The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities today (Thursday, March 8,) reiterated its support for Governor Rell’s initiatives to dramatically reform education finance, provide property tax relief, and embrace smart growth land-use principles. CCM is urging the General Assembly to (a) support the Governor's education-funding proposals, as critical to property tax relief, but phase it in over four, not five years, and (b) improve upon her other proposals and reject the over $60 million in cutbacks in non-education grants for towns and cities.

The proposed increases in education aid would the largest in a decade and the Governor also recognized the need to further help towns with the unpredictable costs of special education by increasing such aid by nearly $20 million. She would also provide further operating support for magnet schools and the Open Choice school initiative, both of which help reduce racial isolation across Connecticut. And the Governor calls for $70 million in new bonding to help pay for sorely-needed clean water projects, the highest funding in a decade; although it falls short of meeting the $157 million in needs documented by DEP.

There are clearly some areas where the General Assembly can and should improve upon the Governor’s budget and provide more help to municipalities and their residential and business property taxpayers. CCM urges state legislators to restore funding for payments-in-lieu-of-taxes for private colleges and hospitals and for state property. Collectively, these reimbursements for state-mandated property tax exemptions would be cut under her proposal by over $10 million, taking needed funding away from many poor urban centers and towns. The General Assembly also should turn aside almost $5 million in cuts to the state grant that shares casino revenues with towns and cities. Legislators should also reject the $8 million cut for Town Aid for Roads; this is a critically-needed program for all communities and especially smaller towns. Legislators should retain the property tax credit on the personal income tax, a valuable way to provide residents with direct property tax relief. And they should also reject the cut to state reimbursements for school construction projects.

Last, but not least, the General Assembly should stand firm and maintain the municipal share of the real estate conveyance tax, which would be cut July 1 without state action. It amounts to almost $45 million in municipal revenue that is derived from neither the property tax nor state aid. The Governor’s budget proposal did not address that issue.