AN ACT CONCERNING A PILOT REVENUE PROGRAM FOR COMMUNITY PRESERVATION AND INVESTMENT IN THE CONNECTICUT RIVER AND NIANTIC RIVER GATEWAY AND EIGHT MILE RIVER WATERSHED REGIONS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage and applicable to conveyances of real property occurring on or after July 1, 2006, and prior to October 1, 2011) There shall be established a pilot program regarding a local option municipal conveyance tax for certain community preservation and investment purposes. A municipality located within the: (1) Lower Connecticut River Gateway Conservation Zone, as defined in section 25-102c of the general statutes, (2) Niantic River Gateway Conservation Zone, as defined in section 25-109d of the general statutes, or (3) Eight Mile River watershed which, for purposes of this section, shall consist of the towns of East Haddam, Lyme and Salem, may impose a buyer's tax on the conveyance of real property at the rate of not more than one-half of one per cent of the consideration paid by the buyer in excess of one hundred thousand dollars. Such tax shall be retained by the municipality, shall be kept in a separate account and shall be used for any of the following purposes, at the option of the municipality: (A) Purchase or protection of open space land, forest or farm land by the municipality or by the municipality in cooperation with the state or federal government or with a private organization such as a land trust, (B) purchase or protection of land used for recreation, including land for playing fields, beaches and shoreline access, (C) purchase or protection of interests in real property to establish access to public trust waters, (D) brownfield remediation, or (E) purchase of property or development rights for affordable housing.