERNING THE REGIONAL CONSOLIDATION OF CERTAIN FUNCTIONS OF ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATION. (GAE)