Under Failed Democrat Leadership, Connecticut’s Poor Fiscal Standing Gets Worse

July 24, 2017

Under Failed Democrat Governor Dan Malloy and his allies’ non-existent leadership, cities and towns across Connecticut are being forced to cut services in response to the threat of municipal aid cuts. A survey of 61 communities by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities showed almost half have been forced to take measures such as deferring public safety equipment purchases and summer road construction work, while cutting education positions and police overtime. While potential Democrat successors to Malloy such as Nancy Wyman and Kevin Lembo try to run away from their party’s catastrophic failure to pass a budget, the state’s already poor fiscal situation only keeps getting worse, further burdening communities across Connecticut.

The CT Mirror reports:

“Nearly half of Connecticut cities and towns participating in a recent survey have frozen spending or cut services in response to state budget gridlock and the associated threat of reduced municipal aid, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities reported Monday.

 Of 61 communities surveyed, 29 reported some type of spending freeze since the fiscal year began on July 1.

 Examples include freezing hiring and capital spending, deferring public works and public safety equipment purchases and summer road construction work, and stopping all discretionary spending.

 Similarly, 28 out of 61 participating cities and towns reported service cutbacks, including reductions to: education positions, police overtime, summer youth programs, library hours of operation, parks and recreation services, and environmental testing.

 ‘These survey results present a snapshot of the stresses on local government as they attempt to start their fiscal year, with little or no direction from the state regarding the level of state aid they will receive, never mind the level of state aid they need,’ said CCM Executive Director Joe DeLong. ‘As you can see, with the looming state budget crisis this spring and summer, towns and cities moved to cut spending and limit tax hikes as they feared a significant reduction in municipal aid.’”