Hartford budget proposal: Property tax rate stays steady, but no new schools funding
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s last budget proposal would add more building inspectors, public works employees and recreation aides while holding the tax rate steady but also leaving education funding flat for another year.
The $619 million plan from Bronin, who announced he would not seek another term, would be another step in restoring some of the severe cutbacks of 2016, when the city was facing bankruptcy and required dozens of layoffs and tens of millions of dollars in spending reductions, Bronin said Monday. Balancing the debt-ridden books ultimately required a long-term $550 million state bailout.
“When we made those deep and difficult cuts, we knew we weren’t just cutting fat, we were cutting muscle and bone,” said Bronin, whose administration took office amidst a fiscal crisis eight years ago. “We have carefully worked to heal since then.”
He credited a multi-year plan to restore fiscal accountability for putting Hartford in a place where its balance sheet is far healthier, allowing it to add staff and expand its senior citizens’ tax break. Eligible senior homeowners get a credit of $750 now; that would rise to $1,000.
Bronin’s plan is 3.2 percent higher than the current one, an increase he said he’s proud of given the inflation of the past year. He said it was especially important to maintain last year’s progress on taxes, when the tax rate fell from 74.29 mills to 68.95.
“This budget preserves and protects the reduction in the property tax rate,” he said. “We don’t take on a dollar of new debt, we don’t use any one-time revenue sources, we fully fund our pension contributions.”
His plan goes to the city council, which will conduct hearings April 5 and April 26. The council must settle on a final budget by May 21. On Monday, council President Maly Rosado did not respond to requests for comment.
About 48 percent of the city budget comes from property taxes, and another 48 percent from state and federal grants, in addition to fees and other minor revenue sources. Under Bronin’s plan, the school system would get roughly 46 percent of the money, benefits and insurance would take 16 percent, and public safety would get about 16 percent. The rest would be spread among the library, infrastructure projects, health and human services, debt repayment and other expenses.
Spending on Hartford’s primary services would rise, but by varying rates. Bronin is proposing $3.5 million more for the police department, about a 7.2 percent jump, for instance. That covers what he said were “pretty significant” increases in the new police contract, which gives raises of 10 percent over four years.
The public works department would get an additional $2.1 million, or 11 percent. That includes hiring more than a dozen workers, mostly to maintain parks and streets. The families, children, youth and recreation budget would go up by $1.3 million, or more than 36 percent. Bronin said that recreation centers for city youth will be expanding service in the next year.
“Under this budget, the department would be able to dramatically extend the hours of service and the programming at our rec centers,” Bronin said. “We look forward to seeing our rec centers open longer hours, doing more, delivering more programs to our kids and families. The budget also includes an increase that will allow our libraries to keep their branches open more hours.”
The budget carries money for three additional housing inspectors and four new positions in the fire department’s building inspection team.
The school budget, however, would remain frozen at $284 million, the same level where it has stood for the past decade. State and federal aid to Hartford schools have risen significantly in that time, however.
“There are two substantial sources of funds for our school system. One is the direct city contribution, the other is from the state, Educating Cost Sharing and other grants,” Bronin said. “This year our share of school funding stays the same, but I would stress that we have seen declining enrollment year over year. Per pupil spending has gone up every year.”