CTAO Friday Focus

Key Updates from the Statehouse and Beyond for CTAO Members

ON OUR RADAR THIS WEEK

HB 92  (Rep. McClain, Rep. M. Johnson)

HB 92 prohibits municipal authorities from certifying a lien to the county auditor for unpaid village or city water, sewer, or other municipal utility charges, and prohibits the county auditor from placing such a lien on a property, if the charges arose from a tenant’s service contract or if the property is not owner-occupied. It also prevents a municipal corporation from refusing or discontinuing utility service to a landlord, current tenant, or prospective tenant at a residential property based on nonpayment by a former tenant, provided certain conditions are met. The bill allows municipalities to adopt ordinances permitting them to use tenant security deposits to cover unpaid municipal utility charges and prohibits any contract with a landlord from waiving these protections.

STATUS: The Legislative Committee has voted to monitor this bill. The bill was voted out of the House on 3/18/2026.

HB 737 (Rep. Roemer, Rep. T. Hall)

This bill requires that all cash payments made to the state, state agencies, or political subdivisions including payments for taxes, tolls, fees, and fines be rounded to the nearest nickel, with specific rules for rounding up or down based on the second decimal place. It defines "final price" to include any tax levied by the state or a political subdivision and details how merchants should handle rounding for transactions subject to such taxes, including proportional allocation of rounding adjustments among taxing authorities.

STATUS: The Legislative Committee has not taken a position on this bill. The bill was introduced on March 4 and is scheduled for a sponsor hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee on 3/25/2026.