Areas of Focus

Municipal Funding Option

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Enabling a Local Option for Land Conservation, Stewardship Funding, Climate Resilience, and other Environmental Projects

THE PROBLEM:  Funding for open space acquisition and stewardship is more imperiled than ever. Difficult economic conditions at the state and local levels, coupled with a climate crisis requiring immediate action, underscore the need to provide Connecticut’s cities and towns with a sustainable source of revenue for land conservation and stewardship, and to address climate change at the local level that would not impact the municipal mill rate or require additional bonding.

THE SOLUTION: The Municipal Open Space Funding Option is proposed enabling legislation that would allow, but not require, towns and cities to establish a limited buyer’s conveyance fee program to fund projects including but not limited to land conservation and stewardship, farmland preservation, and the implementation of strategies to address climate change at the local level.

pathway into the trees during the summer
Katharine Lange

2021 Legislation

HB 6441: AN ACT CONCERNING CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

See Section 3 for enabling legislation for municipal conveyance fee program.

HB 6441 was introduced by request of the Governor pursuant to Joint Rule 9 to implement the Governor's budget recommendations.

View the Governor's Summary of An Act Concerning Climate Change Adaptation »

HB 6441 Section 3 enables municipalities to adopt a real estate conveyance fee to fund local climate mitigation, resilience and adaptation strategies, and other community environmental projects.

The legislation is structured to ensure that the program does not undermine the development of affordable housing in the participating municipalities.

View the Municipal Option FAQ »

Benefits

This local, dedicated fund may be used to:

  • Purchase, preserve, and steward open space, forest, and farm lands. (Note, only municipalities which meet the state's affordable housing requirements may use of the funds for land acquisition. See the FAQ for more information.)
  • Implement climate resilience, mitigation or adaptation strategies.
  • Fulfill match requirements for state or federal grant programs.
  • Cover the costly expenses associated with acquiring land (appraisals, surveys, environmental assessments, etc.).
  • Repay existing or future municipal bonds used for conservation purposes.
  • Help cover the costs of stewardship of a community’s open space properties, water resources, and farmland.
  • Fund environmental projects such as brownfields remediation, urban forestry, and tree planting.
  • The Governor’s bill proposes a progressive fee system and seeks to address impacts on the development of affordable housing.

Nearby states (MA, NY, RI, PA, WV) have allowed some municipalities to enact a buyers' conveyance fee, with the income dedicated to conserving and caring for local natural areas. These programs have proven remarkably successful, resulting in the protection of thousands of acres of open space, forests, meadows, and farms. With your help we can provide Connecticut towns with an opportunity to replicate those successes in their own communities.

Fast Facts

  • Nature-based solutions, including open spaces, forests, wetlands, soils, and farmland, play an essential role in addressing the impacts of climate change by absorbing greenhouse gases and offsetting the release of carbon emissions due to active development.
  • Open space and recreation generate $502 million in state and local tax revenue.
  • When Eastern Long Island tested a local option for open space, it generated over $1.1 billion and protected more than 10,000 acres.

Additional Areas of Focus

We organize our advocacy work and programming around these areas:

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Strengthen Land Conservation in Connecticut

There are many challenges in land conservation, but we have never yielded. We’ve always found our strength in the support of people who care for the environment as much we do. We can achieve so much more working with one another than alone.

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