State Now Accepting Applications for Stimulus ‘Recovery Zone’ Program

 

Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced the state is now accepting applications for $225 million in special bonding available through a new federal stimulus program for eligible shovel-ready construction projects throughout the state. 

 

“This new stimulus program is an opportunity to build upon the progress we have made on Connecticut’s responsible growth agenda by jump-starting many worthwhile projects,” said Governor Rell. “By lowering the costs of financing for these shovel-ready projects, we are providing a boost to the local and state economies and putting people to work when they need it most.”

 

The Governor said $90 million is for tax credit bonding for governmental-purpose projects by cities and towns, among others, and $135 million is for private sector projects.  Sixty-two communities in Connecticut are eligible for this self-sustaining financing.

 

In June, the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled the Recovery Zone Bond program, authorized through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The federal program makes available $25 billion in bond authority to boost critical financing and to stimulate economic development projects in “recovery zones,” specially designated areas with significant poverty, unemployment, foreclosures or general distress.  The breakdown of allocations available to Connecticut is below.

 

The Recovery Zone Bond program is jointly administered by the Connecticut Development Authority (CDA) and the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).  The designated recovery zones are based on existing criteria for federal entitlement communities, public investment communities, targeted investment communities (those communities that have enterprise zones), distressed municipalities and enterprise corridor zones.  A complete list of the towns designated recovery zones is below.

 

The Recovery Act allocates Recovery Zone bonding both directly to the state’s largest municipalities and on a county basis. 

 

The awarding of bond allocations for projects will be made on a competitive, ongoing basis by CDA based on criteria established by DECD and CDA.  CDA will be the conduit of the self-sustaining tax exempt bonds, which must be issued before January 1, 2011 for the projects selected.

 

For more information on the program and the application process, visit www.ctcda.com.

 

 

AREA	RZEDBs	RZFBs	TOTAL
Bridgeport	$4,003,000	$6,004,000	$10,007,000
Hartford	$1,006,000	$1,509,000	$2,515,000
New Haven	$2,248,000	$3,371,000	$5,619,000
Stamford	$4,428,000	$6,642,000	$11,070,000
Waterbury	$5,386,000	$8,079,000	$13,465,000
Fairfield County	$26,837,000	$40,255,000	$67,092,000
Hartford County	$9,935,000	$14,903,000	$24,838,000
Litchfield County	$1,795,000	$2,693,000	$4,488,000
Middlesex County	$2,700,000	$4,050,000	$6,750,000
New Haven County	$18,791,000	$28,187,000	$46,978,000
New London County	$6,459,000	$9,689,000	$16,148,000
Tolland County	$1,944,000	$2,916,000	$4,860,000
Windham County	$4,468,000	$6,702,000	$11,170,000
TOTAL	$90,000,000	$135,000,000	$225,000,000

 

Note:  The above chart reflects both types of Recovery Zone bonds – Recovery Zone Facility Bonds and Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds. 

 

 

 

	Municipality
1	Ansonia	17	Enfield	32	New Britain	48	Sterling
2	Ashford	18	Fairfield	33	New Haven	49	Stratford
3	Beacon Falls	19	Greenwich	34	New London	50	Thomaston
4	Bloomfield	20	Griswold	35	North Canaan	51	Thompson
5	Bridgeport	21	Groton	36	Norwalk	52	Torrington
6	Bristol	22	Hamden	37	Norwich	53	Vernon
7	Brooklyn	23	Hampton	38	Plainfield	54	Voluntown
8	Canterbury	24	Hartford	39	Plainville	55	Waterbury
9	Chaplin	25	Killingly	40	Plymouth	56	West Hartford
10	Colchester	26	Lisbon	41	Portland	57	West Haven
11	Danbury	27	Manchester	42	Putnam	58	Wethersfield
12	Derby	28	Meriden	43	Seymour	59	Winchester
13	East Hampton	29	Middletown	44	Southington	60	Windham
14	East Hartford	30	Milford	45	Sprague	61	Windsor
15	East Haven	31	Naugatuck	46	Stafford	62	Wolcott
16	East Windsor			47	Stamford

 

Note:  The 62 communities listed above have been designated by the state of Connecticut as Recovery Zones.  These communities include the municipalities that have received a direct bond allocation from the Treasury Department along with communities that meet existing criteria for federal entitlement communities, public investment communities, targeted investment communities (communities that have enterprise zones), distressed municipalities and enterprise corridor zones. 

 

As designated Recovery Zones, the Recovery Zone bonds can be used to finance projects within these communities if the projects meet eligibility and financial criteria.