LEGISLATIVE ALERT HARTFORD, CT CT LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS 2018 The Connecticut General Assembly legislative session began on February 7th and ends on May 9th. This is an election year and a particularly good time to pay attention and make our voices heard! New taxes are on the horizon, and legislators need to hear from you. March 7th is our annual Legislative Night. From 6-7p.m. we will host network with your legislators that represent Fairfield County. More than a dozen legislators have confirmed attendance. Don’t miss this critical opportunity to spread our message to Hartford. Then on April 3, we join other HBRAs in Connecticut for Industry Day at the Capitol. State Budget: The State of CT faces $3 billion in deficits over the next two years. Proposals to close the state budget gap include new taxes. Governor Malloy’s new budget would raise another $235 million in new taxes, including raising the RE conveyance tax from 0.75% to 0.85% and 1.25% to 1.4%. BILLS WE SUPPORT: Property Tax Relief for Homes Under Construction: Home builders are hit with higher assessments on homes they are constructing but not yet sold, and receive these higher property tax bills when nobody is living in these homes. This is a perverse disincentive to builders to start home construction. This bill would trigger the higher assessments and tax bills only when the earliest of these events occur: 1) a C.O. is issued, 2) a deed transfer to a buyer occurs, or 3) the home is first used as a residence. Add Clarity and More Housing Emphasis to Zoning Enabling Statute (HB 5045): A proposal from the Fair Housing Workgroup (on which the HBRA had a seat), which is technical in nature and simply restructures the zoning enabling act so that it’s much easier to read. Housing Impact Analysis: Also, from the Fair Housing Workgroup, and applicable to all new state and local regulations and utility requirements that impact the cost of producing new housing. Borrowed from existing law that requires state agencies to consider impacts on small business when adopting regulations, the bill requires state agencies, local land use regulators and utilities to conduct a housing impact analysis so that they think more about the adverse impacts they might have on the cost of housing construction. BILLS WE OPPOSE: Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning: This proposal from DOH and the Fair Housing Workgroup would impose an inclusionary zoning (IZ) overlay to most zoning commissions in the state, with exemptions for distressed municipalities and some others. It requires that every multifamily housing project of 10 or more units (in the covered towns and cities) set aside 12% of the units for affordable income levels. This severely disrupts the private marketplace. While well-intentioned to promote more affordable housing construction, which Connecticut needs, the state also needs more market rate housing. We cannot afford to lose market-rate multifamily units. 12 HBRA of Fairfield County | FEBRUARY 2018
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