by | Aug 14, 2013 1:47 pm | Comments (23)
THomas MacMIllan Photo
As the city’s bond ratings continue to drop, mayoral candidates Henry Fernandez, Toni Harp and Justin Elicker Wednesday said the city needs to change its financial course to avoid following Detroit off a cliff and into bankruptcy.
by | Jul 2, 2013 1:19 pm | Comments (4)
City managers will get a 2.5 percent pay increase, and a raise each of the next two years, thanks to a new five-year union contract approved Monday night.
by | Jun 4, 2013 8:17 am | Comments (8)
Less than a week after city lawmakers voted to raise taxes by 7.7 percent, they voted to lower them.
by | May 29, 2013 8:27 am | Comments (45)
With no debate and no amendments, the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve a budget that will raise taxes by 3 mills.
Continue reading ‘Aldermen OK $497M Budget; Taxes Rise 7.7%’
by | May 17, 2013 8:36 am | Comments (29)
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Holmes failed to stop a schools spending increase.
After months scrutinizing the mayor’s proposed new city budget, aldermen voted to chip away at a planned property tax increase by leaving some city jobs vacant, reining in police overtime, and benefiting from some good news from Hartford.
by | May 16, 2013 2:21 pm | Comments (12)
Melissa Bailey Photos
Elicker and Clark.
Three million extra dollars for the schools: Too much for taxpayers to bear? Or a much-needed increase to save school reform?
by | May 8, 2013 12:13 pm | Comments (27)
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Holmes weighs budget-cutting options Thursday night.
Don’t hire a “tweeter” for the police department. Keep a closer eye on overtime. Leave two bridge tender positions vacant.
by | May 2, 2013 5:08 pm | Comments (15)
Paul Bass Photo
Mayor John DeStefano’s computer runs on 10-year-old software. That’s part of a larger tech problem at City Hall.
by | Apr 25, 2013 4:02 pm | Comments (7)
City of New Haven
Violent crime has fallen to a 10-year low, but remains higher than in Bridgeport. Meanwhile, the parks department does the same work it did 13 years ago — with half the workers.
Those long-view snapshots, and others, emerged amid City Hall’s annual ritual of selling the mayor’s proposed budget.
by | Apr 3, 2013 12:19 pm | Comments (9)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Cherlyn Poindexter, Local 3144 president, calls for a time out.
After unions balked at a plan to save an estimated $2 million by switching health care companies, lawmakers sent the proposal back to committee.
Continue reading ‘Health Care Switch Delayed For New Review’
by | Mar 19, 2013 8:11 am | Comments (14)
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Alderman Adam Marchand makes the case for change.
With union-affiliated aldermen diving into the nitty-gritty of health care costs, a change in insurance carriers could save the city a bundle — depending on answers to some key questions.
Continue reading ‘How To Make $2M In Health Costs Disappear’
by | Mar 14, 2013 2:02 pm | Comments (18)
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Lawmakers face a sea of empty chairs at first budget hearing.
No one likes a tax increase. But almost no one showed up to testify about it.
by | Mar 1, 2013 9:08 am | Comments (42)
The mayor is proposing an increase in property taxes in the next fiscal year. Just how much taxes will rise is the subject of his new choose-your-own-adventure budget.
Except we don’t get to choose. The state does.
Continue reading ‘$503M Budget Offers 3 Paths To Higher Taxes’
by | Feb 7, 2013 9:15 am | Comments (5)
Paul Bass Photo
Officer S. D. Broder Jr. announces the vote tally.
New Haven’s police officers defied a last-minute appeal from their firefighting brethren and voted more than 2 – 1 Wednesday to approve a new five-year contract with the city.
Continue reading ‘Cops Ratify Contract; Cavaliere Makes The Sale’
by | Feb 6, 2013 7:13 pm | Comments (18)
Melissa Bailey Photos
State Rep. Dillon (left): Schools helped, health care whacked.
Chief of Staff Matteson: Ouch!
Despite a pledge otherwise, the budget plan Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s released Wednesday would blow a $10-$30 million hole in New Haven’s pocket, city officials calculated.
Continue reading ‘City Hall’s Math: Malloy’s Budget Socks Us’
by | Feb 6, 2013 1:33 pm | Comments (1)
New Haven’s grand list of taxable property grew by 1.5 percent last year, according to city figures released this week.
by | Feb 6, 2013 9:08 am | Comments (5)
Paul Bass Photo
Kottage (center) & his union endorsed the mayor in 2011. Now they’re at odds on a contract.
A vote on a new police contract sparked a spat between the heads of New Haven’s cop and fire unions — with one labor leader accusing the other of disloyalty.
Continue reading ‘Fire, Police Union Chiefs Spar Over Contracts’
by | Jan 25, 2013 9:08 am | Comments (8)
Paul Bass Photo
Cameron (l) revises doomsday scenario; Ald. Ernie Santiago (r).
Crippling city budget deficit? What crippling budget deficit?
by | Jan 24, 2013 4:41 pm | Comments (3)
Cops would get a 9 percent raise over five years and pay a little more for health care, and new hires would have to wait 25 years to retire, under terms of a tentative new five-year contract their union has struck with City Hall.
by | Dec 14, 2012 9:23 am | Comments (6)
Budget Chief Clerkin introduces deficit “action plan” to lawmakers.
Paul Bass Photos
A downtown parking lot and recent secret home to the city’s narcotics squad can be yours — especially if you want to put a new building there and pay enough money to help the city dig out of a budget deficit.
Continue reading ‘Pssst ... Wanna Buy An Empty Undercover HQ?’
by | Nov 20, 2012 4:35 pm | Comments (28)
Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Perez: “We don’t have a cushion.”
The city could end the fiscal year as much as $8.5 million in the red — but have only $1.86 million in its “rainy day” fund to cover it.
by | Nov 20, 2012 2:44 pm | Comments (4)
Melissa Bailey Photo
With $8 million already approved by the state, city lawmakers now have to decide whether to bond for the last $3.6 million to make renovations to Bowen Field a reality.
by | Nov 15, 2012 5:28 pm | Comments (38)
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Anthony Capuano’s overtime gravy train has come to an end — and boy is he glad.
Continue reading ‘Police, Fire Overtime Already $1M Over Budget’
by | Jul 26, 2012 4:45 pm | Comments (45)
Thomas MacMillan Photo
Perez: A warning “not to grow more than you need to grow.”
As New Haven prepares to announce a $7.5 million budget deficit for the just-completed year, ratings agencies delivered a unanimous verdict on the city’s financial outlook: “negative.”
Continue reading ‘Ratings Agencies Cast “Negative” Eye On City’
by | May 30, 2012 8:00 am | Comments (26)
The ghosts of budget deliberations past — hours-long wrangling over surprise last-minute maneuvers, split votes, angry taxpayers massing with anti-government placards — vanished from City Hall as lawmakers unanimously approved close to $500 million in new spending in less than half the time of a “Saturday Night Live” episode.
Continue reading ‘In 40 Minutes, $486.4M City Budget Passes’