Sec. 32-657. Annual operating and capital budgets. Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund. Accounts and subaccounts. Auditing requirements. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 32-657. Annual operating and capital budgets. Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund. Accounts and subaccounts. Auditing requirements. (a) The secretary shall prepare each fiscal year an annual operating and capital budget for the stadium facility and no later than ninety days prior to the start of the fiscal year, the secretary shall submit the budget to the Comptroller. Not more than forty-five days after submission by the secretary, the Comptroller shall submit any comments to the secretary. Thereafter, the secretary shall submit a copy of such budget to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding and appropriations.

      (b) The secretary is authorized to establish with the Treasurer and administer a separate nonlapsing enterprise fund to be known as the "Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund". All revenues received by the secretary with respect to the use, operation and management of the stadium facility, including revenues from stadium parking and the sale of naming rights and including any General Fund appropriation or other moneys received from federal, state, municipal and private sources for purposes of stadium facility operations, shall be deposited with the Treasurer to the credit of such fund, except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of this section. Earnings on investments of amounts on deposit in the Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund shall be retained in and used for purposes of such fund. The secretary is authorized to pay, and the resources of such fund shall be available for and applied to, the costs and expenses of stadium facility operations, to the extent not otherwise paid as provided in subsection (d) of this section. Such payments shall be made by the Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller, upon order of the secretary or a designee.

      (c) A capital replacement reserve subaccount shall be established within the Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund, to be known as the "stadium facility capital replacement account". Any surplus remaining in the Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund at the end of any fiscal year, to the extent not required, in the judgment of the secretary, to be reserved for the purpose of scheduled or other future maintenance or repairs, the addition or replacement of furniture, fixtures and equipment, working capital, or the funding of projected operating deficits or similar contingencies, shall be transferred to the stadium facility capital replacement account. Any General Fund appropriation or other moneys received from federal, state, municipal or private sources for purposes of capital additions or replacements at the stadium facility, other than the amount made available to the secretary by United Technologies Corporation for traffic and road improvements pursuant to the authority granted in subsection (g) of section 32-656, shall be deposited with the Treasurer to the credit of such subaccount. Moneys in the stadium facility capital replacement account shall be available and used for the costs of capital replacements, restorations, alterations, improvements, additions and enhancements to the stadium facility, including the costs of maintenance and repairs for which funds are not otherwise available in the Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund. Requisition and payment from the stadium facility capital replacement account shall be in accordance with the procedures established in subsection (b) of this section with respect to the Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund generally, except that the order of the secretary with respect thereto shall include a certification that the costs for which payment is requested are capital costs in accordance with the current capital budget or are capital costs not anticipated in the current capital budget but necessary in order to repair, restore or reconstruct the stadium facility following a casualty loss, to preserve the structural integrity of the stadium facility, to protect public health or safety, or to avoid an interruption in stadium facility operations.

      (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, (1) the secretary is authorized to enter into agreements including, but not limited to, lease, license, management, marketing, ticketing, merchandising or concession agreements, which provide for the collection, retention or sharing of facility revenues by the university, the authority or other public or private entities, provided (A) such arrangements are not inconsistent in any material respect with the operating budget, are otherwise on terms not materially less favorable to the state than the terms customary in the industry for similar facilities and arrangements, except in the case of the university or the authority to the extent otherwise contemplated in the master development plan, and (B) such arrangements do not result in private business use of the stadium facility for purposes of Section 141(b) of the Internal Revenue Code to an extent that would result in an event of taxability with respect to any bonds issued on a tax-exempt basis, and (2) in order to facilitate stadium facility operations on a day-to-day basis, with the approval of the Treasurer and the Comptroller the secretary is authorized to establish, or cause to be established under agreements with the stadium facility manager, at a bank or banks in this state, a box office account to receive and hold ticket receipts and event specific escrow accounts to hold rental, security and similar deposits pending the occurrence of an event and event reconciliation and from which such receipts and deposits may be disbursed in accordance with industry standard practices, a revenue account for the purpose of collecting revenues from stadium facility operations on a daily basis, and an operating expense account for the purpose of paying reasonable and prudent expenses of stadium facility operations on a daily basis, and such subaccounts within the revenue account and the operating expense account as the secretary deems appropriate to segregate and account separately for the revenues and expenses of catering, concessions, parking or other ancillary activities, and the secretary may transfer amounts in the revenue account to the operating expense account as necessary to provide for the payment of expenses of stadium facility operations in accordance with accounting and payment procedures approved by the Comptroller, and the stadium facility manager may, in accordance with accounting and payment procedures approved by the Comptroller, pay expenses of stadium facility operations directly from the operating expense account; provided, if at the end of any calendar month there is on deposit in the revenue account and the operating expense account amounts in the aggregate in excess of the projected expenses of stadium facility operations for the next succeeding three calendar months, such excess shall be promptly transferred by the secretary to the Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund. The determination of what constitutes reasonable and prudent expenses of stadium facility operations shall be made with due regard for customary practices at comparable facilities hosting similar events.

      (e) Moneys in the box office account and any event specific escrow account, and any interest thereon, shall not be deemed to be state moneys for purposes of sections 4-32 and 4-33 until recognized as revenues of stadium facility operations upon event reconciliation in accordance with standard industry practices.

      (f) The establishment of the revenue account, the operating expense account and any other account holding state moneys associated with the stadium facility, and any cash management and overnight investment features of such accounts, shall be subject to the approval of the Comptroller and Treasurer pursuant to sections 4-32 and 4-33. The interest and earnings on any such investments of funds in the revenue account, the operating expense account and any other account holding state moneys associated with the stadium facility shall be treated as revenues from stadium facility operations. Any such investments or investment arrangements shall be made or approved by the Treasurer.

      (g) The Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund, the revenue account, the operating expense account and any other account holding state moneys associated with the stadium facility shall be subject to the provisions of sections 3-112, 3-114, 4-32 and 4-33, except to the extent inconsistent with express provisions of this section, and shall be audited on a comprehensive annual basis by the Auditors of Public Accounts. Such audits shall be conducted at the sole expense of the Auditors of Public Accounts and with advance notice to the secretary.

      (P.A. 99-241, S. 33, 66; P.A. 00-140, S. 11, 40; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 69; P.A. 08-185, S. 2.)

      History: P.A. 99-241 effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-140 deleted provisions re former Hartford Sportsplex project, revised the secretary's duties and powers and added provisions re the Rentschler Field stadium facility projects, changed the name of the fund from "Hartford Sportsplex Enterprise Fund" to "Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund" and made conforming and technical changes, effective May 2, 2000; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 amended Subsec. (a) to add provisions re submission of the budget to the Comptroller and submission of comments by the Comptroller to the secretary, amended Subsec. (b) to delete provision re amounts available to the secretary by United Technologies Corporation, add references to Subsec. (d) and add exception re retention of earnings of amounts on deposit in the Stadium Facility Enterprise Fund, amended Subsec. (c) to replace "deferred" with "scheduled or other future" and add provision re deposit of moneys to credit of subaccount, amended Subsec. (d) to add reference to Subsec. (b), make technical changes and add provisions re establishment of a box office account, event specific escrow accounts and a revenue account and subaccounts, and added new Subsecs. (e) to (g), inclusive, effective August 20, 2003; P.A. 08-185 amended Subsec. (g) by deleting provisions requiring independent auditing firm to conduct comprehensive annual audit and requiring Auditors of Public Accounts to conduct such audit, effective June 12, 2008.