Workshops to Detail New State Grants for Towns Improving Commercial Centers

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Legislation approved earlier this year created the Main Street Investment Fund Program, which will provide grants of up to $500,000 to eligible municipalities (under 30,000 population) that have approved plans to develop or improve their town's commercial centers. The Main Street Investment Fund Program is administered by the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) through an application process. Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC), in collaboration with OPM, is holding a series of workshops to provide information on this program, including who may apply and project eligibility requirements. These workshops will be held around the State during the week of July 30, and are open to municipalities, town officials, economic development professionals and others interested in this program.

Eligible projects are those that are part of a plan (such as a Town Commercial Center Plan) previously approved by the governing body of the municipality to develop or improve town commercial centers are eligible. These plans should include strategies/improvements to attract small businesses, promote commercial viability, and improve aesthetics and pedestrian access.  The funds can be used for signage, lighting, landscaping, architectural features and cosmetic and structural exterior building improvement.

Additional information and registration is available at www.ctmainstreet.org  Towns must submit applications for the grants by September 28, 2012.

AG Settlement with JP Morgan Chase Brings $1 Million to CT

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Ten Connecticut municipalities, agencies, education institutions and not-for-profit entities are now eligible for more than a million dollars in restitution through a $92 million settlement reached with JP Morgan Chase & Co. (“JPMC”) last year, according to the Connecticut Attorney General's Office.  Details have been provided to the 10 entities  explaining  how they can receive restitution through the settlement, which was reached as part of an ongoing nationwide investigation into alleged anticompetitive and fraudulent conduct in the municipal bond derivatives industry. Connecticut led the multi-state investigation with Illinois, New York and Texas for the working group of 24 states and the District of Columbia.  The Connecticut entities eligible to participate in the settlement and receive restitution totaling $1,035,233.12 are:

  • Quinnipiac University – eligible for $280,669.12
  • Fairfield University – eligible for $243,371.96
  • The Corporation for Independent Living – eligible for $213,424.99
  • South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority – eligible for $128,341.50
  • Town of Stratford – eligible for $100,426.14
  • Yale University – eligible for $19,918.50
  • Town of Fairfield – eligible for $15,858.61
  • City of Bridgeport – eligible for $14,166.03
  • Connecticut Housing Finance Authority – eligible for $9,850.88
  • The Westminster School – eligible for $9,205.41

“Issuers including state and municipal government agencies and not-for-profit organizations entrusted taxpayer money to JPMC, and the company violated that trust by steering those funds into rigged or tainted municipal derivatives contracts,” said Attorney General George Jepsen, co-chair of the Antitrust Committee for the National Association of Attorneys General. “While it is up to each, individual entity to decide whether or not they want to participate in the settlement, I believe that the settlement is appropriate and will compensate these entities for the losses arising from this financial institution’s wrongful conduct.”

As part of the July 2011 settlement, JPMC agreed to pay $65.5 million in restitution to affected state agencies, municipalities, school districts and not-for-profit organizations that entered into municipal derivative contracts with the company between 2001 and 2005.  Municipal bond derivatives are contracts that tax-exempt issuers use to reinvest proceeds of bond sales until the funds are needed or to hedge interest-rate risk. In April 2008, the states began investigating allegations that certain large financial institutions – including national banks and insurance companies and certain brokers and swap advisors – engaged in various schemes to rig bids and commit other deceptive, unfair and fraudulent conduct in the municipal bond derivatives market.

The wrongful conduct took the form of bid-rigging, submission of noncompetitive courtesy bids and submission of fraudulent certifications of compliance to government agencies, among others, in contravention of U.S. Treasury regulations.  The objective was to enrich the financial institution and/or the broker at the expense of the issuer – and ultimately taxpayers – by depriving the issuer of a competitive, transparent marketplace. As a result, state, city, local and not-for-profit entities entered into municipal derivatives contracts on less advantageous terms than they would have otherwise.

 

State's Residential Solar Investment Program Off to Fast Start

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The Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) has announced that one month in to a new Residential Solar Investment Program (Program) it has already approved 126 applications for installations of photovoltaic rooftop systems.  Bryan Garcia, President of CEFIA said, “The initial response to our new program has been dramatic, demonstrating strong public interest in solar power and the dynamic nature of our state’s solar industry.  We will be providing approximately $1.4 million in funding for these first 126 installations leveraging $2.8 million of additional private capital, which will produce more than 800 kW of new residential solar capacity.” Garcia noted that more than one-third of the 70 approved installation companies in CEFIA’s program have been involved in submitting the initial applications for the solar installations.  

Regionalism, State-Local Collaboration Key to Fiscal Future

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The Connecticut Institute for the 21st Century, in a report issued this month and highlighted at a CCSU conference this week, has found that Connecticut’s local expenditures now total $12 billion annually, and have risen 262% faster than the median income in Connecticut over the past 6 years. The organizations reports that:

  • Local expenditures increased 11.6% to $12 billion
  • Combined state and local expenditures increased 15.1% to $34.7 billion
  • Median personal income increased 3.2%

The report, “Framework for Connecticut’s Fiscal Future,” called for stronger action across municipalities in procurement reform, shared services, establishment of a uniform chart of accounts, and greater regional coordination in planning and development.  The document stressed that “home-rule” does not rule out cooperation.

Among the conclusions:  “Connecticut has too many state, local and education structures. They overlap, they are not aligned, they compete for funds.”  Beyond that, “the proliferation of local governments and the fragmentation of the state into tiny jurisdictions creates a staggering array of cots and a race to the bottom competition among municipalities for desirable commercial, industrial and residential taxes.”

The good news?  Connecticut has the resources to enable change, can redefine regional structures, break down state agency silos and achieve procurement reform.  And those are among the recommendations.

State Treasury's Big List Helps Return $2.6 Million

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The Office of State Treasurer Denise Nappier reports that $2.6 million has been returned to 2,611 rightful owners of the assets since last November, when the Treasury published the CT Big List – a compilation of individuals eligible to claim assets turned over to the state by financial institutions unable to locate rightful owners. The state holds the assets until rightful owners are located and verified, and publishes a list – in print and online – to help match money with owners.  The claims include dormant balances in savings and checking accounts, unredeemed stocks and bonds, unreturned security deposits and uncashed checks, such as wages or commissions.

A majority of the claims paid were under $1,000; the largest was for $76,948.  The State Treasury has received 348,910 hits on CTBigList.com since November.  Nearly 50,000 names were included on the list published last fall.  State law requires the list to be published every other year.