New Funding To Help Regional Animal Control Officers In Many Towns

HARTFORD, CT — Three Hartford-area regional initiatives are the beneficiaries of some state funding to facilitate the pooling of resources for municipal services.

Among those are regional animal control services in area towns like Berlin, Wethersfield, Farmington, Newington, Tolland, Enfield, Manchester and Rocky Hill.

State Office of Policy Management Secretary Jeffrey Beckham said Tuesday his office is releasing three grants totaling $1,379,500 to the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) under the state’s Regional Performance Incentive Program.

The program provides grants to regional councils of governments or regional educational service centers that coordinate functions and services on a regional basis.

"These grants increase efficiencies, lower costs, and save taxpayer dollars,” said Beckham. “These three projects – a shared regional animal control officer, shared assessment/assessor services and shared building and code enforcement service, will provide increased services to towns throughout the capital region and help to lower mill rates.”

“These grants are being released as part of our ongoing efforts to produce efficiencies at all levels of government in a manner that reduces redundancy with the goal of saving taxpayer dollars,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.

The Capitol Region Council of Governments consists of 38 member towns and cities from throughout the Metro Hartford area.

“CRCOG is thrilled to receive three Regional Performance Incentive Program (RPIP) grants to establish regional programs for Code Enforcement, Assessment, and Animal Control services,” said Matthew Hart, executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments.

“I’m excited that New Britain and other CRCOG member towns will be able to participate in these new regional initiatives with funding from the state’s Regional Performance Incentive Program (RPIP),” said New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart, chairperson of CRCOG’s Policy Board.

The following grants are awarded to deliver municipal services:

• Shared Regional Animal Control Officer $471,250: This grant will provide funding for shared supplemental support of ACOs, as well as shared vehicles for Andover, Berlin, Enfield, Farmington, Hebron, Manchester, Newington, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Tolland and Wethersfield.

The grant will support ACO backup and coverage to assist residents in need, as well as animals in distress when the town ACO is unavailable.

• Shared Assessment/Assessor Services $462,000: This grant funding will be used to help to hire staff to provide supplemental assessment services essential to municipal operations of the region, such as collection of revenue through real estate, business property and motor vehicle assessments.

The addition of this staff will provide supplemental support services to areas lacking essential municipal services or towns facing staffing shortages.

• Shared Building and Code Enforcement Services $446,250: This grant will help to hire additional staff to provide supplemental building/code enforcement services essential to municipal operations of the region’s administration and economic growth.

For more information on the Regional Performance Incentive Program, click on this link.

For more information on the Capitol Region Council of Governments, click on this link.