Jay Dockendorf File Photo
As a new legislative session gets under way in Hartford, state Rep. Pat Dillon has introduced bills that would reimburse New Haven for its supportive housing, pay to renovate the Shubert, and pave the way for traffic-calming in Westville.
Dillon, one of New Haven’s six state representatives, announced the news in press releases this week.
One bill, HB 5091, calls for changing the formula behind the state Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) grant, which reimburses cities for nontaxable land owned by colleges, universities and not-for-profits. She called for the formula to factor in the amount of supportive housing a city has.
“Supportive housing for the mentally ill is restricted to areas where it is permitted by local zoning – consequently, supportive housing is overwhelmingly clustered in communities like New Haven,” Dillon wrote in a release. New Haven has 24 facilities of permanent supportive housing, plus dozens more of emergency housing, transitional housing, and recovery housing, according to a city directory.
Dillon said after the state closed two mental hospitals, “clients have been increasingly placed in communities in supportive housing. Consequently, New Haven is arguably performing a state function by hosting individuals who at one time would have been in state hospitals.”
“New Haven is a welcoming town, and it should be, but taking on state functions impacts our tax base,” Dillon argued. She said supportive housing “is a much better option than warehousing clients in a state institution.” However, “it erodes our local tax base and should be accounted for in formulas that reimburse towns for Payment in Lieu of Taxes.”
Mayoral spokeswoman Elizabeth Benton said the city supports the idea. “Cities in general in Connecticut shoulder the responsibilities for the region for at-risk individuals,” and they need help paying for that burden, she argued.
Two other bills Dillon introduced were successfully raised by the Commerce Committee — an action that needs to take place before any bill can be voted on.
Westville Village
The first bill would designate Westville Village as a main street area under the state’s Main Street Investment program. Dillon co-sponsored the bill with state Rep. Toni Walker and state Sen. Toni Harp.
That would allow Westville Village to apply for grants for “street lights, crosswalks and traffic calming measures to improve pedestrian traffic and access to local merchants.”
Dillon called the bill “an important step in Westville’s continued renaissance.”
“People need to feel safe crossing the streets to the shops and businesses in Westville Village,” she said.
Shubert
Dillon sponsored a bill to allow the state to issue up to $3.45 million in bonds to pay to renovate the Shubert Theater in time for an upcoming centennial celebration.
“The Shubert is a true Broadway theater in the heart of New Haven. As we approach its centennial, these funds will help ensure its existence for another 100 years,” Dillon said.
The Shubert, which has to work hard to retain its city subsidy each year, finds itself fighting for state funding this year — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed cutting its third-of-a-million annual state grant and forcing it to compete with other arts groups for a shrinking pool of money.