You asked us to compare the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) proposed Five Pillars to CONNserve Connecticut (December 3, 2000) with current policies, programs, and practices.

SUMMARY

CONNserve generally addresses the same issues and concerns as the State Plan of Conservation and Development (Plan of C&D), which the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) prepares and updates every five years. (The next plan update is due on March 1, 2003 for the period 2004-2008. ) CONNserve presents a vision and five goals, each accompanied by a set of recommendations to achieve the goal. It also gives the pros and cons associated with each goal.

As Table 1 shows, CONNserve and the plan present similar visions, but the former emphasizes conservation while the latter seeks to promote development in ways that minimize the effects on the environment.

Table 1: Comparison of CONNserve and Plan of C&D's Visions

CONNserve's 41 recommendations mostly reflect current policies and practices. Table 2 lists the ones that are new or represent a significant expansion of a current policy or practice.

Table 2: CONNserve Recommendations that are New or Significantly Change or Expand Existing Policies and Practices

The rest of the memo presents each CONNserve goal and recommendation followed by our comment.

SAVE THE GREEN LAND

Issue

Open spaces of rolling green hills, sunlit meadows, and clean streams are essential to the state's identify. They provide places for healthful recreation and diverse habitat for wild creatures. Our economic health increasingly depends on our natural landscape as competition with other states for business is increasingly tied to the quality of life in Connecticut.

Comment

The State Plan of C&D also ties the state's future economic growth to the preservation of open space lands: "The scenic, historic, recreational, and natural areas of the state are important economic assets, are essential to the quality of life in Connecticut, and must be maintained and protected from adverse effects" (p. 101). The plan's strategy is to "reinforce and conserve existing urban areas, to promote staged, appropriate, sustainable development, and to preserve areas of significant environmental value" (p. 113).

Recommended Action. Bond funding of open space program at higher levels; add surplus funds to balance brownfields programs.

Comment. SA 01-2, JSS, authorized $ 19 million in bonds in FY 2001-02 and $ 15 million in FY 2002-03 for grants and loans to towns partly for acquiring parkland and making recreational improvements.

Recommended Action. Protect working landscapes of farm and forestland with a renewed program of development rights purchases that maintain private ownership.

Comment. This Department of Agriculture program has received little or no funding in recent years. (The Planning and Development Committee has sponsored bills during the last several sessions increasing the program's bond authorization, but they did not reach the floor. )

Recommended Action. Focus acquisition on defining landscape characteristics such as ridgelines, hilltops and river corridors.

Comment. This recommendation targets open space funding at certain types of open space land. It is not clear how it would affect funding for other types of open space land, including land suitable for parks and playgrounds.

Recommended Action. Allow a personal income tax deduction for open space preservation.

Comment. The law authorizes no personal income tax deduction for this purpose. It does authorize corporate tax credits for donating open space land to government agencies and nonprofit organizations that agree to keep it that way. The credit equals 50% of the land's use value.

Recommended Action. Allow corporations that have donated land but cannot use all their credits to sell those credits to companies who can use them (tax credit trading).

Comment. The law currently allows businesses to sell unused credits they earned for investments in urban and industrial sites remediation projects.

Recommended Action. Plan and fund a statewide system of greenway multi-use trails.

Comment. DEP already designates greenways and funds their development largely with federal Enhanced Transportation Act funds. The recommendation does not specify the source for the extra funding.

Recommended Action. Restate the commitment to 21% open space; consider shortening the 25-year time horizon.

Comment. CONNserve does not say why the state must recommit itself to the statutory 21% goal. Shortening the timeframe could require the state to sell bonds at a faster rate.

Recommended Action. Restate the commitment to improve and maintain Connecticut's existing "green infrastructure," its state parks and forests.

Comment. SA 01-2, JSS, authorizes $ 10 million in bonds for FY 2001-02 and FY 2002-03 each for alterations, renovations, and new construction at state parks and other recreational facilities.

INVEST IN LIVABLE COMMUNITIES

Issue

Promoting development in areas with existing or planned public infrastructure such as sewers, water, and highways and discouraging development elsewhere will save taxpayers dollars and make both public and private investment more cost effective. Encouraging the compact living patterns and mixed uses of traditional villages, towns, and cities that foster a sense of community among residents and businesses will promote the individual commitment to place that ensures the long term viability of public and private investments.

Comment

The Plan of C&D also balances conservation and development by redirecting the latter away from open spaces toward areas where roads, sewers, and other supporting infrastructure already exist. The plan favors "compact and efficient growth patterns that are responsive to the needs of people at all income levels, and also help to maintain Connecticut's quality of life and economic competitiveness" (p. 7).

Recommended Action. Establish "community investment areas" where the state and local governments encourage and provide direct incentives for new growth. Target state funding for water, sewer, road expansion and non-safety improvements, housing, economic development and other infrastructure to "community investment areas" and withhold such support elsewhere.

Comment. The state already designates geographic areas as a way to balance development and conservation throughout the state. The State Plan of C&D's Locational Guide divides the state into eight land use categories and specifies development or conservation goals based on their characteristics. It serves to "reinforce and conserve existing urban areas, to promote staged, appropriate, sustainable development, and to

preserve areas of significant environmental value. " It also recognizes that state actions "influence the form and location of development or conservation" (p. 113).

The 15-member Connecticut Transportation Strategy Board is currently developing a plan to allow development in a way that does not congest highways or require the state to expand them. The plan will set policies for balancing development and transportation needs in five designated Transportation Investment Areas. The board submitted the initial plan to the legislature on January 15, 2002. It must update it periodically.

Recommended Action. Streamline permitting in "community investment areas"-one stop state agency permits.

Comment. The state's "Smart Start" program provides one-stop state licensing, permitting, and registration service for new and expanding businesses statewide.

Recommended Action. Expand the "Main Street" program which improves design, organization, promotion and economic opportunities in traditional downtown and urban centers (emphasis in the original).

Comment. The nonprofit Connecticut Main Street Center, Inc. runs the Main Street program, which helps merchants, public officials, and other groups in small towns revitalize their downtown centers. The center gets funds from DECD and Connecticut Light and Power. Main Street projects qualify for Small Town Economic Assistance and federal Small Cities Community Development Block Grant funds.

Recommended Action. Focus private utility investment in "community investment areas. "

Comment. The state currently has no policy for focusing private utility investment in any designated areas. The recommendation does not explain how state can accomplish this goal.

Recommended Action. Require state building siting and facility management to be consistent with "community investment areas. "

Comment. Decisions on where to build new state facilities must be consistent with the Plan of C&D and its locational guide, which promotes conservation by favoring sites where the supporting infrastructure already exists.

The procedure for preparing capital facilities plans requires state agencies to consider siting proposed facilities in urban locations. Agencies must prepare co-location statements showing how a proposed facility would revitalize:

1. the economic base of urban areas by rebuilding older commercial and industrial areas and encouraging new industries to locate in the central cities;

2. urban neighborhoods to reduce the isolation of various income, age, and minority groups; and

3. the quality of life for urban residents by insuring, for example, access to balanced transportation, adequate recreation facilities, and coordinated human service programs.

Recommended Action. Increase grant funds and expand tax incentives to protect, restore and rehabilitate historic structures that contribute to community character. Especially in "community investment areas" and "main streets. "

Comment. Businesses contributing funds toward rehabilitating historic homes in distressed areas already qualify for corporate business tax credits issued by the Connecticut Historical Commission. Up to $ 3 million in credits are annually available for this purpose.

The commission also provides matching state and federal grants for acquiring, restoring, or rehabilitating historic properties in towns with historic commissions. The legislature authorized up to $ 300,000 in bonds for these grants during the current biennium.

Towns can also use federal Community Development Block Grant funds to preserve historic properties.

Recommended Action. Expand tax incentives to promote private sector activities consistent with "community investment areas" (e. g. , (1) company sponsored housing development tax credit, (2) tax exemptions for new company building renovations for construction in urban facilities, and (3) urban payroll tax credits).

Comment. State housing related corporate business tax credits are available statewide. Under the Employer Assisted Housing Tax Credit program, businesses qualify for up to $ 100,000 in tax credits annually for contributing money to a revolving loan fund their low- and moderate-income employees can access to buy or rent housing. Up to $ 1 million in credits are annually available to all businesses for this purpose. (The

Connecticut Housing Finance Authority administers several programs that help teachers and police officers purchase homes in designated areas. )

The state already offers property tax abatements and corporate business tax credits to businesses constructing new facilities in designated urban areas. Businesses in the 17 enterprise zones qualify for a five-year 80% property tax abatement and a 10-year 50% tax credit for meeting statutory job targets. Financial services and information technology businesses located outside of the zones but still in the enterprise zone towns qualify for property tax abatements and corporate tax credits based on the amounts invested and the number of jobs created.

The state offers a 10-year, 50% corporate tax credits under the enterprise zone program to businesses meeting statutory job creation goals and $ 125 per month credit for employing people participating in the Temporary Family Assistance program.

Recommended Action. Establish a "Rehab Code" to make it easier and less costly to reuse older buildings by not applying standard building codes for new construction.

Comment. The State Building Inspector's Office decided not to recommend a separate rehabilitation code after comparing sections of Connecticut building code with New Jersey's recently adopted rehabilitation code. Connecticut's provides an alternative that limits code compliance only to the alternations, repairs, and additions. The inspector noted that New Jersey' s code authorized the same alternative method. He may reconsider his decision after a professional code organization publishes its study on rehabilitation codes in January 2003.

As a way to curb rehabilitation costs in deteriorated neighborhoods, the law allows developers rehabilitating property to apply for waivers from state and local codes if the results do not endanger public health and safety. This option is available only in locally designated Neighborhood Revitalization Zones.

Recommended Action. Require all state agencies to review policies and budget decisions annually for "Smart Growth" implications.

Comment. OPM reviews state physical development projects costing over $ 100,000 for consistency with the Plan of C&D. No state agency reviews policies and budgets for consistency with the plan.

Recommended Action. Consolidate approvals and permits (e. g. , DPUC as applicable, environmental permits, siting council approvals) across agency lines for projects meeting specific, established Connserve Connecticut criteria (e. g. , power plants sites on brownfields, using nonpotable water and meeting most stringent air emission standards).

Comment. The law authorizes expedited licensing and permitting for UConn 2000 and Adriaen's Landing projects. (It also exempts these projects from various state and local regulations. ) Generally, it requires the implementing agencies to apply to the relevant commissioner to obtain the necessary approvals and sets deadlines by which the commissioners must act.

Some towns try to expedite the local permit process by having developers meet early in the process with all of the local officials from whom they must get approval. This practice lets developers know beforehand all the local agencies they will have to deal with and their issues and concerns. This information allows them to anticipate and address these issues before they submit their projects for approval.

PLAN FOR QUALITY PLACES

Issue

Comprehensive planning has enormous potential to improve Connecticut and shape the landscape that our children and grandchildren will inherit. Informed and collaborative planning among state and local governments and regional agencies is the foundation for making progress toward the CONNserve Connecticut future we envision today.

Comment

The State Plan of C&D also discusses the need for comprehensive and integrated planning and describes how OPM will address this need.

Recommended Action. Establish by statute specific goals and policies promoting compact development, sensitivity to natural resources and community revitalization that are to be followed in all state and local plans (similar to policies and goals in Coastal Management Act CGS Sec. 22a-92).

Comment. The statutes do not specify goals and policies with respect to the abovementioned purposes, but they specifically require the Plan of C&D to include transportation, energy, air, and greenway conservation

and development policies. Nor do the statutes governing zoning regulations, local plans of development, and subdivision regulations specify goals and policies addressing these purposes. Instead,

1. the zoning statutes allow towns to encourage cluster development, develop regulations "with reasonable consideration for their impact on agriculture," and adopt regulations that restrict development in ridgeline setback areas;

2. the planning statutes (1) require towns to adopt plans of conservation and development that consider using cluster development and the objectives of energy-efficient development patterns and (2) allow them to adopt plans containing recommendations for acquiring open spaces and preserving traprock and other ridgelines; and

3. the subdivision statutes (1) require regulations to encourage energy-efficient development patters and (2) allow them to include provisions encouraging cluster development and providing open spaces and soil erosion and sedimentation control.

Recommended Action. Require statutory goals and policies to be considered and evaluated in local land use decisions through a site plan review process (also similar to a coastal management model).

Comment. As noted above the zoning and planning statutes do not specify goals and policies local commissions must address when reviewing site plans or other types of land use applications. But they do require (1) zoning commissions to consider the state plan of C&D each time they adopt regulations, (2) planning commissions do to the same when they adopt local plans of C&D and note any inconsistencies between these plans and the state plan, and (3) zoning regulations and plans of development to address housing needs identified in state's long range housing plan and the State Plan of C&D.

Recommended Action. Revise the state Plan of Conservation and Development to articulate growth management policies and standards, and identify "community investment areas. "

Comment. The Plan of C&D attempts to balance conservation and development, but does not specify how state agencies must strike this balance when proposing large-scale development projects. But it seems to favor locating proposed projects in places where the necessary supporting infrastructure already exists. The plan's locational guide identifies these areas, which are mainly found in big cities and other already built up areas.

The guide divides the state into zones reflecting the extent to which an area is developed. It also specifies strategies for developing or conserving land in each zone. For example, highly developed regional centers get the highest priority for rehabilitating or developing property as a way to revitalize them. Rural areas, on the other hand, are marked for preservation. The state must avoid supporting projects that endanger the water supply or are inconsistent with the land's rural character.

Recommended Action. Establish an aesthetic code for urban areas with incentive funding to phase-out bill boards, build "streetscapes," sidewalks, lighting, benches, etc. especially for urban and community investment areas.

Comment. The statutes do not specify an aesthetic code, but allow towns to address aesthetic issues when they regulate development in designated historic and village districts.

Recommended Action. Require state investment and permitting decisions to be consistent with statutory goals and policies and with the Plan of C&D.

Comment. As noted above, OPM must determine if proposed state projects costing over $ 100,000 are consistent with the Plan of C&D. There is no comparable requirement regarding permitting decisions. (Nor is there a comparable requirement regarding economic development tax incentives awarded to businesses on a project by project basis. )

Recommended Action. Establish a "cross acceptance" process for reconciling local plans of conservation and development with the statewide plan to ensure that governments at all levels and the public participate in the preparation of the state plan.

Comment. The statutes provide no cross acceptance process. They require planning commissions to consider the state plan when amending the local plan and note any inconsistencies between the two. But there is no mechanism for resolving the inconsistencies.

Towns and OPM can minimize inconsistencies between the two documents when OPM revises the state plan. The law requires OPM to hold hearings on the proposed plan within five months of publishing it. It also requires OPM to consider the comments received at the hearings and make any subsequent revisions. OPM must submit the revised plan to the legislature within three months after completing the hearings.

Recommended Action. Review state planning and zoning enabling statutes to ensure municipalities have necessary "smart growth" anti-sprawl legal tools at their disposal (e. g. , phased development and "smart code" neighborhood options) (start process with Executive Order).

Comment. The legislature may have to review the statutes and companion case law to determine if they authorize the kinds of regulatory tools and techniques needed to implement a smart growth policy. The planning and zoning enabling statutes were based on model laws written in the 1920s specifically to address the problems of that day, namely the threat posed by factories, warehouses, and other industrial uses to tenement house dwellers. The technique they envisioned was segregating different land uses and regulating size and shape of proposed uses.

Smart growth parts company from traditional zoning in that it seeks to manage or control the pace and location of new development. It also favors mixing stores, schools, parks, and apartment houses as a way to encourage people to walk to different locations instead of driving their cars.

Recommended Action. Develop a comprehensive water management plan to provide for equitable allocation of Connecticut's water resources. (start process with Executive Order)

Comment. Water management responsibilities are currently divided among DEP, DPH [Department of Public Health], and DPUC. These agencies are currently collaborating on developing a comprehensive water management plan.

Recommended Action. Develop a comprehensive energy plan.

Comment. No state agency is currently developing a comprehensive energy plan.

Recommended Action. Link municipalities, regional and state agencies with computer-based planning tools such as statewide digital aerial photography and a statewide geographic information system [GIS] which includes growth analysis capabilities and an up-to-date natural, cultural, and physical information base. Provide build-out analyses. Fund hardware, software and training.

Comment. Currently, state and municipal agencies use GISs, but do not integrate the separate systems. OPM and Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) are currently developing a digital locational guide map for the next Plan of C&D (2004-2008). OPM plans to make the guide available over the Internet. CCSU is also helping OPM assess its GIS capabilities and needs.

RESTORE BROWNFIELDS

Issue

Our abandoned industrial sites are fertile fields for tomorrow's economic growth. They once contributed to the wealth of Connecticut, and through an imaginative program of land recycling they can again generate jobs and economic activity. Reusing brownfields supports compact development in areas with existing infrastructure, provide municipalities with increased tax revenues, and reduces the incentive to develop forests and fields.

Comment

The State Plan of C&D discusses the need to clean up and redevelop contaminated sites in order to relieve some of the development pressure on undeveloped land. Neglecting brownfields has "brought about a loss of employment, tax base and related economic activity... Cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated brownfields offers opportunities to reduce environmental risks to urban communities and introduce clean, beneficial development" (p. 20).

Recommended Action. Expand the urban sites remediation fund to cover additional sites in "community investment areas. "

Comment. This $ 30. 5 million bond funded program already targets contaminated but otherwise economically viable sites in about 30 designated distressed municipalities and targeted investment communities.

Recommended Action. Fund or stabilize liability insurance (private) to cover any differential between expected and actual remediation costs and third party liability claims.

Comment. The Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) offers environmental liability insurance under its existing programs on a pilot basis. Projects qualify if they stall over concerns about unknown liability.

The Connecticut Development Authority (CDA) and its subsidiaries can issue bonds on behalf of towns for brownfield remediation projects and back the bonds with incremental property tax revenues.

Recommended Action. Review existing statutes and regulations on brownfield for improved efficiencies.

Comment. The recommendation does not explain what "efficiencies" mean, but the legislature has amended the brownfield statutes several times since 1998. PA 98-253:

1. provided more legal and financial tools to remediate and redevelop properties,

2. gave developers and lenders protection from liability with respect to remediated and redeveloped properties,

3. expanded towns' powers with respect to brownfields,

4. allowed CDA to fund remediation under the Environmental Assistance Revolving Fund program, and

5. allowed CDA to establish subsidiaries for remediating and redeveloping brownfields. (The CDA's Connecticut Redevelopment Authority was created under this act. )

Also in 1998, the legislature's Program Review and Investigations Committee studied the brownfield statutes and recommended programmatic and statutory changes, including devoting a larger share of remediation funds for assessing sites. PA 99-216 enacted some of these recommendations. Among other things, it required DECD to make its programs more accessible by eliminating certain requirements and revising its informational brochures.

Recommended Action. Institute a sales tax exemption for hazardous materials removal and environmental remediation professional services, and for materials directly contributing to remediation of an industrial or commercial building.

Comment. This proposed sales tax exemption is new. But remediation projects might benefit from a sales tax exemption based on the status of the organization implementing the project. The law exempts federal-tax exempt organizations (CGS Sec. 12-412 (8)), services between a parent company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (CGS Sec. 12-412 (62)), businesses and other organization buying services through the CDA (CGS Sec. 32-23h), and services provided by an organization participating in the Community Economic Development program to an affiliated organization (CGS Sec. 12-412 (86)).

Recommended Action. Statutorily enhance local health department linkages to remediation and redevelopment processes.

Comment. DPH and local health departments already have the statutory authority to collaborate on brownfield clean up and redevelopment projects.

BUILD VIBRANT CITIES

Issue

Our cities are traditionally centers of a rich and diverse business, civic, cultural, social, educational and residential life. The fate of the regions around them is tied to their health. Investments that strengthen the neighborhoods in which people live with improved infrastructure and better services and that promote regional attractions drawing visitors will make Connecticut a better place to live.

Comment

The State Plan of C&D makes largely the same point: "From the perspective of a statewide conservation and development strategy, the economic, social, and physical vitality of cities is critical. Their infrastructure represents a vast public investment that enables efficient state and regional economic performance. Despite suburban gains, the cities still hold major concentrations of economic activity and service centers that support regional populations.... The ability to encourage development that builds on and make efficient use of these resources is a vital tool in achieving statewide development goals" (p. 115).

Recommended Action. Pre permit targeted business clusters to speed development in "community investment areas. "

Comment. The law authorizes expedited licensing and permitting for UConn 2000 and Adriaen's Landing projects. (It also exempts these projects from various state and local regulations. ) Generally, it requires the implementing agencies to apply to the relevant commissioner to obtain the necessary approvals and sets deadlines by which the commissioners must act.

Some towns try to expedite the local permit process by having developers meet with permitting officials before submitting permit applications. This practice lets developers know beforehand the issues and concerns that will be raised when they apply for the permits.

Recommended Action. Provide special open space assistance that includes building demolition and site cleanup to create urban parks with access to Long Island Sound, rivers and other natural resources.

Comment. The state currently targets brownfield remediation dollars at sites that can be redeveloped for economically viable commercial and industrial uses. Using these dollars to convert contaminated sites into parks improves the quality of life for urban residents is a need recognized by the Plan of C&D. But it also sets up a competition for scarce dollars between economic developers and urban conservationists.

Recommended Action. Boost amounts of various reinvestment tax credits and reduce minimum thresholds for their use (e. g. , corporate tax credits for investments in neighborhoods, job creation credits, live near work incentives).

Comment. The state offers many corporate business tax credits aimed at stimulating urban reinvestment. Some are tied to the amount a business invests or the number of jobs it creates. For example, financial service and information technology businesses building new facilities and creating jobs in targeted investment communities qualify for property tax abatements and corporate tax credits based on the amount of money they invest and the number of jobs they create. But the legislature has not studied whether these thresholds are too high for most businesses interested in urban locations.

The legislature's 1997 Alternative Tax Policy Task Force studied how tax policy affects decisions businesses and families make about whether to stay in cities or relocate to suburban or rural towns. For example, it recommended eliminating the income tax for 15 years in five city neighborhoods to counteract the way disproportionately high property taxes led families to abandon the cities. (Many property tax reform commissions and studies have also recommended ways to lessen the property tax burden. )

Recommended Action. Target investments in the arts, entertainment, and historic public places.

Comment. It is not clear if this recommendation requires the state to limit these investments to urban areas. The state funds arts, entertainment, and historic projects through the Manufacturing Assistance Act and the Urban Action Bond programs, both of which favor or target urban areas. It also funds arts projects throughout the state through the arts commission.

The law allows the enterprise zone towns to designated entertainment districts and extend enterprise zone incentives to entertainment businesses that build or expand in the town. It also provides tax credits to businesses contributing funds toward the restoration of historic homes in targeted areas.

In 2001, the legislature dedicated a portion of the hotel tax revenue to fund arts and cultural heritage projects but did not geographically target the funding.

Recommended Action. Reexamine and reinvigorate the enterprise zone program.

Comment. The legislature's Program Review and Investigation Committee took a comprehensive look at the enterprise zone program in 1997 and recommended that DECD collect and maintain the kind of data needed to evaluate the zones. It did not recommend ways to change the program. (The Commerce Committee may study the program during the interim. )

The law requires DECD and the enterprise zone towns to set goals and objectives for the zones and track the extent to which they are achieved. It also allows the DECD commissioner to remove a zone's designation if it does not meet its goals.

Recommended Action. Provide urban homeownership mortgage assistance, real estate conveyance tax waivers, urban payroll tax credits.

Comment. CHFA runs several home mortgage assistance programs, one of which is specifically aimed at increasing homeownership in urban areas. The Urban Homeownership Program offers low-interest mortgages

to people who work in 16 designated towns to buy homes there. PA 01-9, JSS and SA 01-2, JSS authorized $ 10 million in bonds for this program.

CHFA's other specialized programs target people in certain occupations (e. g. , teachers) or circumstances (public housing residents), but other program criteria favor home purchases in urban areas. CHFA's main homeownership program provides assistance based on income and sales price limits, and these limits are higher for purchases in urban areas.

Real estate conveyance tax waivers are available to anyone buying property in the 17 enterprise zones, which mainly promote economic development. They are also available in entertainment districts, which can be designated by any of the 17 towns with enterprise zones.

The law does not authorize urban payroll tax credits, but it does authorize up to $ 1 million in corporate tax credits annually to businesses that hire people who have been on welfare for at least nine months and employ them for 30 hours a week (CGS Sec. 12-217y).

The legislature's 1997 Alternative Tax Policy Task Force made many recommendations aimed at stimulating homeownership in urban areas. These include income tax exemptions for people living in designated urban areas.

Recommended Action. Address neighborhood Safety. Perhaps designate neighborhoods for increased policing to promote community safety.

Comment. The State Police now assigns community police officers to enhance police presence in certain, usually high crime areas, such as Windham Heights, where it is the designated law enforcement authority.

Recommended Action. Address education. Perhaps provide higher grant percentages for school investments in "community investment areas. " Develop incentive packages for attracting teachers. Expand magnet school programs.

Comment. Connecticut urban school districts already receive the highest reimbursement percentages for school construction project grants. The legislature authorized $ 143 million in bonds for FY 2001-02 and $ 450 million in FY 2002-03 (SA 01-9, JSS).

Because cities have the poorest school districts, they often also qualify for grants that are not available to wealthier suburban districts. Table 3 lists these grant programs and the current funding levels.

Table 3: Current Funding for Selected Education Grant Programs

Recent laws aimed at recruiting new teachers include the Alternate Route to Certification program, increasing pension portability from other states, and offering Praxis test preparation courses for prospective teachers. The state is already working to expand the magnet school program as a result of the Sheff v. O'Neill decision, which required the state to decrease the racial and socioeconomic school segregation.

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