You asked us to update OLR Report 2012-R-0068, which reports the results of a survey of Connecticut boards of education about their use of eminent domain for school projects in the last five years. Specifically, you wanted to know whether boards took residential property by eminent domain; whether the property owners contested a board's offer of compensation in court; and, for each court case, whether the court awarded different compensation than the board offered.

SUMMARY

Since our previous report, we received responses from an additional 35 boards of education. Only one (Ellington) reported a project which required the board to acquire property and the board did not use its eminent domain authority. Table one displays the additional boards of education that responded to our survey.

Table 1: Additional Boards of Education Responding to Our Survey

The section below updates the information contained in OLR Report 2012-R-0068.

SCHOOL PROJECTS AND EMINENT DOMAIN

The law allows boards of education to take property by eminent domain for school projects (CGS § 10-241a). In doing so, the board must seek town approval and follow the eminent domain procedures set out for redevelopment projects (see CGS § 8-129 et seq.). According to these procedures, the board must offer a property owner compensation for property taken by eminent domain, the owner can ask a court to review the board's offer of compensation, and the court can order a different amount.

We surveyed the state's 165 boards of education. We received responses from 94 or 56%. For these responding boards, only six reported conducting a project between 2007 and 2011 that required the board to acquire property. The six boards reported a total of seven projects during this time period, only three of which required the board to use its eminent domain authority. Waterbury reported taking six private residences by eminent domain, four of the owners contested the compensation for their property, and in all four cases the court awarded the owners the same amount that the board had offered as compensation.

Table 2 displays the updated survey results, showing the towns that reported conducting projects that required the board to acquire property in the last five years.

Table 2: Boards Reporting Projects Involving Property Acquisition and Use of Eminent Domain from 2007 to 2011

* Board took farm property by eminent domain, the owner contested compensation in court, and the court awarded less than the board's offer of compensation.

Table 3 lists the 86 boards of education that responded to our survey and reported no projects requiring property acquisition, by eminent domain or otherwise, from 2007 to 2011.

Table 3: Boards of Education Reporting No Projects Requiring Property Acquisition from 2007 to 2011

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