Green Fund Bill Goes to Planning and Development Committee

– By David Bingham, CTLCV Co-Chair (dbbingham@sbcglobal.net)

Senator Meyer has filed Proposed SB 46 which embodies the essence of previous “green fund” bills. The bill now goes to the Planning and Development Committee for consideration.

Details on the Local Option Community Conservation Fund Proposal

The Problem: Conservation suffers when funded only by local property taxes. Cities and towns need alternative revenue to leverage funding for smart growth, clean air and water projects, and energy conservation.

The Solution: The Local Option Community Conservation Fund is enabling legislation that allows municipalities to levy up to a 1.5% conveyance fee on purchasers of real estate to provide dedicated funding for conservation projects specified in the legislation (see below).

This year, "green jobs" will be a legislative priority for many legislators, and this proposal is among those with the greatest potential for funding green jobs and smart growth throughout the state, for local conservation initiatives with regional benefits such as:

• Brownfield planning and reclamation
• Storm sewer infrastructure
• Energy efficiency (weatherization of municipal buildings, "green building" retrofits, etc)
• Alternative energy infrastructure (solar, geothermal, etc.)
• Alternative transportation infrastructure (trails, bikeways, bus terminals, rail, etc.)
• Diesel retrofits/natural gas conversion
• Historic restoration
• Open space and farmland preservation
• To minimize the effect on buyers of affordable housing, the fee would be waived on the first $150,000 of real estate value. Note that buyers currently are purchasing real estate at a 20-30% discount from historic highs.

Desired Outcome: $100-$300 million of new funding yearly for smart growth projects throughout the State (depending on the number of communities that adopt this funding tool), leveraging additional matching grants from private and public sources (local, state and federal).

Fiscal Impact to the State Budget: This proposal requires no fiscal note.

Supporters: Support comes from municipalities, planning agencies and the environmental community. Opposition has come from builders and realtors in Connecticut, but not in other states where this tool for local conservation funding has been very popular. Real estate values in sustainable communities in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, for example, have increased.

What You Can Do: There are two things you can do to support this bill.

1. Please ask your legislators to cosponsor the bill. Conservation of water, air, land, and energy begins at home. This bill can make it happen on the local municipal scale!

2. If your group would like to support this bill, please contact David Bingham, Co-Chair
CT League of Conservation Voters, directly at dbbingham@sbcglobal.net.