Thomas MacMIllan Photo
Harp chats with aide Tomas Reyes at a storm meeting Wednesday.
When the governor opens the new legislative session Thursday, he will propose millions of new dollars for New Haven — and, according to one person familiar with the plans, an $8 million statewide boost in “PILOT” reimbursements.
“It looks like a pretty good budget,” New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, Harp joined other Connecticut mayors at a state Capitol budget briefing by Benjamin Barnes, the governor’s budget director.
Harp said she couldn’t share specific numbers from the budget. She agreed to abide by an embargo on budget information until the governor reveals it in his State of the State address on Thursday at noon. “It’s certainly better than it has been,” Mayor Harp said of the proposed PILOT increase.
Another person familiar with the plans said Malloy is proposing upping the amount the state reimburses local communities for tax-exempt colleges and hospitals under the Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) program from $115 million to $123 million. New Haven currently gets a little less than a third of that money.
Harp did say the governor’s plans include new money to New Haven for bridges and Urban Action grant program dollars for other economic development, mass-transit, and housing projects.
Connecticut operates on two-year budget and is currently mid-cycle. On even years, the governor and legislature can make adjustments to the budget. This is an election year, and the state’s running a predicted surplus, so budget-strapped cities like New Haven will be pushing for additional money.
“it’s something,” Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Michael Stratton said of the governor’s proposed PILOT increase, which if approved could send a bit more than $2 million to New Haven.
The state is required by law to send money to cities like New Haven that have a significant amount of untaxable property, including colleges and hospitals. The state hasn’t fully funded PILOT for over a decade. Some 45 percent of New Haven’s property is untaxable.
Stratton authored a non-binding resolution unanimously passed by the Board of Alders Monday night calling on the state for full PILOT funding. By state law, the state is supposed to reimburse the city at a rate of 77 percent of the property taxes the city would receive from land belonging to university and hospital properties, and 45 percent for state-owned buildings.In recent years, however, the state has not even come close to hitting the 77 percent mark. Most recently, according to Stratton, the state paid only 32 percent for college and hospital properties and 23 percent for state properties.
Stratton said what’s really needed is a long-term “culture shift” toward predictable and complete PILOT funding.
Apart from the proposed “slight increase” in PILOT, the governor’s proposal will maintain (rather than cut) education cost sharing funding along with the bridge and urban action money, Harp said.
She said the budget adjustment includes more money for bridges and more “urban action” capital funds, special funds for Connecticut cities.
“It’s a positive budget for cities,” she said.
Harp said she nevertheless would like to see more for New Haven. “It would be a poor dog who didn’t want another bone,” she joked.
She said she’ll be working to secure funding for a new garage at Union Station, as well as Hill-to-Downtown development. She said she’s also looking for money for jobs for young people, and funds for rebuilding the Q House.
If state ends the year with a surplus, Harp said, she’ll look for help with storm expenses. The city “badly needs” new public works vehicles, Harp said.
Stratton: Don’t “Get Reasonable”
Overall, Harp said she’s “feeling really good about” the governor’s proposed budget adjustments. She said she supports the alders’ bill calling for full PILOT funding. “I will sign it,” she said. “I think we should keep saying it should be full funded.” Still, she said, full PILOT from the state is probably not going to happen. “I don’t think it is. But we should still ask.”
As part of her new 2014 state legislative agenda, Harp set a goal of a $5 million increase in PILOT money for New Haven. With an $8 million increase planned statewide, it appears unlikely that New Haven would see that $5 million increase.
Alder Stratton said he learned a lesson early on in his career as a trial lawyer: “The first guy to get reasonable in negotiations loses.”
After the proposed $8 million increase is divided between Connecticut cities, the governor is “basically giving the mayor about half of what she asked for. Maybe less,” Stratton said.
Stratton said the city is owed about $50 million in PILOT. “Asking for less than we’re actually due sends a message that it’s OK” to not fund PILOT, he argued. “I’m less interested in sort of random dollars that get sent our way,. I’m more interested in how do we create a stable and predictable revenue stream.
“The point of the [alders’ PILOT] proclamation is to get what we’re actually due, and to make it mandatory so that we don’t have to worry whether or not that money’s coming. We need a culture shift that’s put in place in this legislative session.”
Harp’s Agenda
As the 2014 legislative session opens, the PILOT target is one of dozens of items on the mayor’s state legislative agenda, which her administration has distributed to the members of New Haven’s Capitol delegation.
The agenda includes a number of proposals that have been longstanding New Haven requests, such as permission for cities to levy hotel and restaurant taxes. Harp also asks for a tax on sugary drinks to combat childhood obesity.
And to deal with empty storefronts, Harp seeks state permission to look into imposing a tax or fee on landlords who leave commercial properties vacant.
Harp also wants the city to receive more of the take when it issues traffic tickets. Currently, most of the money for speeding tickets goes to the state.
The agenda includes a host of proposals aimed at problem bars and nightclubs in New Haven. Harp wants to require bars to pay for policing, license bouncers and nightclub promoters, and make permanent a law that allows the chief of police to have a say in liquor permit renewals.
Click here to read the full agenda.