Chapter I

Overview of DPW Administration

Over the past 25 years the Department of Public Works has undergone a number of significant changes. Structurally, the department was one of a number of agencies that were combined into a super agency as part of a major reorganization of state government in 1977 (P.A. 77-614). Under the reorganization most of DPW's non-administrative responsibilities such as facilities design, construction, leasing, and maintenance were assigned to a single bureau, known as the Bureau of Public Works, within the Department of Administrative Services (DAS).

In the 1980s, dissatisfaction with the services provided by the new DAS bureau began to appear in the form of legislation exempting certain agencies from some aspects of the bureau's jurisdiction. In 1981, authority over the construction and planning of capital projects related to mass transit, marine, and aviation transportation was transferred from the bureau to the Department of Transportation (P.A. 81-421). Responsibility for maintenance of the capitol building and grounds was removed from the bureau and given to the General Assembly's legislative management committee in 1982 (P.A. 82-438). A year later, the buildings and grounds occupied by the Connecticut Marketing Authority was exempted from the bureau's jurisdiction (P.A. 83-487).

In 1984, responsibility for the planning and construction of certain projects related to the Judicial Department and maintenance of all property under the control of the department was transferred from the public works bureau to the chief court administrator (P.A. 84-436). Also in 1984, the exemption of the capitol building and grounds from the jurisdiction of the bureau was extended to all buildings under the control of the legislative management committee (P.A. 84-48). The following year, authority over the planning and construction of a legislative office building and capital improvements to all facilities under control of the legislature was removed from the bureau and assigned to the legislative management committee (P.A. 85-301).

In 1987, the Department of Public Works was reestablished as an independent state agency (P.A.87-496). The rationale for recreating the department was based in part on the notion that much of the ineffective and bureaucratic action associated with the Bureau of Public Works was caused by the constraints inherent in operating in a super agency such as DAS.

However, the establishment of an independent public works agency did not stop other units of state government from pursuing attempts to gain control over the planning, construction, maintenance, leasing of their facilities. In 1988 DPW's authority to represent the state in leasing residential property for use by the Department of Mental Retardation (DMR) was transferred to DMR (P.A. 88-28). In 1992, the Department of Public Safety was give authority over the care and control of property used in connection with the division of fire and building safety (P.A. 92-130). In 1995, a billion dollars worth of construction and maintenance projects at the University of Connecticut were given a statutory exemption from the DPW's jurisdiction (P.A. 95-230).

Major Responsibilities

The current major statutory responsibilities of the Department of Public Works can be summarized as follows:

• To plan and construct capital improvement projects undertaken by the state with certain exceptions;
• To select design professional firms to assist in the development of plans and specifications;
• To provide technical advice and assistance to state agencies in developing plans for improving their facilities;
• To cooperate with OPM and the General Assembly in developing a capital program and budget;
• To purchase or lease of property and space to house state agencies;
• To maintain an inventory of all state owned or leased property and space-utilization data; and
• To supervision the care and control of the buildings and grounds owned or leased by the state in Hartford.

DPW Organization

During the year 2000, the Department of Public Works began an agency-wide reorganization. The new structure reflects the department's most recent strategic business plan. According to the DPW commissioner, the plan is the department's attempt to assess its operations, establish a direction for the future, and assign responsibility. Full implementation of the new organization is underway. A current organizational chart is illustrated in Figure I-1.

DPW's core functions are distributed among various divisions including Risk Management, Technical Resources, Client Service Teams, and Facilities Management. Of these, only Risk Management reports directly to the commissioner. The remaining units, shown across of lower half of the organizational chart, report to the chief deputy commissioner. A brief description of the responsibilities of each unit follows.

Risk Management. Created three years ago, this unit serves to coordinate the planning, budget, and resource allocation process. The unit is responsible for identifying and mitigating financial or programmatic risk to DPW. To accomplish this, the unit consists of the following functions: Human Resources, Information Technology, Financial Management, Process Management, and Statewide Security.

Related to this study, it should be noted there is one staff person in Process Management who is responsible for reviewing all requests for leased space.

Technical Resources Unit. This unit provides state agencies with advice and oversees their activities on statewide initiatives dealing with hazardous materials, underground tanks, environmental evaluation, and energy conservation. The unit assists state agencies that are managing minor capital projects (under $500,000). It also collects and evaluates information on the claims filed against DPW and assists the Office of the Attorney General in handling the claims.

Client Service Teams Unit. This unit is responsible for most of the facility construction undertaken by the state. The unit's functions include assisting agencies in the early planning of a project, overseeing the design phase, managing the bid process, and management of construction from the beginning through project close-out. The client service unit has five subunits organized around agency groupings. The subunits include higher education; health and human services; judicial and general government; community technical colleges; and selection, which oversees the process for obtaining services.

Property Acquisition. This unit, consisting of one full-time employee reporting to a deputy commissioner, works with the Office of Policy and Management to buy, convey, and/or sell property for the state. According to the DPW strategic business plan, this unit is undergoing some restructuring which will be addressed at a later time.

Facilities Management. The focus of this unit is the management of DPW facilities and space. The unit is divided into five sections:

Property Management - oversees the contracted management of the various buildings and grounds under the care and control of DPW.

Operations and Trades - provides in-house property management including custodial services and professional services such mechanical, heating, ventilating and air conditioning.

Risk and Asset Management - provides a variety of support services including space use management, preventive building maintenance program, oversight of environmental/energy/safety compliance in DPW managed buildings, and maintain the DPW land and building inventory.

Security - provides security services for the State Office Building and surrounding grounds.

Leasing - handles all leases whether for client agency use or a lease-out of state owned property for public use. The department's leasing function was transferred to the Facilities Management unit in late 2000. Prior to this reorganization, the leasing function was a separate unit.

DPW Leasing and Property Transfer

As described above, various aspects of the space acquisition function are handled by staff in three different DPW units. Figure I-1 highlights the units involved.

Staffing levels. During the early 90s, all leasing and property transfer functions were found within one unit which contained eleven staff members including a leasing director. Attrition, early retirements, and the state's hiring freeze have reduced the number of staff available to perform this function to five individuals including: three leasing agents, one supervisor, and one administrative employee. Transactions involving leased facilities are carried out by this leasing unit which is supervised by the director of the Facilities Management Division. However, requests for leased facilities are initially reviewed by one staff person in the Process Management unit within the Risk Management Division.

Purchases and sales of state property are separately overseen by a deputy commissioner and a project manager assigned to the Property Acquisition unit.

Funding. Overall, expenditures for leasing and property transfer totaled $6,846,790 in FY00. The leasing and property transfer budget includes costs for personal services, rents and moving expenses. DPW is statutorily responsible for the care and control of executive branch leased property in the city of Hartford. This responsibility consumes approximately 90 percent of the unit's expenditures.

As outlined in Figure I-2, total budget expenditures for this function have significantly decreased since FY92. In FY92, the unit's expenditures totaled approximately $14.5 million representing 37 percent of the agency's budget compared to just under $7 million and 14 percent of the department's $48.5 million expenditures in FY00.

During the 90s, the department pursued and implemented the state's initiative of less reliance on lease space. As a result, there has been a dramatic change in expenditures due to a considerable decrease in the total amount of rents and moving expenses which are contained within the leasing and property transfer budget.

Other Agencies Involved in Space Acquisition & Disposal

Although DPW is the central focus of this study, it is difficult to evaluate the department's performance without consideration of the roles played by other agencies involved in space acquisition. The Office of Policy and Management (OPM), the State Properties Review Board (SPRB), the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), and tenant agencies all play roles in the process and thus impact DPW's performance. The following provides a brief description of the major players and their role. More specific detail on their involvement in the process is outlined in subsequent chapters.

DPW tenant agencies. As noted previously, the Department of Public Works is statutorily responsible for all state agency space acquisitions with a few exceptions. The Departments of Labor and Transportation, all transactions involving the legislative branch, as well as certain projects by the University of Connecticut, Department of Public Safety, the Judicial department, and residential leases for the Department of Mental Retardation have been made statutorily exempt from DPW's jurisdiction.

Except for the fore mentioned exemptions, every agency under DPW's jurisdiction is required to submit all requests for space to the department. It is each agency's responsibility to estimate its space requirements, secure funding for its needs, and notify DPW of its intent to renew, relocate, or in any way modify its current space status.

OPM - Organization & Role

Created in 1977, the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) serves as the Governor's staff agency. It's primary function is to provide information and analysis used to formulate public policy goals for the state. OPM prepares the Governor's budget proposal and oversees the execution of the budget as approved by the general assembly. In addition, OPM is responsible for coordinating intra-agency and inter-agency efforts to implement state policy decisions.

Originally, the general statutes charged DPW with responsibility for coordinating the real estate function for the state of Connecticut, but beginning in July 1992, some of the real property management functions were turned over to OPM.

The Bureau of Real Property Management was established within the Office of Policy and Management through legislative action. The bureau was charged with determining statewide facility requirements and examining property assets in a broader context. Its purpose was to make assessments beyond agency specific program needs and develop a wider range of options consistent with statewide policy.

Currently, the bureau is known as Assets Management within OPM's Policy Development and Planning Division. There are seven divisions within OPM that report to the Office of the Secretary. These include: Budget and Financial Management; Office of Finance; Intergovernmental Policy; Office of Labor Relations; Policy Development and Planning; Strategic Management; and Division of Administration.

Of these divisions, Policy Development and Planning has the most impact on state leasing, acquisition, and disposal transactions. Within the division, the Assets Management unit, consisting of two analysts and a unit director, evaluates and makes recommendations regarding asset management ensuring appropriate use and consistency with long-range capital and program plans. It also maintains an inventory of the state's real property.

In addition, financial analysts assigned to the individual tenant agencies within OPM's Budget division also get involved in the space acquisition process. Further discussion of OPM's role in space acquisition is provided in subsequent chapters.

State Properties Review Board

The State Properties Review Board (SPRB) was statutorily created in 1975 after a legislative investigation of improprieties in leasing. The board's purpose is to provide guidance and assistance to state agencies to ensure that real estate transactions are done in a professional manner, that costs are reasonable, and that proposals are in compliance with state laws, regulations and procedures.

By law, the board is authorized to review and approve proposed actions involving: 1) the acquisition, construction, development, or leasing of real estate or buildings for state agency use; 2) the lease or sale of real estate by any state agency to third parties; and 3) the selection of and contracts with design professional selected by the public works and transportation commissioners. It considers the feasibility and method of acquisition and the prudence of the business method proposed.

The State Properties Review Board is responsible as well for overseeing the Agriculture Department's acquisition of developmental rights to agricultural land and certain Department of Transportation acquisitions and settlements. The board must also review and comment on two statutorily required reports: the Department of Public Work's annual state agency real estate report and the Statewide Facility and Capital Plan (FACCAP) prepared by the Office of Policy and Management.

Membership, Qualifications, and Terms. Statutorily, the board has six part-time members: three appointed jointly by the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore and three appointed jointly by the House and Senate minority leaders. No more than three of the members may be of the same political party.

Of three members appointed by the speaker and the Senate president pro tempore, one must be experienced in architecture, one in building construction, and one in engineering. Of the three appointed by the minority leaders, one must be experienced in real estate and building purchasing, selling, and leasing; one in general business matters; and one in management and operation of state buildings. No member may hold any other state or municipal government job, be directly involved in any enterprise that does business with the state, or be directly or indirectly involved in any enterprise concerned with real estate acquisition or development.

The board is considered an independent body within the executive branch. Members serve staggered four-year terms. Members receive $200 per day up to a maximum of $25,000 per year. The members choose their own chairman. Current board member's terms expire as follows:

The State Properties Review Board is staffed by six full-time employees. The day to day operations of the board are overseen by an executive director and a professional planning analyst. Four support staff handle the administrative and clerical aspects of the board's activities.

Office of the Attorney General (OAG)

Established in 1897, the Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the state. The office serves as legal counsel to all state agencies to protect the public interest. The office is statutorily responsible for determining the legal sufficiency of all state realty contracts and leases, both as to substance and to form. The office is also responsible for enforcement of all terms of all agreements, including, but not limited to, the obligations of all landlords to meet the terms of leases.

Organizationally, the OAG has 16 legal departments covering the vast array of state agencies and services. Real estate transactions are handled within one department by a unit manager and four attorneys. Although assignments are made according to time and workload constraints, one attorney is generally responsible for property transfers, another is assigned to lease transactions while the remaining two are primarily litigators.

Return to Table of Contents