Gary LeBeau

LeBeau Calls On Executive Branch to Certify ‘Dire Emergency’ So Towns Can Borrow Money For Storm Clean-Up

Relying on a law passed half a century ago in reaction to the floods of 1955, state Senator Gary D. LeBeau (D-East Hartford) today asked Malloy administration officials to certify a “dire emergency” in Connecticut so that cities and towns can quickly borrow money for storm clean-up expenses such as contractors, fuel, equipment and overtime.

Without such a declaration, cities and towns are locked into a weeks-long or months-long process of meetings, advertisements and public hearings before such borrowing is approved. With the declaration, cities and towns need only have a majority of its town leadership—a town council, board of selectmen, etc.—approve such borrowing.

“The damage wrought by Storm Alfred is the very definition of a dire emergency,” Sen. LeBeau said. “We’ve had hundreds of thousands of people without heat and power for several days. Many have no running water. They’ve lost their food stocks. Property has been damaged and made unlivable. Downed trees and power lines are affecting major thoroughfares. Senior citizens are cold and huddled in their homes, and emergency responders have been slowed in their attempts to deliver life-saving assistance. And the mid-year budgets of dozens of cities and towns have been torn apart by this unprecedented natural disaster. A certification of ‘dire emergency’ will allow cities and towns to quickly borrow the funds necessary to remove storm damage and get our communities up and running again.”

A state law passed 56 years ago this month (November, 1955) in reaction to the devastating, statewide floods caused by the August hurricanes Connie and Diane sought to simplify the process by which cities and towns could secure borrowing under emergency circumstances.

Section 7-379 of the Connecticut General Statutes states that a board composed of the governor, the attorney general and the secretary of the state Office of Policy and Management can certify that there is a “dire emergency” in the state, defined as “an unusual and serious condition endangering public health and welfare and requiring the immediate expenditure of public funds by a particular town or towns.” That certification is all cities and towns need to “issue its temporary notes for the purpose of raising money for a dire emergency appropriation.”