An Act Establishing a Tax Credit for Green Buildings

Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate, 143 to 4 in the House in the Jan. to June 2009 Session of the Connecticut General Assembly

This bill creates a transferable tax credit to finance green building that is applicable on or after January 1, 2012.

The size of the credit would be determined based on: the costs for construction or rehabilitation; commissioning; architectural and engineering fees (including energy modeling); site costs like temporary electric wiring; scaffolding; demolition; fencing and security; carpeting; partitions; walls and wall coverings; ceilings; lighting; plumbing; electrical; mechanical; heating; cooling and ventilation.
The credit would not apply to the costs to purchase or remediate land, or to provide phone or computer systems.

Eligible projects would be rated LEED gold or equivalent as determined by the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. The credit would apply only to those buildings in the project that meet the gold or platinum standard.

The credit would not exceed $25 million in the aggregate and taxpayers may not claim the credit for more than 25 percent of allowable costs in any income year.
The credit could be applied as follows: LEED platinum = 10.5 percent; LEED gold = eight percent; Core & shell platinum = seven percent; core & shell gold = five percent. Plus an additional .5 percent for projects that are mixed-use; located in a brownfield or enterprise zone, do not require sewer extensions of more than 1/8 mile, are located within ¼ mile walking distance of bus transit or ½ mile walking distance of rail, light rail, streetcar or ferry.

The Office of Policy and Management will be required to report to the General Assembly and the Governor on the status of the tax credit program on or before July 1 2013. That report is to include: number of applications for the credit, amount granted, geographical distribution of credits, and any other information the Secretary of OPM would like to include.

This tax credit will provide a much-needed source of subsidy for smart, sustainable developments.