You know the story.
Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra built a budget on a bet that he’d get a bill through the legislature that would give him an additional $8 million in property tax revenue. That didn’t happen, so earlier this week he proposed various ways to close the gap. Tonight, the city council will meet to discuss the mayor’s proposed budget changes, as well as some of its own.
Along those lines, I’m told that one of many things on the council’s cutting table is some of the $1.8 million in “program services,” or money that goes to various city organizations. Also included in that $1.8 million is $300,000 for “city contributions toward public programs.” That’s the fun money the city council gets to spread around for civic and cultural activities. For a full list of what that all includes, check page 34-2 of the mayor’s proposed budget.
Also, if you’ve got some free time, here’s a letter sent by Oz Griebel at the MetroHartford Alliance to the city. In short, Griebel warns against adopting a budget with risky revenue and expenditure assumptions.
As a final note, it is with minimal regret that I inform you I won’t be attending tonight’s meeting. (Seriously — they could be there all night.) We’ll follow up in the morning.
