BILL SEEKING BETTER OVERSIGHT, GOOD GOVERNANCE OF METROPOLITAN DISTRICT PASSED BY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

BILL SEEKING BETTER OVERSIGHT, GOOD GOVERNANCE OF METROPOLITAN DISTRICT PASSED BY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Today, legislators in the Planning & Development Committee voted to advance legislation seeking to ensure good governance of the Metropolitan District, which provides water and sewer service to hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents. The legislation, which seeks increased transparency and oversight of the District’s activities, was introduced by State Representative Tom Delnicki (R-South Windsor) this year; State Senator Derek Slap (D-West Hartford) is a leading co-sponsor.

“I am grateful we were able to get this bill out of committee. We now have a framework to study the Metropolitan District Commission; how they operate and govern themselves, as well as studying the role of the non-voting members of the Commission, like South Windsor, and the possibility to permit these non-voting members the ability to vote on water rates,” said Rep. Delnicki. “This is a victory for the consumers that utilize MDC water.”

“I’m grateful to the leadership of the committee for supporting this legislation,” said Sen. Slap. “I consistently hear from constituents that while they love MDC’s water and recreational areas, they are concerned with some aspects of its governance. The modest and common-sense reforms included in the bill will improve transparency, strengthen accountability, and empower its customers. I look forward to working my colleagues in the Senate to get the bill passed in the coming weeks.”

House Bill 1139, “An Act Concerning Planning and Development,” would introduce annual audits of District accounts by the Auditors of Public Accounts and establish a task force to examine the District’s organization and operations. The task force would review district charter provisions and consider the feasibility of allowing members of the district’s board of commissioners appointed from nonmember municipalities to vote on water rate approvals established by the water bureau. Additionally, by 2025, the Metropolitan District board of commissioners would be required to adopt a model code of ethics.

Similar legislation has been introduced in past years seeking for the MDC to adopt a similar ethics code as that used by Connecticut cities and towns. It comes as the MDC has received criticism in the past for large water rate hikes for consumers and volume price discounts for large corporate water users, as well as reports involving concerning legal fee billings and financial challenges facing the district; in one case, a former independent consumer advocate called a recent rate increase unsustainable and identified cost savings for the MDC that were dismissed