by | Jan 28, 2021 4:28 pm | Comments (166)
City of New Haven
“Grey” area represents fixed costs that, according to mayor, can’t be cut.
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Mayor Elicker: Crunch “nearly impossible to fix.”
As of Thursday, next fiscal year’s projected city deficit looks $25 million bleaker than it did on Wednesday, thanks to a slate of new estimates and recommendations regarding how the city funds its pensions.
by | Jan 12, 2021 10:39 am | Comments (4)
Thomas Breen photo
Chief Alston: Current OT budget “never was” enough.
New Haven Fire Department
A recent history of NHFD OT.
Fire Chief John Alston came to the alders with a familiar plea: Firefighter overtime is well over budget, and — yet again — in desperate need of millions of dollars in life support.
by | Jan 5, 2021 2:38 pm | Comments (2)
Zoom
Monday night’s Board of Alders virtual meeting.
The Board of Alders unanimously signed off on a four-year, $322,142 human resources software contract that the Board of Education claims will improve the school system’s recruitment of Black teachers and will streamline the onboarding of new employees.
by | Dec 22, 2020 10:49 am | Comments (1)
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Board of Alders virtual meeting on Monday.
The city received an unexpected holiday season gift from the state budget office: $3.1 million in state-allocated federal funds to help cover municipal public safety and public health costs related to Covid-19 the city’s response to Covid-19.
by | Dec 15, 2020 12:04 pm | Comments (11)
Maya McFadden photo
Hill Central literacy teacher Bee Marshall at a July rally.
A new teachers union contract that would trade a pay freeze this year for no layoffs or medical premium increases over the next three years advanced towards a final full Board of Alders vote later this month.
Continue reading ‘Teachers Contract With Pay Freeze Advances’
by | Dec 8, 2020 10:57 am | Comments (6)
Allan Appel file photo
School nurse E.J. Antinozzi on the job before the pandemic.
Every school will have a nurse — whenever schools reopen for in-person learning — thanks to an $850,000 budget transfer approved by the Board of Alders.
by | Nov 30, 2020 6:50 pm | Comments (24)
Negotiators, clockwise from top left: Fernandez, Weisselberg, Alvarez, Gormany, Piscitelli.
Mayor Justin Elicker has dispatched a team with both long governmental experience and youthful perspective to hammer a deal with Yale for greater support for the city.
by | Nov 24, 2020 4:51 pm | Comments (28)
Toomas Breen Photo
Flyer left on doors across town this past weekend.
Just in the past week, this news site revealed that the mayor is engaged in clandestine discussions with Yale University concerning its financial contributions to the city.
In addition, just this past weekend I received a door hanger reminding me of the value of Yale’s tax exemption as part of a campaign organized by New Haven Rising, an extension of the Yale unions.
The demand for more financial support from Yale has repeatedly come to the fore in New Haven for decades, particularly during tight budget times, without any clear resolution. I propose that we change how we frame the issue — and try some new strategies for getting Yale to pay its fair share.
Continue reading ‘Opinion: Time For A Yale “Fair Share” Pivot’
by | Nov 13, 2020 4:46 pm | Comments (19)
Thomas Breen photo
8 Legion Ave.: Pricey parking lot.
Yale New Haven Hospital purchased the above-pictured Legion Avenue surface parking lot and one beside it for over $4.5 million. The city taxes it as though it’s worth just over $126,000.
Continue reading ‘Lot Sells For 35 Times City-Appraised Value’
by | Nov 10, 2020 1:00 pm | Comments (53)
Wikimedia Commons
Yale’s Harkness Tower and New Haven City Hall.
Thomas Breen Photo
Elicker: Will Yale now “accept its responsibility?”
Yale University has posted a $203 million operating surplus for its most recent fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the city is staring down a $13 million projected deficit — with dozens of job cuts in the rearview, and plenty of pandemic-induced uncertainty ahead.
Continue reading ‘Yale Posts $203M Surplus; City Projects $13M Deficit’
by | Nov 10, 2020 12:12 pm | Comments (3)
Allan Appel file photo
School nurse E.J. Antinozzi on the job before the pandemic.
Covid-19 may have one positive — if temporary — impact on city schools: Each building should finally have its own dedicated school nurse.
Continue reading ‘Every School Would Get A Nurse Under Budget Transfer’
by | Nov 9, 2020 2:01 pm | Comments (8)
Thomas Breen photo
Sen. Blumenthal (right) with Mayor Elicker at Monday’s presser.
Richard Blumenthal made a post-election pitch to his Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate: Start negotiating now over a new Covid-19 relief package worth at least $2.2 trillion.
Families and small businesses and state and local governments hurting during the pandemic cannot wait a minute longer.
Continue reading ‘Blumenthal To McConnell: Pass Covid Relief Now’
by | Oct 6, 2020 10:53 am | Comments (4)
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Monday’s virtual Board of Alders meeting.
The Board of Alders voted unanimously in support of transferring $100,000 in city funds towards paying for a planning study for a new social worker-centered mobile crisis response team.
Continue reading ‘Alders Transfer $100K For Crisis Team Study’
by | Sep 16, 2020 10:26 am | Comments (27)
City of New Haven
The city’s pitch.
A new mobile crisis response team that would have social workers rather than cops respond to certain 911 calls won a vote of support, as committee alders unanimously endorsed transferring $100,000 in city funds towards paying for a planning study for the program.
by | Sep 15, 2020 12:25 pm | Comments (14)
DANIELA BRIGHENTI PHOTO
High-schoolers help prepare the Escape before work stopped.
The perennially-stalled and never-opened “Escape” youth homeless shelter lurched towards its formal demise at a city government hearing Monday night.
by | Sep 9, 2020 9:25 am | Comments (5)
Thomas Breen photo
Budget chief Gormany, ed board prez Rivera at announcment.
A newly published financial report shows that the city ended last fiscal year with a $1.9 million budget surplus, even as Covid-19 interrupted just about every aspect of city life starting last spring.
by | Aug 14, 2020 10:38 pm | Comments (22)
Thomas Breen photo
Youth leader Jeremy Cajigas urges Mayor Elicker (right) to defund the police.
A “Defund the Police” rally held outside Mayor Justin Elicker’s house turned into a wide-ranging conversation about City Hall’s policy priorities amidst the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement.
Continue reading ‘Police Protest Sparks Dialogue At Mayor’s House’
by | Aug 12, 2020 3:15 pm | Comments (17)
FRAC Chair Mohit Agrawal at Tuesday night’s meeting.
City finance staff is once again considering a controversial idea for how to address hundreds of millions of dollars in unfunded city pension liabilities: Borrowing in bulk with pension obligation bonds (POBs).
by | Jul 30, 2020 3:41 pm | Comments (2)
City of New Haven
The city anticipates ending the last fiscal year with a $7.8 million deficit — a projected budget hole nearly half as large as that predicted last month, thanks in part to pandemic-induced revenue shortfalls coming in better than expected.
by | Jul 6, 2020 6:21 pm | Comments (11)
Ko Lyn Cheang photo
New police recruits sworn in at the academy.
The mayor has cut over $521,000 from the city’s police department budget as part of a Board of Alders-mandated quest to reduce city spending by over $2 million.
Continue reading ‘Elicker Fills In The Blanks On $2M In Cuts’
by | Jun 30, 2020 3:10 pm | Comments (13)
City of New Haven
The city plans to dip into its $15.7 million rainy day fund to cover the cost of this fiscal year’s pandemic-exacerbated deficit, which is currently projected to be over $13 million.
by | Jun 17, 2020 12:13 pm | Comments (12)
Christopher Peak File Photo
NHFD Paramedic Keith Kerr treats man who overdosed on heroin.
Weeks after approving a budget that would outsource paramedic services to a private company, alders voted on Tuesday night to create a working group that would revisit the issue.
by | Jun 9, 2020 8:23 pm | Comments (39)
Thomas Breen photo
Protesters call for the defunding of the police.
City of New Haven budget data
“Defund the police” has become the new rallying cry for local and nationwide uprisings against police brutality.
For New Haven, that demand prompts an obvious question: What’s in the local police budget, anyway?
by | Jun 2, 2020 12:57 pm | Comments (1)
Thomas Breen file photo
Firefighters at work on Grand Avenue.
Alders voted unanimously to move $1 million debt service to the fire department to help cover the cost of over-budget overtime.
by | May 28, 2020 1:54 pm | Comments (4)
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City Budget Director / Acting Controller Michael Gormany at hearing.
New Haven property owners who have lost at least 20 percent of their income due to Covid-19 can pay their taxes three months late this coming fiscal year without incurring any penalties.
Before receiving such a benefit, they first must apply to the city by June 30, and they must promise — if not necessarily prove — that they really have suffered such a pandemic-induced economic hardship.
Continue reading ‘Pandemic Property Tax Relief A Click Away’