Politics & Government

Town Leaders Take Their Case to Hartford

Town officials Tell State Leaders They're Worried About Unfunded State Mandates, Future Budget Woes

Officials from small towns across Connecticut met in Hartford Thursday and urged state lawmakers to keep the needs of their communities at the fore when drafting budgets and new legislation.

About 60 leaders from many of Connecticut’s smaller towns traveled to the state Capitol to take part in a meeting hosted by the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, convened to discuss this year’s state budget process, its impact on smaller towns, and other legislative issues facing communities in the waning days of the spring General Assembly session.

Several state lawmakers also attended the meeting to address the town leaders and hear their concerns. While Democratic leaders such as Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams said his party, which controls the General Assembly, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, also a Democrat, did everything they could this year to shield towns from budget cuts, some town leaders said they are still worried about so-called “unfunded mandates” that increase costs for towns.

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Troubled by cost of new resident state trooper law

Litchfield First Selectman Leo Paul told the gathering he is particularly troubled by a law just passed this week by the General Assembly that will now require towns to pay 100 percent of the costs of the overtime of its resident state troopers. The new mandate comes after many towns, he said, have already passed their budgets, leaving the towns “with the short end of the stick.”

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Other town leaders said that while they were gratified that Malloy’s budget maintained state aid to towns, they are worried about legislative mandates that could erode some of that financial stability.

 Mark Walter, the first selectman of East Haddam, said he would like to see the state repeal some laws that he and other town leaders believe limit the ability of communities to keep their costs down.

A law that ignores declining student enrollment

For instance, Walter said, the state bans towns from reducing their education budgets below the previous year’s funding level, a law that ignores declining student enrollments in many towns. Fewer students, he said, should mean lower education budgets.

He said the state should also pass proposed legislation that would protect towns from damages in lawsuits brought by people injured in local parks and playgrounds and delay education reforms that are estimated to cost towns more than $18 million.

Walter, like other town leaders who attended the meeting, said he is frustrated by the state’s lack of action on such requests.

"They're just not listening to us"

“We’re frustrated because we keep coming up here, but they’re just not listening to us.”

Robert Morra, the first selectman in Bolton, said leaders in his town are worried that the state budget recently approved by the legislature has too many anticipated revenues.  Malloy also closed most of a $2 billion shortfall in his budget by wresting concessions from state employee unions, concessions that must still be approved by the unions’ rank and file members.

“Our concerns are what’s going to happen next year?” Morra said. “The budget’s built on a lot of anticipated revenues. What’s Plan C for next year when revenues don’t meet expectations and you’re locked into an agreement with state employees? At that point there’s not going to be a lot of choices.”

Malloy's budget officials seek to reassure

Gian-Carl Casa, one of Malloy’s budget officials, sought to assure the town leaders that the spending plan is solid.

“We really don’t think this is going to be an issue. We think the revenue sources are going to pan out and we think there’s enough security in what we‘ve proposed going forward that there shouldn’t be shortfalls that will fall on the municipalities’ shoulders.”

Williams also sought to strike an upbeat tone with the town leaders, telling them that this year’s budget process was beneficial to small towns.

Not perfect, but still good considering other states

Other states, such as Texas and New Jersey, Williams said, have slashed education spending by billions in an effort to balance their budgets, while Connecticut did not.  This year’s budget process, he said, went fairly smoothly and will be done within a week.

“Are things perfect in Connecticut? Of course not,” he said. “But my hope is we will be done on time in this incredibly difficult year and we will have done so without slashing education as is being done in so many other states in this country.”

Republican lawmakers who addressed the gathering of town leaders tried to counter such rosy projections. Senate Republican Leader John McKinney and House Republican Leader Lawrence F. Cafero each said the spending plan crafted and approved by Democrats has too many tax increases that will drive businesses out of Connecticut and harm all cities and towns.

"Kick some butt up here"

“Do you think everything’s okay now? Do you feel we’re on the path to prosperity?” Cafero asked. “I don’t think so. I think, truth be told, whether Republican or Democrat, you have a concern that … one party is running the show. So I ask you to think not only as executives of your respective towns, but as residents of your towns. Use your offices to kick some butt up here.”

Barbara Henry, the president of COST and the first selectwoman of Roxbury, said that since the budget process began more than four months ago COST has taken a “we’ll see” attitude toward the promises Malloy and other state leaders have made to towns. Malloy, who was elected last year, made his first official policy address as governor to COST in January. He told the gathering then that as the former mayor of Stamford he is sympathetic to their concerns.

While his budget appears to reflect those sentiments, Henry said, COST is still wary of mandates, both existing and proposed, that could financially harm smaller towns. The agency is pushing Malloy’s administration to oppose such legislation or repeal existing unfunded mandates.

"We need relief from mandates"

“We need relief from mandates. Not addressing mandate reform is leading us down a path of unintended consequences. So we’re back to ‘we’ll see.’ ”

What are your concerns about the issues facing small towns?


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