You asked a number of questions about homes owned by state agencies and leased to private individuals.

We asked 11 agencies for information, and have received responses from eight: the departments of Correction, Agriculture, Higher Education, Transportation, Public Works, Environmental Protection, Public Safety, and the Judicial Branch. We are awaiting responses from the departments of Mental Retardation, Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Military, and will include that information in a subsequent report. We have attached a copy of the letter we sent the various agencies (Attachment “A”). We summarize below information that we have received to date from the departments of Correction, Agriculture, Higher Education (including UConn), Transportation, Public Works, and Environmental Protection. The Judicial Branch and the Department of Public Safety report they do not own any homes on state property.

In most cases we have received information on the cost of the property, the date of acquisition, the occupant, the investment in the property, and the process for determining the rent.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION (DOC)

The DOC owns several homes, only one of which is occupied. Commissioner Lantz reports that the department leases a 3-bedroom ranch house at 225 Roxbury Road, Niantic, to Robert Frank, the DOC’s director of Nutrition and Food Services. Frank pays a monthly rent of $ 579. 32.

According to Lantz the house was donated to the state in the early 1930s. The rent was determined by the Department of Administrative Services, which performed a comparison appraisal in 2002. The Department of Correction has invested about $ 1,000 in the house, primarily for painting, over the past 10 years. The correctional facility maintenance staff maintains the building, a task that takes about 40 person-hours annually.

The department’s David Batten says the DOC owns 22 other single-family homes, which it uses for institutional purposes.

In determining whether to sell a property the department’s engineering director makes a recommendation to the commissioner. If approved, the engineering department writes a surplus property request to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM).

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

According to acting commissioner Bruce Gresczyk, the department owns one property with dwellings on it: a 575-acre farm acquired through the Farmland Preservation Program in 1993. The farm, located on the Lebanon-Colchester town line, cost $ 2. 2 million. It includes 250 acres of pasture, 175 acres of water bodies and wetlands, forestland, an operating dairy, barns, and three houses, only one of which is habitable.

A five-year lease on the house will expire in May 2006. The farm has been leased since 1993 to Cynthia Arons. The monthly lease includes $ 650 for the house, and an amount for the dairy that increases from $ 400 to $ 1,000 per month over the term of the lease. The total monthly rent was therefore $ 1,050 in the first year, rising to $ 1,650 in the final year. The lessee conducts routine maintenance.

Gresczyk says the department considers the rent fair and reasonable, and that it is based on area market rents. In 2001, the department established a maintenance, repair and improvement account for the farm’s receipts and expenses. We have attached more information on that account (Attachment “B”).

DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION (DHE)

According to Mary Johnson, DHE’s associate commissioner of finance and administration, neither DHE, Charter Oak State College, nor the state community colleges owns any homes on state land. Connecticut State University (CSU) and the University of Connecticut do own such homes.

Connecticut State University System

According to its chief financial officer, Pamela J. Kadderis, CSU does not have any single-family homes leased to private individuals. Property acquisitions are managed by the Department of Public Works (DPW), and reviewed and approved by the State Properties Review Board, OPM and the Attorney General.

Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) and Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) each owns single-family homes either occupied for university purposes or slated for demolition. Facilities operations staff maintain these buildings as part of the respective campus inventories.

There are 12 such homes at ECSU in Willimantic and 10 at SCSU in New Haven. Table 1 (ESCU), and Table 2 (SCSU) provide information about their location, acquisition, and current use.

Table 1: ECSU Single-Family Buildings

Table 2: SCSU Single-Family Buildings

University of Connecticut

According to DHE’s Johnson, the UConn Board of Trustees sets rental rates for its residential properties. The rates for FY 2004-05 were approved on March 23, 2004. The university uses the properties as transitional housing for new faculty and staff. The university maintains an eligibility list and assigns houses on a first-come, first-served basis. No one can live in these transitional properties for more than three years.

Table 3 lists these UConn properties.

Table 3: UConn Properties

Source: Department of Higher Education

* Investment in property, in order of listing: (a) $ 44,333; (b) $ 10,334; [c) $ 58,536; (d) $ 135,811.

In most cases, Johnson reports, UConn acquired these properties because they either abutted or were near the University and were deemed suitable for faculty and staff rentals. One employee oversees the properties.

The Board of Trustees establishes the initial rent, and subsequent annual increases are based on the Consumer Price Index, with Board approval. In addition, if a substantial sum is spent to remodel or otherwise improve a house, the rent is adjusted upward to recover the investment over a period of time.

The university consults its Master Plan in deciding whether to sell a home. Sales must be brought to the Board for approval. An appraiser and private real estate agency set the sale price.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (DOT)

DOT buys properties to be demolished to make way for highway construction projects. According to DOT’s David Labossiere, most of these properties fall into two categories: those scheduled for demolition relatively soon, and those to be demolished at some later date. According to Labossiere, the department owned 154 residential properties on April 16, 2004. Although many of these properties will eventually be demolished, some may remain for years on DOT’s inventory because of delays in highway construction or changes in priority.

Labossiere reports that 43 vacant houses were slated for demolition as of June 7, 2004. Demolition had started on 31 of these houses by that date.

The remaining 111 properties are not scheduled for immediate demolition. These include 32 occupied houses, listed in Table 4. Of these, 27 are month-to-month “Rental Agreement” homes. Five are “Use and Occupancy (U&O)” homes. People living in U&O homes occupied the property when DOT bought it for highway construction. Most of these structures will be demolished when the occupants leave.

Table 4: DOT-owned Homes Occupied by Private Pndividuals

Source: DOT

DOT must give residential occupants (whether tenants or owners) at least 90 days notice before requiring them to vacate their homes. DOT charges tenants the same rent they paid their former landlord. DOT allows former homeowners to live rent-free for up to 120 days after the date on which DOT acquires title. After the 120 days, DOT can, at its discretion, either extend a U&O agreement or allow the tenants to rent the home on a month-to-month basis. The rental fee for month-to-month tenants is 6% of the purchase price, divided by 12 months.

If the person occupying the property at acquisition leaves it long before demolition is to start, DOT may rent it to private individuals or families as a month-to-month tenancy until the projects for which they were purchased either proceed (and the house is razed) or are cancelled.

Prospective tenants bid on the property, with the department selecting the person who has submitted the highest, most qualified offer. DOT updates the rental fee every two years. If a project is canceled the houses are sold by sealed public bid. We have attached a copy of DOT’s rental policies (Attachment “C”).

DOT estimates it has invested $ 1 million in these properties since acquiring them. Four employees oversee the properties.

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS (DPW)

According to DPW’s Doug Moore, two DPW-owned houses are occupied by private individuals. DPW leases a home on the Altobello Hospital campus in Meriden to State Police Major G. K. Sennick for $ 150 a month. Moore reports that the State Properties Review Board determined that the fair market monthly rent on the house was $ 1,350, and determined Sennick’s rent by subtracting from that amount the value of the security services he provides the department. Moore said Sennick provides six hours of security per week, valued at $ 50 an hour. DPW determined the monthly value of his services by multiplying $ 300 a week (6 hours at $ 50 an hour) by four weeks per month. DPW also reports it has invested $ 16,500 in the home over a period of three fiscal years.

A DPW-owned home at Seaside Regional Center in Waterford is occupied by Gregg Swanson. However, DPW does not directly lease the house to Swanson, who lived in the home rent-free while serving as a property manager for the firm that managed the property for DPW. The firm’s contract with DPW expired earlier this year and the firm did not re-bid. Moore says DPW and the attorney general’s office are now seeking to evict Swanson, whom DPW considers an illegal occupant.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (DEP)

DEP reports that it owns at least 138 buildings and homes. These 138 buildings, and their status, as of the date of this report, include:

Of these houses or buildings, 51 were formally appraised for fair market residential rental values in June 2003. All but seven of these are available for lease to department employees. According to DEP, two of the seven properties are occupied by non-DEP employees who have deeded or promised life-use privileges, two are recommended for demolition, and three are recommended for sale. DEP’s Tom Morrissey reports that the department may revise these recommendations.

Table 5 shows the 44 properties available to DEP employees.

Table 5: DEP Housing Planned for Lease to DEP Employees

Source: DEP Housing Policy and "Complete Residential Market Rental Valuations," June 2003

Table 6 shows 18 houses DEP leases to municipalities, individuals, and Quinnipiac University. Notes in the table indicate the plans for each dwelling.

Table 6: DEP-Owned Housing Leased to Non-DEP Employees