Sec. 7-621. Hartford Sewerage System Repair and Improvement Fund.
Sec. 7-623. Metropolitan District of Hartford County. Community outreach liaison.
Sec. 7-621. Hartford Sewerage System Repair and Improvement Fund. (a) The Comptroller shall establish the Hartford Sewerage System Repair and Improvement Fund. Said fund may contain any moneys required or permitted by law to be deposited in the fund and any funds received from any public or private contributions, gifts, grants, donations, bequests or devises to the fund. The moneys in said fund shall be expended by the Comptroller for the purposes of (1) developing and administering the program established pursuant to section 7-622, (2) providing compensation to the administrator appointed pursuant to subsection (b) of said section, (3) contracting with a licensed home inspector or insurance adjuster and reimbursing eligible applicants for costs associated with hiring licensed home inspectors and insurance adjusters pursuant to subsection (c) of said section, and (4) providing compensation to any judge trial referee assigned pursuant to subsection (d) of said section.
(b) The city of Hartford may contribute funds to the Hartford Sewerage System Repair and Improvement Fund established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.
(P.A. 23-204, S. 142; P.A. 24-81, S. 23.)
History: P.A. 23-204 effective June 12, 2023; P.A. 24-81 amended Subsec. (a)(2) by changing reference from Sec. 7-622 to Sec. 7-622(b), Subsec. (a)(3) by changing “reimbursing the Metropolitan District of Hartford County and eligible applicants for costs associated with providing and hiring inspectors pursuant to section 7-622” to “contracting with a licensed home inspector or insurance adjuster and reimbursing eligible applicants for costs associated with hiring licensed home inspectors and insurance adjusters pursuant to subsection (c) of said section”, Subsec. (a)(4) by changing “administrator hired” to “judge trial referee assigned” and changing reference from Sec. 7-622 to 7-622(d), and Subsec. (b) by adding “subsection (a) of”, effective May 30, 2024.
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Sec. 7-622. Grant program for repairs necessitated by and reimbursements for costs associated with property damage due to flooding. (a) Not later than January 1, 2024, the Comptroller shall develop a grant program to provide financial (1) assistance to eligible owners of real property in the city of Hartford to pay for repairs to such property necessitated by flood damage caused on or after January 1, 2021, and (2) reimbursement to residents of the city of Hartford for costs associated with damage to personal property due to flooding occurring on or after said date.
(b) The Governor shall appoint an administrator to administer the program developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section not later than August 1, 2023. The administrator shall be a resident of the city of Hartford and have experience in environmental justice issues and insurance policy claims determinations. Not later than July 15, 2023, the state representatives and state senators for the city of Hartford shall provide the Governor a list of not fewer than two candidates for consideration and the Governor may select and appoint one of such candidates as the administrator or select and appoint a candidate of the Governor's own choosing. The administrator shall be employed pursuant to a personal service agreement and compensated at a per diem rate commensurate with the per diem compensation provided a senior judge pursuant to section 51-47b for each day's service performed in connection with such appointment.
(c) (1) The administrator shall develop an application process and eligibility criteria for the grant program. Such process and criteria shall be approved by the Comptroller.
(A) Such application shall include, but need not be limited to, if applicable, a copy of any determination made on any claim for such damage against any property and casualty insurance policy issued to an applicant, including any amounts paid to such applicant pursuant to such claim.
(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (C) of this subdivision, such eligibility criteria shall include, but need not be limited to, requirements that any such applicant (i) owned real property in the city of Hartford that was damaged by flooding on or after January 1, 2021, or (ii) is a resident of the city of Hartford and owned personal property in said city that was damaged by flooding on or after said date. No applicant shall be deemed ineligible solely because such (I) applicant's property was not insured at the time such damage occurred, or (II) applicant did not receive payment pursuant to any such claim.
(C) No applicant who submits an application on or after May 1, 2025, shall be eligible for financial assistance for repairs to real property unless (i) such applicant requested an assessment from the Metropolitan District of Hartford County pursuant to the district's sewer back-up prevention and reporting program on or before April 30, 2025, or (ii) the administrator determines, in accordance with criteria approved by the Comptroller, that extenuating circumstances prevented such applicant from requesting such assessment. The administrator, in consultation with the Metropolitan District of Hartford County, shall verify that an applicant timely requested an assessment from the district.
(2) The administrator shall review applications for participation in the grant program and determine each applicant's eligibility for the grant program in accordance with the eligibility criteria developed pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection not later than thirty days after receipt of any such application.
(3) If the administrator determines that an applicant requesting assistance to pay for repairs to real property is eligible, (A) a licensed home inspector or insurance adjuster with whom the Office of the Comptroller has executed a contract for services, or (B) at such eligible applicant's option, licensed home inspector or insurance adjuster with experience assessing flood damage who is approved by the administrator and hired by such eligible applicant, shall evaluate the damage to the applicant's property and provide a report concerning such damage to the administrator. Such report shall be in a form and manner prescribed by the administrator, and shall include, but need not be limited to, a description of the damage to such eligible applicant's property and the estimated cost to repair such damage. Not later than thirty days after the receipt of such report, the administrator may award a grant, in accordance with a formula established by the Comptroller, to the eligible applicant, or at the administrator's discretion, provide such grant to a contractor or vendor selected by the applicant to repair such damage. Such formula shall include a reduction in the amount of any such grant equal to any payments received by the applicant pursuant to any claim made against a property and casualty insurance policy held by such applicant for such damage.
(4) Not later than thirty days after a determination that an applicant is eligible for reimbursement for costs associated with damage to personal property pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, the administrator shall award a grant to the eligible applicant in accordance with a formula established by the Comptroller, which may include a reduction in the amount of any such grant equal to any payments received by the applicant pursuant to any claim made against a property and casualty insurance policy held by such applicant for such damage.
(5) The total amount of any grants awarded pursuant to this section to an eligible applicant for repairs to real property and reimbursement for costs associated with damage to personal property where such property was utilized for business purposes at the time such damage was incurred shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars.
(6) Any eligible applicant that hires a licensed home inspector or insurance adjuster pursuant to subdivision (3) of this subsection may request reimbursement for the costs of the evaluation conducted pursuant to said subdivision in a form and manner prescribed by the administrator. The administrator shall reimburse such eligible applicant for any such reasonable costs.
(d) (1) Any applicant may appeal a decision of the administrator concerning such applicant's eligibility for the grant program or the amount of a grant awarded to such applicant not later than thirty days after the issuance of such decision by filing a notice of intent to appeal with the Comptroller. Any such appeal shall be heard by a judge trial referee assigned by the Chief Court Administrator, who shall be compensated in accordance with the provisions of section 52-434 from funds made available to the Comptroller.
(2) In any appeal taken pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, a judge trial referee may consider evidence presented by the applicant, administrator or other interested party, including, but not limited to, testimony or reports prepared by or on behalf of such parties. The applicant shall have the burden of demonstrating by a preponderance of evidence that such applicant is eligible for the grant program and assistance to pay for repairs to real property or reimbursement for costs associated with damage to personal property. Upon such demonstration, the judge trial referee shall award a grant to such applicant in accordance with the formula established by the Comptroller. Any decision made pursuant to this subsection shall be issued not later than sixty days following the end of the hearing and shall be final.
(e) Upon the request of a tenant residing in a residential building or occupying a commercial property that was damaged by flooding on or after January 1, 2021, the administrator shall notify the owner of such residential building of the availability of the program developed and administered pursuant to this section by mail or electronic mail, if such owner's mailing address or electronic mail address are known to the administrator.
(f) The program established pursuant to this section shall terminate upon the exhaustion of the Hartford Sewerage System Repair and Improvement Fund established pursuant to section 7-621.
(P.A. 23-204, S. 143; P.A. 24-81, S. 24.)
History: P.A. 23-204 effective June 12, 2023; P.A. 24-81 amended Subsec. (c)(1) by designating existing provision re including copy of determination on casualty insurance policy claim in application as new Subpara. (A) and existing provisions re eligibility criteria as new Subpara. (B), changing “property owner” to “applicant”, deleting former Subpara. (A) requiring property owner to be resident of city of Hartford, redesignating existing Subpara. (B) as new Subpara. (B)(i), eliminating requirement re ownership of personal property, adding new Subpara. (B)(ii) re residence in city of Hartford and ownership of personal property, redesignating existing Subpara. (B)(i) and (ii) as Subpara. (B)(i)(I) and (II), and adding Subpara. (C) re applicants who submit applications on or after May 1, 2025, amended Subsec. (c)(3)(A) by changing “an inspector employed by the Metropolitan District of Hartford County” to “a licensed home inspector or insurance adjuster with whom the Office of the Comptroller has executed a contract for services”, amended Subsec. (c)(3)(B) by changing “an inspector” to “licensed home inspector or insurance adjuster” and authorizing administrator to provide grant to contractor or vendor, added new Subsec. (c)(5) re $50,000 cap on total grants awarded to certain applicants, redesignated existing Subsec. (c)(5) as Subsec. (c)(6), and changed “licensed inspector” to “licensed home inspector or insurance adjuster”, amended Subsec. (d) by designating existing provisions re applicant's appeal of administrator's decision as Subdiv. (1) and eliminating provisions re appeal to Comptroller and authority of Comptroller to hire administrator for purpose of appeals, adding provisions re filing of notice of intent to appeal with the Comptroller and hearing of appeal by judge trial referee, and adding Subdiv. (2) re evidence and burden of demonstrating eligibility on appeal, awarding of grant to successful appellant and issuance of decision, and made technical and conforming changes throughout, effective May 30, 2024.
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Sec. 7-623. Metropolitan District of Hartford County. Community outreach liaison. Not later than January 1, 2024, the Metropolitan District of Hartford County shall designate an employee of the district to serve as a community outreach liaison. Such employee shall (1) respond to inquiries relating to the grant program developed in section 7-622, (2) assist owners of real and personal property in applying to participate in such program, and (3) engage in activities to promote community awareness of the availability of such program, including, but not limited to, contacting individuals known to have experienced real or personal property damage due to flooding and sewerage back-up issues in order to provide information concerning the grant program and the availability of licensed inspectors.
(P.A. 23-204, S. 144.)
History: P.A. 23-204 effective June 12, 2023.
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