The House of Representatives gave final approval Wednesday afternoon to a package of last-minute adjustments to the state budget passed on Saturday, including language clarifying that municipalities could reopen their own spending plans and use increased state aid to reduce local property taxes.
The measure, which the Democratic-controlled chamber approved 105-45, largely along party lines, now heads to Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk. The Senate, where Democrats also hold a majority, adopted it early Wednesday morning in a 25-11 party line vote.
The $28.1 billion state budget adopted Saturday for the fiscal year beginning July 1 includes $180 million in ongoing new aid for schools and a $100 million in one-time grants for general government.
The governor and legislative leaders pledged repeatedly last week that towns could use the $280 million in additional aid included in the budget.
But some municipal leaders questioned whether they would run afoul of other longstanding statutes that effectively force communities to maintain the amount of local dollars they dedicate to education.
House leaders insisted Wednesday that they always intended to give communities the option to use both education and general government aid to reduce taxes.
While not opposed to clarifying the matter, House Speaker Matt Ritter wasn’t convinced a technical fix was necessary.
“I understand there’s a different interpretation by some,” he said, “but we are of the camp that you could always reduce the [local] mill rate.”
House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said, “When the additional [state grant] money comes in, [even] if they’ve set their [town] budget, they could take that money and put it towards, essentially, tax relief.”
But while there was bipartisan agreement among representatives about giving towns the option to reduce taxes, Republicans said some other last-minute budget adjustments in the bill went beyond a technical “fix.”
The bill also ordered a 4.35% increase in judicial salaries, adjusted film tax credits, boosted Medicaid rates for optometrists, added $3 million for the Shore Line East rail service and sent $500,000 to the Northwest Resource Recovery Authority.
Rep. Jay Case, R-Winchester, said the state notified all communities in February they could not use funds leftover from the quasi-public agency that ran the Hartford trash incinerator, which closed in 2022.
But the $500,000 send to the authority to support its waste transfer station came from that same source.
“If there was money, maybe we all should have gotten together and talked,” Case said. “This wasn’t a fix. This was an add.”
