State error means Mansfield gets only half of anticipated funding

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