State Mandates On Towns And Cities

State mandates are requirements and standards imposed by the State on towns and cities. State mandates burden residential and business property taxpayers with significant costs.

Local governments support the objectives of many of these mandates, such as special education, public health, recycling of reusable wastes, and clean water requirements. However, towns and cities object when the State does not provide commensurate funding.

Municipalities in Connecticut are too often forced to carry out state policies with little or no state funding. In some cases (such as solid waste disposal), where municipalities have undertaken the responsibility in the past, they may have to bear part of the cost. However, it is inappropriate and inequitable to force towns and cities to assume all or most of the costs – and thus to pass these costs on to local property taxpayers.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction
2. The Effects of State Mandates
3. Other Kinds of State Mandates
4. State Mandates: The Next Step
5. Conclusion

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