NORWALK, Conn. Mayor Richard Moccia's administration has its work cut out for it Gov. Dannel Malloy has proposed reducing state funding to municipalities by $54 million, including at least $317,528 to Norwalk, according to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. This is because union members rejected proposed cutbacks offered by Malloy in an effort to balance the state budget.
The conference is providing only an estimate, as "only $24.6 million of the $54.4 million in proposed cuts are presently quantifiable by municipality."
"We have preliminary numbers, but remember that the legislature has not weighed in yet," Moccia said by email. "It appears that we are slated for a $317,000 reduction." His administration has already been working on the issue.
"We did manage a $120,000 reduction in interest charges by refinancing bonds at a lower rate that we did not factor in the revenues when developing the budget so that may be part of the solution," he said. "We will look at where our anticipated revenues are i.e. tax collection rate, building permit fees again to see if the actuals are higher than an our estimates that we used when preparing the budget. But I want to be clear these are areas we are looking at, no decisions have made or will be made until we have the final confirmed reduction and I meet with our finance people."
Malloy's proposal includes a 5 percent reduction in payments in lieu of taxes on state property in Norwalk, which is $17,201; a 5 percent cut in payments in lieu of taxes on colleges and hospitals, which totals $81,665; and a 50 percent reduction in Town Aid Road Grants, which is $218,662.
The governor has called a special legislative session to begin Thursday. The conference of municipalities is urging legislators to reject the $54 million in municipal aid cuts and the proposed elimination of municipal aid exemption. "Virtually every town and city has adopted their fiscal year 2012 budget, set a tax rate and sent tax bills out in the mail," the statement said.
Follow The Daily Norwalk on Facebook.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
