(a) A grant for a school building project under this chapter to meet project costs not eligible for state financial assistance under section 10-287a shall be paid in installments, the number and time of payment of which shall correspond to the number and time of principal installment payments on municipal bonds, including principal payments to retire temporary notes renewed for the third and subsequent years pursuant to section 7-378a or 7-378e, issued for the purpose of financing such costs and shall be equal to the state’s share of project costs per principal installment on municipal bonds or notes, except in cases where the project has been fully paid for, in which case the number of installments shall be five or, in the case of a regional agricultural science and technology education center or a cooperative regional special educational facility, shall be one; provided final payment shall not be made prior to an audit conducted by the State Board of Education for each project for which a final calculation was not made prior to July 31, 1983. Grants under twenty-five thousand dollars shall be paid in one lump sum. The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall certify to the State Comptroller, upon completion of the issuance of bonds or such renewal of temporary notes to finance each school building project, the dates and amounts of grant payments to be made pursuant to this chapter and the State Comptroller shall draw an order on the State Treasurer upon such certification to pay the amounts so certified when due. All site acquisition and project cost grant payments shall be made at least ten days prior to the principal payment on bonds or temporary notes related thereto or short-term financing issued to finance such site acquisition or project. Annual grant installments paid pursuant to this section on principal installment payments to retire temporary notes renewed pursuant to section 7-378a or 7-378e shall be based each year on the amount required to be retired pursuant to said sections, as adjusted for any ineligible project costs, and shall be paid only if at the time such temporary notes are renewed the rate of interest applicable to such notes is less than the rate of interest that would be applicable with respect to twenty-year bonds if issued at the time of such renewal. The determination related to such rates of interest pursuant to this subsection may be reviewed and shall be subject to approval by the Commissioner of Administrative Services prior to renewal of such notes. In the event that a school building project is not completed at the time bonds or temporary notes related thereto are issued to finance the project, the certification of the grant payments made pursuant to this section by the Commissioner of Administrative Services may be based on estimates, provided upon completion of such project and notification of final acceptance to the state, the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall adjust and recertify the dates and amounts of subsequent grant payments based on the state’s share of final eligible costs.

(b) (1) All orders and contracts for school building construction receiving state assistance under this chapter, except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, shall be awarded to the lowest responsible qualified bidder only after a public invitation to bid, which shall be advertised in a newspaper having circulation in the town in which construction is to take place, except for (A) school building projects for which the town or regional school district is using a state contract pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-292, and (B) change orders, those contracts or orders costing less than ten thousand dollars and those of an emergency nature, as determined by the Commissioner of Administrative Services, in which cases the contractor or vendor may be selected by negotiation, provided no local fiscal regulations, ordinances or charter provisions conflict.

(2) All orders and contracts for architectural or construction management services shall be awarded from a pool of not more than the four most responsible qualified proposers after a public selection process. Such process shall, at a minimum, involve requests for qualifications, followed by requests for proposals, including fees, from the proposers meeting the qualifications criteria of the request for qualifications process. Public advertisements shall be required in a newspaper having circulation in the town in which construction is to take place, except for school building projects for which the town or regional school district is using a state contract pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-292. Following the qualification process, the awarding authority shall evaluate the proposals to determine the four most responsible qualified proposers using those criteria previously listed in the requests for qualifications and requests for proposals for selecting architectural or construction management services specific to the project or school district. Such evaluation criteria shall include due consideration of the proposer’s pricing for the project, experience with work of similar size and scope as required for the order or contract, organizational and team structure for the order or contract, past performance data, including, but not limited to, adherence to project schedules and project budgets and the number of change orders for projects, the approach to the work required for the contract and documented contract oversight capabilities, and may include criteria specific to the project. Final selection by the awarding authority is limited to the pool of the four most responsible qualified proposers and shall include consideration of all criteria included within the request for proposals. As used in this subdivision, “most responsible qualified proposer” means the proposer who is qualified by the awarding authority when considering price and the factors necessary for faithful performance of the work based on the criteria and scope of work included in the request for proposals.

(c) If the Commissioner of Administrative Services determines that a building project has not met the approved conditions of the original application, the Department of Administrative Services may withhold subsequent state grant payments for said project until appropriate action, as determined by the commissioner, is taken to cause the building project to be in compliance with the approved conditions or may require repayment of all state grant payments for said project when such appropriate action is not undertaken within a reasonable time.

(d) Each town or regional school district shall submit a final grant application to the Department of Administrative Services within one year from the date of completion and acceptance of the building project by the town or regional school district. If a town or regional school district fails to submit a final grant application within said period of time, the commissioner may withhold ten per cent of the state reimbursement for such project.

(November, 1949, 1951, 1953, S. 985d; 1957, P.A. 593, S. 6; 1959, P.A. 321, S. 4; 1963, P.A. 317; February, 1965, P.A. 361, S. 13; 1969, P.A. 751, S. 1; 1971, P.A. 695, S. 1; P.A. 73-215, S. 1, 2; P.A. 76-418, S. 7, 18; P.A. 82-253, S. 1, 4; P.A. 84-460, S. 11, 16; P.A. 88-360, S. 33, 34, 63; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-5, S. 38, 49; P.A. 94-245, S. 7, 46; P.A. 95-259, S. 20, 32; P.A. 97-265, S. 79, 98; P.A. 98-249, S. 65, 67; P.A. 03-76, S. 29; P.A. 07-249, S. 25; P.A. 08-152, S. 15; 08-169, S. 17; 08-170, S. 32; P.A. 11-51, S. 90; P.A. 13-247, S. 200; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 63.)

History: 1959 act added provision re regional vocational agriculture center; 1963 act provided grants under $10,000 be paid in lump sum rather than 5 annual installments; 1965 act changed number of installments from 20 to the same number as for municipal bonds issued for project’s construction; 1969 act specified that provisions apply to grants “for projects not receiving state financial assistance under section 10-287b;” 1971 act changed applicability of provisions to grants “not eligible for state financial assistance under section 10-287a”; P.A. 73-215 provided exception to requirement for bids for contracts of less than $10,000 and those of an emergency nature; P.A. 76-418 clarified exceptions to provision making installments equal in number to installments on municipal bonds by excepting cases where number of installments on municipal bonds is less than 5 and by including cases involving cooperative regional special education facilities in provision re vocational agriculture centers and changed amount of grants to be paid in lump sum from $10,000 to $25,000; P.A. 82-253 added provisions concerning the number of grant installment payments so that the total would be equal to the number of installment payments on the municipal bonds, as previously provided, however the amendment in this act included in such payments on municipal bonds, payments to retire temporary notes under certain conditions, effective July 1, 1982, and applicable to installment payments made on or after that date to retire temporary notes renewed for the third and subsequent years pursuant to Sec. 7-378a or 7-378e; P.A. 84-460 amended Subsec. (a) re payment of the state’s share of project costs per installment on municipal bonds or notes, added provision re final payment conditioned on audit of any project for which a final calculation was not made prior to July 31, 1983, added new Subsec. (c) re withholding of state grant payments and added new Subsec. (d) re submission of a final grant application; P.A. 88-360 in Subsec. (a) deleted designations for Subdivs. (1) and (2) and added that the determination related to such rates of interest “may be reviewed” by the commissioner of education and in Subsec. (b) substituted “commissioner” for “state board” of education; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-5 amended Subsec. (a) to remove an exception which provided for five installments in cases where the number of installment payments on municipal bonds is less than 5; P.A. 94-245 amended Subsec. (d) to remove forfeiture provision for failure to submit a final grant application within the required time frame and to substitute provision permitting the commissioner to withhold 10% of the state reimbursement for such project, effective June 2, 1994; P.A. 95-259 amended Subsec. (b) to add the exception for change orders, effective July 6, 1995; P.A. 97-265 amended Subsec. (a) to specify that installments are for principal, to provide for certification to the State Comptroller of the dates and amounts of grant payments, to require payments to be made at least ten days prior to the principal payment on bonds or other financing, to allow for certification to be based on estimates if the project is not completed at the time bonds or temporary notes are issued to finance the project and to require adjustment and recertification based on the state’s share of final eligible costs, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-249 amended Subsec. (b) to add provision re use of a state contract, effective June 8, 1998; P.A. 03-76 made a technical change in Subsec. (d), effective June 3, 2003; P.A. 07-249 amended Subsec. (b) to include orders and contracts for architectural or construction management services, effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 08-152 and 08-170 amended Subsec. (a) to change “vocational agriculture” to “agricultural science and technology education”, effective July 1, 2008; P.A. 08-169 amended Subsec. (b) to redesignate existing provisions as Subdiv. (1) and redesignate Subdivs. (1) and (2) therein as Subparas. (A) and (B), to add exception re Subdiv. (2) and delete language re architectural or construction management services from provisions re lowest responsible qualified bidder in Subdiv. (1), and to add Subdiv. (2) re most responsible qualified proposers for architectural and construction management services, effective July 1, 2008; pursuant to P.A. 11-51, “Commissioner of Education” and “Department of Education” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Construction Services” and “Department of Construction Services”, respectively, effective July 1, 2011; pursuant to P.A. 13-247, “Commissioner of Construction Services” and “Department of Construction Services” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Administrative Services” and “Department of Administrative Services”, respectively, effective July 1, 2013; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing “commissioner” with “Commissioner of Administrative Services” and replacing “State Board of Education” with “Department of Administrative Services”, effective October 31, 2017.