New Haven Mayor John DeStefano has seen a lot of proposed state budgets during his nearly 20-year tenure. So is this year’s budget being proposed Gov. Dannel P. Malloy the worst he’s ever seen?
“Let me be very clear, I have never had a budget that increases taxes in New Haven by 4-and-a-half mills from the state. That’s true,” he told reporters at the state Capitol complex Tuesday.
DeStefano and Jim Finley, executive director of the Connecticut Council of Municipalities, met with House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey Tuesdasy to ask him not to back Malloy’s proposal that cuts their operating budgets.
So did DeStefano and Finley get any promises from Sharkey?
“We didn’t get into specifics,” Finley said.
Sharkey told small town leaders in January that as the legislature works to close its $1 billion deficit for the coming year, it is unlikely that municipalities will be able to be held harmless.
City and town leaders from around the state have come out against the governor’s budget on several occasions.
The duo is set to meet with Senate President Donald E. William Jr. later today.