HB 5353 — AN ACT AUTHORIZING CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES TO ESTABLISH TRAFFIC AUTHORITIES.

GeneralHouse Assemblyof CommitteeRepresentatives BillFile No.

5353790 General Assembly January Session, 20232023(Reprint LCOof File No.

5954397) ReferredHouse toBill CommitteeNo. on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT Introduced by:

(PD)5353 As Amended by House Amendment Schedule "A" Approved by the Legislative Commissioner May 19, 2023 AN ACT AUTHORIZING CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES TO ESTABLISH TRAFFIC AUTHORITIES.

(NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) AnyNotwithstanding the provisions of any municipal charter, special act or home rule ordinance, any municipality having a population of not less than fifty thousand may, by vote of its legislative body, establish a traffic authority and appoint one or more members to serve on such traffic authority.

The qualifications, terms of office and compensation, if any, of any such membersmembersshallbeprescribedbysuchlegislativebody.Atrafficauthority established pursuant to this section shall bereplace prescribedany byexisting traffic authority in such legislativemunicipality body.and have the same powers and duties as a traffic authority described in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of subdivision (7) of section 14-297 of the general statutes, as amended by this act.

A traffic authority established pursuant to this section shallreplace any existing trafficauthority insuchmunicipality andhave the same powers and duties as a traffic authority described in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of subdivision (7) of section 14-297 of the general statutes, as amended by this act.

Subdivision (7) of section 14-297 of the general statutes is repealedHB5353 and/ theFile followingNo. is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023):

(7)790 "TrafficHB5353 authority"File means (A) the board of police commissioners LCO 5954 \\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2023HB-05353-R031 of 2 HB.docx Committee Bill No.

5353790 ofrepealed any city, town or borough, [or] (B) the city or town manager, [the] chief of police, [the] superintendent of police or any legally elected or appointed official or board [, or any official] having similar powers and duties, of any city, town or borough that has no board of police commissioners but has a regularly appointed police force, [or] (C) the boardofselectmenofanyfollowing towninwhichthereisnois cityorsubstituted boroughwith a regularly appointed police force, or (D) a traffic authority established pursuant to section 1 of this act, except that, with respect to state highways and bridges, "traffic authority" means the Office of the State Traffic Administration, provided nothing contained in thislieu sectionthereof shall(Effective beJuly construed1, to2023): limit or detract from the jurisdiction or authority of the Office of the State Traffic Administration to adopt regulations establishing a uniform system of traffic control signals, devices, signs and markings as provided in section 14-298, and the requirement that no installation of any traffic control signal light shall be made by any city, town or borough until the installation has been approved by the Office of the State Traffic Administration as provided in section 14-299;

(7) "Traffic authority" means (A) the board of police commissioners of any city, town or borough, [or] (B) the city or town manager, [the] chief of police, [the] superintendent of police or any legally elected or appointed official or board [, or any official] having similar powers and duties, of any city, town or borough that has no board of police commissioners but has a regularly appointed police force, [or] (C) the boardofselectmenofany towninwhichthereisno city or boroughwith a regularly appointed police force, or (D) a traffic authority established pursuant to section 1 of this act, except that, with respect to state highways and bridges, "traffic authority" means the Office of the State Traffic Administration, provided nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit or detract from the jurisdiction or authority of the Office of the State Traffic Administration to adopt regulations establishing a uniform system of traffic control signals, devices, signs and markings as provided in section 14-298, and the requirement that no installation of any traffic control signal light shall be made by any city, town or borough until the installation has been approved by the Office of the State Traffic Administration as provided in section 14-299;

2 July 1, 2023 14-297(7) PDHB5353 Joint/ FavorableFile TRANo. Joint Favorable LCO 5954 {\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2023HB-05353- 2 of 2 R03-HB.docx }

790 HB5353 File No.

790 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $ Various Municipalities Cost Potential Potential Explanation The bill allows municipalities with a population of at least 50,000 to establisha localtraffic authority.The municipality'slegislative body has the authority to determine the required qualifications, terms and compensation of the local traffic authority.

To the extent a municipality establishes compensation for the members, there will be a cost beginning in FY 24.

As of 2021, there were 19 municipalities with a population over 50,000, which therefore could be affected by the bill.

House "A" makes technical changes to the original bill and has no fiscal impact.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation and the cost established by the municipality's legislative body for the members' compensation.

HB5353 / File No.

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790 OLR Bill Analysis HB 5353 (as amended by House "A")* AN ACT AUTHORIZING CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES TO ESTABLISH TRAFFIC AUTHORITIES.

SUMMARY This bill allows certain municipalities to establish a separate entity to serve as their local traffic authority (LTA) instead of the board of police commissioners or other entity current law prescribes.

It allows any municipality with a population of at least 50,000 to establish, by a vote of its legislative body, a separate traffic authority and appoint one or more members to serve on it.

An LTA established under the bill replaces the entity currently filling this role in the municipality and has all the powers and duties the law assigns to LTAs (see BACKGROUND).

Legislative bodies that establish one must also set members’ required qualifications, terms, and compensation,ifany.

Thebill specifiesthat municipalities may establish an LTA regardless of whether the municipality’s charter or home rule ordinance, or a special act states otherwise.

The bill also makes technical and minor changes.

*House Amendment “A” allows municipalities to establish an LTA described by the bill regardless of whether the municipality’s charter or home rule ordinance, or a special act, states otherwise.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 1, 2023 ENTITIES DESIGNATED AS A TRAFFIC AUTHORITY As shown in the table below, current law designates different local HB5353 / File No.

790 4 HB5353 File No.

790 bodies or officials to serve as a municipality’s LTA, depending mainly on whether the municipality has a board of police commissioners.

The bill allows these municipalities (with 50,000 or more people;

see BACKGROUND) to alternatively establish a separate traffic authority, regardless of whether the municipality has a board of police commissioners.

Under existing law, unchanged by the bill, the Office of the State Traffic Administration (OSTA) is thetraffic authority for state roads and bridges and has authority over certain elements specified in law (e.g., traffic control signals).