New Britain’s Budget Woes Echo State Concerns

By Nicholas Mercier | CPOA President at October 5, 2023 | 8:15 am | Print

In my last column, I had urged caution among New Britain residents. I had pointed to recent news that Connecticut, despite consolidation efforts and promises of new revenue sources, had ended the previous fiscal year in the red. I had stated then that the O’Brien administration was also trying to balance the budget through consolidation and new fees, and that we too might find ourselves in the red because of it.

Less than three weeks later I find myself feeling a bit like a fiscal Nostradamus. In a recent report, Governor Malloy’s budget office stated that three months into the new fiscal year Connecticut is already facing a $26.9 million deficit. Some estimates have projected that Connecticut’s deficit could skyrocket to over $400 million before the close of the year.

Compare that to New Britain and the similarities are striking. The morning after a controversial piece of legislation that would have seen the majority of landlords and renters in New Britain face hefty rental taxes, under the guise of a “licensing fee”, the Mayor announces a projected deficit of over $4 million. Further questioning has revealed that these fees were to replace an ill conceived surcharge that the Mayor had envisioned charging for trash collection at “non-owner occupied” buildings.

So now, the Mayor who promised to shrink the budget and close a deficit through consolidation is facing a deficit of his own. His proposed ideas for closing the deficit include, among others, drastically reducing the size of our police force which would not only undermine the good work that has been done to improve our city safety, but would cost us millions more in lost federal grants.

On top of this, the Mayor’s office has yet to reply to a Freedom of Information request which was forwarded to them from Acting Finance Director Salerni. This could likely be because the response to any such request would reveal that as it currently stands the projected deficit in revenue for New Britain is not merely $4 million, but could potentially more than double that figure. With a potential deficit of that size hanging over their heads, it is no wonder the administration likes to call consolidation the “gift that keeps on giving.” One can only hope that it might actually start giving us some good news soon.

(Mercier writes a story once a month based on concerns of members of the Citizens Property Owners Association. They are not necessarily those of this newspaper.)

 

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