Malloy Adjusts His Executive Order, Cancels PILOT Payment & Zeroes Out ECS for 85 Towns
By Christine Stuart | August 18, 2017
HARTFORD, CT — (Updated 2:30 p.m.) Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would zero out education funding for 85 communities, reduce education funding for 54 communities, and the state’s 30 neediest communities would receive the same amount of education funding they did last year. That’s if the General Assembly is unable to pass a budget before October.
Malloy, who has been running the state by executive order since July 1, announced changes Friday to his initial June allocation plan.
In addition to the changes the plan makes to the Education Cost Sharing formula, it eliminates the $182 million in PILOT payments that towns expect to receive on Sept. 30 to offset the property tax revenue they’re unable to collect from hospitals, colleges, and state buildings.
“In the absence of an adopted budget from the General Assembly, my administration is reallocating resources to pay for basic human services, education in our most challenged school districts, and the basic operation of government,” Malloy said. “The municipal aid that is funded as part of this executive order reflects the nearly impossible decisions Connecticut must make in the absence of a budget. It will force some of our municipalities — both large and small — to make similarly difficult choices of their own.”
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The plan Malloy announced Friday also restores $40 million in funding for the private, nonprofit community.
The Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance thanked the governor for the funds, but warned that the step was temporary.
“While the restored funds will help buffer or delay some of the most devastating impacts of the budget stalemate, it is not a substitute for a biennial budget,” Gian Carl Casa, president & CEO of CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, said. “Nonprofit funding remains $150 million below FY17 levels, putting thousands of programs in jeopardy. Connecticut’s residents are in this together and we all need a budget that fully addresses the state’s budgetary needs including human services and education.”