State error means Mansfield gets only half of anticipated funding

February 16, 2011 Local News Comments Off

playing-cards-grainy Mansfield can expect to receive about half of the anticipated total for its share of casino revenue, due to a math error on the part of the state.

Town Manager Matt Hart said the town was expecting $ 382,670 as its share of the Mohegan-Pequot state grant, but the state revised the figure after it realized it had incorrectly calculated the grant formula.

Instead of $382,670, Mansfield will receive $195,374 for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

The change comes more than halfway through the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2011.

Hart said the timing makes it more difficult to deal with the reduction since the original revenue figure was used to formulate the current budget.

Mansfield designates these funds for the capital improvement budget, where the town sets aside money for larger projects or purchases. And so, Hart said, the change will not affect the operating budget.

Mansfield Finance Director Cherie Trahan said the town is anticipating more revenue from ambulance services than originally projected and could use that additional money to offset the reduction.

She also said the town could put off some the capital improvement projects, if necessary.

Hart said Mansfield is especially hurt when the state reduces its aid to towns because more than 40 percent of Mansfield’s budget is covered by state grants.

He noted Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) grants – reimbursement for state-owned and tax-exempt properties such as UConn and the Bergin Correctional Center – are supposed to equate to 45 percent of what the town would receive if the properties were privately owned. That’s not the case, he said. “We haven’t approached that figure in years,” Hart said, adding the town’s PILOT grants have been roughly half of that level.

Posted Feb. 16, 2011 as edited by Brenda Sullivan, HTNP.com Editor

Gov. Malloy takes budget on the road in series of town meetings

February 16, 2011 Areawide, Business Comments Off

TV CAMERA AND MICROPHONE-graphic Over the next couple of months, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will hold a series of 17 town hall-style meetings across the state, during which he will discuss the state’s pressing economic and budgetary issues face-to-face with state residents, and listen to their own thoughts and suggestions.

The meetings begin Feb. 21 in Bridgeport with the last one scheduled for April 6 in Danbury. (See list of dates and locations, below.)

“It really is my preference to be out there, talking with people in the flesh, hearing their thoughts and communicating in a civil manner that will bring out the best and most productive changes benefiting the State of Connecticut,” Gov. Malloy said in a press release Tuesday [Feb. 15]

“It’s important that we have a chance to talk about some of the changes I’m proposing to help create new jobs and get our state’s fiscal house in order, and I want to hear what people think,” he said.

Gov. Malloy is scheduled to deliver his proposed budget to a joint session of the Connecticut General Assembly on Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Town meetings are scheduled for:

BRIDGEPORT, Monday, Feb. 21, 7-8 PM, City Hall Annex Auditorium, 999 Broad St.

TORRINGTON, Thursday, Feb. 24, 7-8 PM, City Hall Auditorium, 140 Main St.

NEW LONDON, Wednesday, March 2, 7-8 PM, Jennings Elementary School, 50 Mercer St.

WATERBURY, Tuesday, March 8, 7-8 PM, Veteran’s Memorial Hall, 235 Grand St.

NORWICH, Wednesday, March 9, 7-8 PM, City Hall, 3rd Floor, 100 Broadway

BRISTOL, Monday, March 14, 7-8 PM, City Council Chambers, 111 North Main St.

MERIDEN, Tuesday, March 15, time and location to be announced

MIDDLETOWN, Wednesday, March 16, 7-8 PM, Common Council Room, 245 DeKoven Drive

HARTFORD, Monday, March 21, time and location to be announced

STAMFORD, Tuesday, March 22, 7-8 PM, Government Center – 4th Floor Cafeteria, 888 Washington Blvd