You asked for a year-by-year summary of legislative changes in the Local Capital Improvement Program (LOCIP) since 1992.

SUMMARY

LOCIP reimburses municipalities for eligible infrastructure and capital facility project expenditures, such as road construction, sewage treatment plant repairs, emergency communication system and public park improvements, and public building renovations. Each town's allocation is determined by a formula that compares its highway miles, population, population density, and per capita property wealth to the total for all towns. Towns apply for grants from the Office of Policy and Management (OPM).

The General Assembly has made some change in LOCIP in eight of the last 10 years. Changes include adjustments in the application process, expansion of the types of projects eligible for funding, and increases in the general obligation bond authorization that pays for the programs.

As of the date of this report, the General Assembly has enacted no LOCIP provisions for 2002.

1992

PA 92-7 of the May Special Session eliminated:

1. local pavement management programs as eligible projects,

2. a requirement that investment earnings on the LOCIP fund be added to the fund's principal,

3. use of LOCIP grants to pay current debt service on municipal bonds and notes,

4. a requirement that interest earned on the balance in each account be added to the amount available to all municipalities instead of to individual municipalities' accounts,

5. grant payments for principal and interest on short-term bonds or notes issued to finance a project,

6. including the expense of preparing, issuing, and marketing short-term anticipation notes in the cost of a project, and

7. a requirement that grant proceeds first be used to pay off any short-term anticipation notes issued or deposited in a sinking fund established to pay off the short-term anticipation notes.

The act also:

1. limited municipal requests for grants to ones for projects (a) whose expenses are either not yet paid or were paid within the preceding two months or (b) either not yet been placed in service or placed in service within the preceding two months,

2. allowed the OPM secretary to waive the former condition for good cause,

3. required a municipality to use its grant to pay any unpaid project costs promptly, and

4. required projects to be capital expenditures.

1993

PA 93-1 of the June Special Session allowed towns to use LOCIP funds for improvements in emergency communications systems.

1994

PA 94-53 allowed municipalities to use LOCIP funds to improve sidewalks and pavements. Before that, they could use the grants only for road projects.

1995

PA 95-272 added public housing projects to those eligible for funding under the LOCIP program, including development of additional housing, renovations and improvements, and energy conservation costs.

It also deleted an established annual $ 30 million allocation from the LOCIP fund to OPM for distribution and replaced it with an annual amount set by the General Assembly.

1997

PA 97-244

PA 97-244 revised the process by which municipalities apply for and receive LOCIP grants. It allowed municipalities to apply to OPM for project authorization and request expense reimbursements either at the same time or at any time after OPM approves the projects.

The act eliminated requirements that the application include:

1. a brief description of the projects,

2. a certified copy of the municipal action providing its share of the funding,

3. certification that the municipality has adopted a local capital improvement plan and that the project is consistent with the plan, and

4. a status report on earlier project grants.

It eliminated OPM's ability to waive the third of these requirements and required the municipality to provide any other certification OPM requires.

The act repealed conditions that allowed OPM to approve grants only if projects were authorized on or after May 1, 1987 and that required municipalities to certify that (1) the project was a local capital improvement project and (2) the grant would not be used to satisfy a local matching requirement, except under the local bridge program.

The act required reimbursement requests to be submitted on an OPM form and to identify the expenses to be reimbursed. It required a municipality to certify that:

1. the expenditures are for eligible projects and the municipality is eligible for reimbursement,

2. it will keep detailed accounting records of these expenditures, and

3. it will make these records available to its independent auditor and the state.

The act eliminated the requirement that the expenditures be (1) not yet paid, (2) paid not more than two months before the application, or (3) part of a project that was placed in service no more than two months before the application.

It required OPM to approve the grant if the project meets the law's requirements and any others OPM imposes. It eliminated a requirement that the municipality promptly use the grant to cover the project's expenses if it had not already paid these costs.

The act required the municipality to retain detailed accounting records of all expenses connected with a funded project for at least three years following its completion. It required OPM notify the municipality's chief elected official if it determines that the records are not maintained or that the grant was used for ineligible purposes. It allowed OPM to either make the municipality repay the grant or deduct an equivalent amount from its future grants.

PA 97-1, June 5 Special Session

The act allowed towns to use LOCIP funds to build or renovate veterans' memorials.

1999

PA 99-66

PA 99-66 allowed municipalities to (1) use LOCIP funds until December 31, 2000 for capital expenditures necessary to achieve Y2K compliance and (2) bypass competitive bidding requirements by contracting with state-approved vendors not later than December 31, 2000 to fix software programs with Y2K problems.

PA 99-241

PA 99-241 increased the LOCIP bond authorization by $ 30 million effective July 1, 1999 and another $ 30 million effective July 1, 2000. It also canceled grants not used within five years unless a town requests a waiver from OPM.

2000

PA 00-167 allowed municipalities to use LOCIP funds for (1) constructing, renovating, enlarging, or repairing flood control projects; (2) thermal imaging systems; and (3) bulky waste and landfill projects.

It also gave towns up to seven years instead of five to use their authorized LOCIP funds and required the OPM secretary, on or before five years and on or before six years after the grant authorization, to notify the municipality in writing of the elapsed time and the date on which the authorization expires.

2001

PA 01-7, June Special Session, increased the LOCIP bond authorization by $ 30 million for FY 2001-02 and another $ 30 million for FY 2002-03.

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