Seven impoverished communities stand to gain more than $10 million each if provisions of the governor’s proposed budget are adopted by the General Assembly.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is recommending Hartford and Waterbury get the biggest boosts. His proposed budget, to be released today, will recommend $38.1 million in state aid for the capital city next year, a 14 percent increase.
Waterbury will get another $40.8 million increase, New Britain $24.2 million, Bridgeport $14.2 million, and New Haven $13.1 million.
Ben Barnes, the governor’s budget chief, said Wednesday that the changes are the best way for struggling cities to avoid insolvency.
“Its a way to restack the deck,” he said, pointing out the new setup would “provide more concentrated relief to towns that desperately need it.”
The totals include all state grants to the municipalities and take into account the extra costs they would be forced to assume to cover a portion of teacher pension costs.
Many more municipalities would lose aid, however – 145 to be exact.
Groton would lose the most with a $14.1 million cut, followed by Milford with an $12.1 million reduction.
Here’s a complete town-by-town listing of total state aid the governor is proposing. These totals include new revenue municipalities would realize if they decided to begin taxing the property of hospitals, as the governor proposes.
Malloy, a Democrat, said during his budget address that the reason these changes are needed are to ensure that local leaders have the funding necessary to provide students with an adequate education. However, it will be up to the towns to decide whether the increases some towns will see in their overall education grants go entirely to their local schools or for town services.
Nearly $450 million in ECS funds would be transferred in fiscal year 2018 and fiscal year 2019 into a new special education grant. (Those amounts are reflected below.)
The chart below is roundup of how all the changes to state education aid impact state spending on schools in each city and town.
Correction: The governor’s budget office inadvertently left out of the calculations it made public a state grant that helps towns pay for the cost of severely disabled students. This story and accompanying charts have been updated to reflect the correct data.