State Budget Cuts Alarms City
By Robin Vinci | Editor at June 9, 2024 | 2:15 pm | Print
The State cut of $20 million from municipal budgets this week, is a big concern to New Britain.
“He (Governor Dannel Malloy) used his line item veto power, which is rarely used by Governors, to put Cities and towns in a precarious predicament,” said Mayor Erin Stewart. “He line item vetoed $20 million of cuts to municipal aid. The cities and towns are reliant on this municipal aid. The problem is we just don’t know where that money is being cut.”
Stewart said the City may not find out how much it will lose for weeks or even months.
“It’s the unknown factor that makes it difficult for us,” Stewart said. “Everything else is a question mark. New Britain could lose $2 million or $25,000. We just simply don’t know.”
The City last week passed a budget for 2016-17 of $239.2 million. The budget increased by 1.5 mills to 50.50 mills. One mill is $2.48 million.
Major increases in the 2016-17 budget includes costs associating with maintaining aging infrastructure and an increase in health insurance and pension costs. Many of the new labor contracts that have been negotiated include a switch to high-deductable health plans.
The biggest increase in the Mayor’s budget is $2.5 million that will go towards the board of education.
Over the last two years the Grand List has shown growth adding more than $2 million in new tax revenues because of new businesses. About 48 percent of the real estate property in New Britain is tax exempt.
Stewart said the reason the City had to increase taxes rather than use any surplus money was to insure it from a situation such as what is happening with the State.
“We knew in the future we would have to dip into that to continue the services we provide to offset the continual decrease in revenues. It proves we have to plan ahead because the money will dry up,” said Stewart. “We offset the budget for next year with the very, very small tax increase that was necessary to maintain the services the City provides.”
However, it appears many residents will still pay less in taxes this year than last as the State decided to drop the car tax to 37 mills rather than charging whatever the City mill rate is.
“It makes it extremely confusing. You compound it with $20 million in cuts and then tell people taxes are actually going down. I don’t blame people for being confused,” said Stewart. “We’ve been getting a lot of phone calls in my office on how that is happening.”
Stewart said the City is hoping it does not get hurt too badly.
The Board of Education is still trying to figure out what it will get as New Britain schools are looking at a reduction of at least $1.6 million in 2016-17 in the State Budget.
It will adopt a budget this month.
The City is expected to get $92 million (before the new cuts) from the State with most of that going toward education.
