Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-285a: Percentage determination for school building project grants.

(a)(1) The percentage of school building project grant money a local board of education may be eligible to receive, under the provisions of section 10-286, shall be assigned by the Commissioner of Administrative Services in accordance with the percentage calculated by the Commissioner of Education as follows: (A) For grants approved pursuant to section 10-283 for which application is made on and after July 1, 1991, and before July 1, 2011, (i) each town shall be ranked in descending order from one to one hundred sixty-nine according to such town's adjusted equalized net grand list per capita, as defined in section 10-261; and (ii) based upon such ranking, a percentage of not less than twenty nor more than eighty shall be determined for each town on a continuous scale; (B) for grants approved pursuant to section 10-283 for which application is made on and after July 1, 2011, and before July 1, 2017, (i) each town shall be ranked in descending order from one to one hundred sixty-nine according to such town's adjusted equalized net grand list per capita, as defined in section 10-261, and (ii) based upon such ranking, (I) a percentage of not less than ten nor more than seventy shall be determined for new construction or replacement of a school building for each town on a continuous scale, and (II) a percentage of not less than twenty nor more than eighty shall be determined for renovations, extensions, code violations, roof replacements and major alterations of an existing school building and the new construction or replacement of a school building when a town or regional school district can demonstrate that a new construction or replacement is less expensive than a renovation, extension or major alteration of an existing school building for each town on a continuous scale; (C) for grants approved pursuant to section 10-283 for which application is made on and after July 1, 2017, and before June 1, 2022, (i) each town shall be ranked in descending order from one to one hundred sixty-nine according to the adjusted equalized net grand list per capita, as defined in section 10-261, of the town two, three and four years prior to the fiscal year in which application is made, (ii) based upon such ranking, (I) a percentage of not less than ten nor more than seventy shall be determined for new construction or replacement of a school building for each town on a continuous scale, and (II) a percentage of not less than twenty nor more than eighty shall be determined for renovations, extensions, code violations, roof replacements and major alterations of an existing school building and the new construction or replacement of a school building when a town or regional school district can demonstrate that a new construction or replacement is less expensive than a renovation, extension or major alteration of an existing school building for each town on a continuous scale; (D) except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, for grants approved pursuant to section 10-283 for which application is made on and after June 1, 2022, (i) each town shall be ranked in descending order from one to one hundred sixty-nine according to the adjusted equalized net grand list per capita, as defined in section 10-261, of the town two, three and four years prior to the fiscal year in which application is made, and (ii) based upon such ranking, (I) a percentage of not less than ten nor more than seventy shall be determined for new construction or replacement of a school building for each town on a continuous scale, and (II) a percentage of not less than twenty nor more than eighty shall be determined for renovations, extensions, code violations, roof replacements and major alterations of an existing school building and the new construction or replacement of a school building when a town or regional school district can demonstrate that a new construction or replacement is less expensive than a renovation, extension or major alteration of an existing school building for each town on a continuous scale; and (E) except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, for grants approved pursuant to section 10-283 for which application is made on and after July 1, 2024, (i) each town shall be ranked in descending order from one to one hundred sixty-nine according to the adjusted equalized net grand list per capita, as defined in section 10-261, of the town two, three and four years prior to the fiscal year in which application is made, and (ii) based upon such ranking, (I) a percentage of not less than ten nor more than eighty shall be determined for new construction or replacement of a school building for each town on a continuous scale, and (II) a percentage of not less than twenty nor more than eighty shall be determined for renovations, extensions, code violations, roof replacements and major alterations of an existing school building and the new construction or replacement of a school building when a town or regional school district can demonstrate that a new construction or replacement is less expensive than a renovation, extension or major alteration of an existing school building for each town on a continuous scale.

(2) For grants approved pursuant to section 10-283 for which application is made prior to July 1, 2047, the percentage of school building project grant money a local board of education for (A) any town with a total population of eighty thousand or greater may be eligible to receive shall be the greater of the percentage calculated pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection or sixty per cent, and (B) the town of Cheshire shall be the greater of the percentage calculated pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection or fifty per cent.

(b) (1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the percentage of school building project grant money a regional board of education may be eligible to receive under the provisions of section 10-286 shall be determined by its ranking. Such ranking shall be determined by (A) multiplying the total population, as defined in section 10-261, of each town in the district by such town's ranking, as determined in subsection (a) of this section, (B) adding together the figures determined under subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, and (C) dividing the total computed under subparagraph (B) of this subdivision by the total population of all towns in the district. The ranking of each regional board of education shall be rounded to the next higher whole number and each such board shall receive the same reimbursement percentage as would a town with the same rank plus ten per cent, except that no such percentage shall exceed eighty-five per cent.

(2) Any board of education of a regional school district established or expanded on or after July 1, 2016, that submits an application for a school building project (A) not later than ten years after the establishment or expansion of such regional school district, and (B) that is related to such establishment or expansion, may be eligible to receive a percentage of school building project grant money, under the provisions of section 10-286, as follows: The reimbursement percentage of the town in such regional school district with the greatest reimbursement percentage, as determined in subsection (a) of this section, plus ten per cent.

(c) The percentage of school building project grant money a regional educational service center may be eligible to receive shall be determined by its ranking. Such ranking shall be determined by (1) multiplying the population of each member town in the regional educational service center by such town's ranking, as determined in subsection (a) of this section; (2) adding together the figures for each town determined under subdivision (1) of this subsection, and (3) dividing the total computed under subdivision (2) of this subsection by the total population of all member towns in the regional educational service center. The ranking of each regional educational service center shall be rounded to the next higher whole number and each such center shall receive the same reimbursement percentage as would a town with the same rank.

(d) The percentage of school building project grant money a cooperative arrangement pursuant to section 10-158a, may be eligible to receive shall be determined by its ranking. Such ranking shall be determined by (1) multiplying the total population, as defined in section 10-261, of each town in the cooperative arrangement by such town's ranking, as determined in subsection (a) of this section, (2) adding the products determined under subdivision (1) of this subsection, and (3) dividing the total computed under subdivision (2) of this subsection by the total population of all towns in the cooperative arrangement. The ranking of each cooperative arrangement shall be rounded to the next higher whole number and each such cooperative arrangement shall receive the same reimbursement percentage as would a town with the same rank plus ten percentage points.

(e) (1) If an elementary school building project for a new building or for the expansion of an existing building includes space for an early childhood care and education program that provides services for children from birth to five years, the percentage determined pursuant to this section for the entire school building project shall be increased by fifteen percentage points, but shall not exceed one hundred per cent. Recipient districts shall maintain such early childhood care and education program for at least ten years.

(2) The percentage determined pursuant to this section for any school building project for a building or facility that will be used exclusively by a local or regional board of education for an early childhood care and education program that provides services for children from birth to five years shall be increased by fifteen percentage points, but shall not exceed one hundred per cent. Recipient districts shall maintain such early childhood care and education program for at least twenty years.

(f) The percentage determined pursuant to this section for a school building project grant for the expansion, alteration or renovation of an existing public school building to convert such building for use as a lighthouse school, as defined in section 10-266cc, shall be increased by ten percentage points.

(g) The percentage determined pursuant to this section for a school building project grant shall be increased by the percentage of the total projected enrollment of the school attributable to the number of spaces made available for out-of-district students participating in the program established pursuant to section 10-266aa, provided the maximum increase shall not exceed ten percentage points.

(h) Subject to the provisions of section 10-285d, if an elementary school building project for a school in a priority school district or for a priority school is necessary in order to offer a full-day kindergarten program or a full-day preschool program or to reduce class size pursuant to section 10-265f, the percentage determined pursuant to this section shall be increased by fifteen percentage points, but shall not exceed one hundred per cent, for the portion of the building used primarily for such full-day kindergarten program, full-day preschool program or such reduced size classes. Recipient districts that receive an increase pursuant to this subsection in support of a full-day preschool program shall maintain full-day preschool enrollment for at least ten years.

(i) For all projects authorized on or after July 1, 2007, all attorneys' fees and court costs related to litigation shall be eligible for state school construction grant assistance only if the grant applicant is the prevailing party in any such litigation.

(j) The percentage determined pursuant to this section for a school building project grant for a diversity school, approved pursuant to section 10-286h, shall be increased by ten percentage points.

(k) If a school building project for a new building or for the renovation or expansion of an existing building includes plans for the expansion or creation of in-district special education programming and services, the percentage determined pursuant to this section shall be increased by fifteen percentage points, but shall not exceed one hundred per cent, for the portion of the project used primarily for such purpose, provided the portion of such school building project that will be used primarily for such in-district special education programming and services shall be a part of a school building that is being used to provide a program of general education for nonspecial education students and is a part of the school building being constructed or renovated or expanded; and, provided further, any additional funding received by the local or regional board of education resulting from and related to the inclusion of such plans for the expansion or creation of in-district special education programming and services shall be expended for such construction or renovation or expansion.

(l) On and after July 1, 2026, for applications submitted pursuant to subsection (a) of section 10-283, the reimbursement percentage of school building project that a local or regional board of education or an endowed academy approved pursuant to section 10-34 shall be increased by five percentage points, provided such increase shall not result in a reimbursement percentage exceeding one hundred per cent, if the municipality (1) is in compliance with the provisions of section 8-13bb regarding its housing growth plan or compliance with a regional housing growth plan, as applicable, and has demonstrated steps such municipality has taken to implement its housing growth policies, (2) is a qualifying transit-oriented community pursuant to section 8-13hh, or (3) has adopted a development district established pursuant to a memorandum of agreement with the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority.