Municipalities are reluctant to ease penalties on delinquent property taxpayers now that the worst of the coronavirus pandemic has passed.
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Posted inMoney
House approves big municipal aid pledge, tax incentive bills
The House approved bills Wednesday pledging $100 million-plus in new municipal aid and offering tax incentives to attract data centers.
Posted inMoney
A pledge to share sales tax receipts with towns still goes unfulfilled. Was it a case of fiscal bait-and-switch?
Hundreds of millions of dollars have yet to arrive, leaving municipal leaders wary of new proposed aid.
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Finance panel eyes cap on property tax hikes, gears up for another battle over CT’s credit card
Lawmakers raised bills to cap property tax hikes, and potentially battle Gov. Ned Lamont for control of Connecticut’s borrowing.
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Lamont will spare town aid while closing big deficit in next state budget
Gov. Ned Lamont also said he won’t bill municipalities for a share of Connecticut’s massive teacher pension fund debt.
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Coronavirus has cost towns nearly half a billion dollars so far
The pandemic has taken a huge chunk out of Connecticut municipalities’ piggy banks, leaving dozens of towns scrambling for cash.
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Lamont is ready to give towns their first share of federal relief funds
Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to announce an initial round of emergency pandemic relief for cities and towns Thursday.
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Municipalities press Lamont to share COVID-19 federal relief funds
Connecticut’s cash-strapped municipalities pressed Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday to share a portion of a $1 billion-plus federal relief program.
Posted inHealth
Lamont empowers town leaders to adopt budgets without going before voters
The waiver exempting municipalities from holding town meetings comes as Connecticut reports its fifth death from coronavirus.
Posted inHealth
Lamont allows towns to hold meetings remotely to limit spread of coronavirus
Gov. Ned Lamont permitted municipalities to exclude residents from meetings. But can taxpayers still approve a town budget?
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State bonding gridlock stalls summer repaving funds
Gov. Ned Lamont and Democratic legislative leaders repeatedly trumpeted their adoption of a new state budget “on time” in June, noting it gave cities and towns certainty about the grants they could expect. But for the second time in three years, Connecticut cities and towns haven’t received state funding crucial for scheduled summer road repaving work.
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Despite snowstorms, town road grants remained stalled
After facing Connecticut’s third nor’easter in less than two weeks, municipalities are reminding state officials that strained local snow removal budgets badly need overdue state aid. But the prospects for immediate release of the stalled $30 million in Town Aid Road grants seem dim.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Town leaders: Further reform needed for pensions, school funding
Municipal leaders urged a state study panel Tuesday to support further restrictions on public-sector pensions, ending collective bargaining for retirement benefits and aggressively redistributing education aid from communities losing students to those gaining them.
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Budget fight threatens credit for a third of CT municipalities
Moody’s Investors Service announced measures that could lead to lower bond ratings — and higher interest costs — for 51 municipalities and six regional school districts, affecting nearly $7 billion in outstanding debt.
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With municipal aid on chopping block, a cordial chat
Evidently resigned to a shrinking pool of state aid, leaders of two municipal associations pressed Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Friday about granting Connecticut’s cities and town flexibility in dealing with public employees to achieve off-setting efficiencies, long a politically fraught topic at the State Capitol.