Substitute Bill No. 7209 - Summary

• Establishes the Connecticut Municipal Redevelopment Authority as a public instrumentality to stimulate economic development, transit-oriented development, and housing within designated downtown or transit-station areas of member municipalities.

• Creates a board of directors with representatives appointed by legislative leaders (six members), the Governor (two members), and five state officials serving ex officio; effective October 1, 2019.

• Allows municipalities with 70,000+ population (excluding Hartford and capital region cities) to voluntarily join; automatically includes designated tier III and tier IV municipalities; each member municipality must develop an economic development master plan for authority approval.

• Authorizes the authority to issue bonds and obligations, acquire/dispose of property, condemn properties, enter payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreements, and require minority business enterprise utilization goals of 10% for construction services and materials.

• Requires annual financial and compliance audits, semiannual reporting to appointing authorities, and mandates that any state/municipal funding requests for authority development projects include the authority's economic development statement and performance recommendations.