City Gets At Least $94M From Stimulus

The soon-to-pass federal Covid stimulus bill will send close to $100 million in direct aid to the city and then millions more to the schools and other local agencies.

But in itself it won’t solve the city’s budget problems or prevent a tax hike.

That word emerged from a press conference outside City Hall Monday morning featuring Mayor Justin Elicker and U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal.

They held the event to tout the local impact of the $1.9 trillion pandemic economic stimulus bill passed by the Senate Saturday and likely to pass the House of Representatives this week.

The senators estimated that the bill will bring $4 billion in aid to Connecticut’s state and municipal governments, including $94.7 million to New Haven. They called it a game-changer in the nation’s efforts to address poverty and tackle the effects of the pandemic.

It’s still too early to break down exactly what that money will go toward, and whether it will enable New Haven to avoid a tax hike and service cuts in its budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.

But it’s clear it will offer financial boosts to parents (through a child care credit), stretched renters and landlords, restaurant owners, theater and concert-hall owners.

It will probably cover the estimated $3 million in parking meter revenue and fines lost this year due to the pandemic as well as increased police overtime costs, Elicker said. So that will help New Haven address a $13-$14 million deficit for the current year.

And some future costs will get reimbursements: infrastructure costs that can be billed to the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), for instance. And putting air filters in schools. In fact, the schools are potentially in line for millions of dollars not even counted in that $94.7 million eyed for the city, and some of that money can support social services for students struggling with impacts of the pandemic, along with teacher retention.

But Elicker was clear when asked if this bounty will solve the upcoming year’s budget crisis.

“It doesn’t mean that,” he replied.

The city still needs the state and Yale to pony up an additional $53 million to prevent a tax increase and cuts including potential closure of the Mitchell branch library, Whitney Avenue fire station, and East Shore Senior Center, according to Elicker.

Murphy was asked whether the $2.7 billion going directly to the state might help fund the extra urban aid New Haven’s looking for under a revised Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) formula. It’s ​“too early to know,” he said, but ​“my goal is to allow the maximum flexibility” for state and local governments.

Elicker also said the stimulus infusion will boost New Haven’s longer-term efforts. For instance, he’s hoping it can fund a hoped-for development of fiber-optic internet access in town. It may help plans to improve infrastructure in neighborhood commercial corridors.

The money gives New Haven ​“an opportunity to think big and long-term,” Elicker said. His administration plans to hold ​“conversations” with the Board of Alders and neighborhood groups ​“to make sure this funding has long-term significance to our community.”