Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra may have a multi-million dollar problem on his hands. As WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, he's hoping the state legislature will save him.
Segarra was dealt a difficult hand. A recent revaluation of property in the city meant that it lost tax dollars it would have gotten from commercial properties. As a result, the city had a $56 million gap to fill this year. Segarra hit some political bumps along the way: He called for shared sacrifice at the same time that he gave managers and his office staff raises; andthe city treasurer says the mayor has shorted its pension fund by $11 million.
But otherwise, the mayor says he closed the gap by cutting spending and finding new revenue sources.
Now, one of those revenue sources looks like a risky gamble. Segarra's budget assumes between $7 million and $9 million in property tax revenue that only comes to the city if certain legislation passes the general assembly. And, you guessed it, there's gridlock. Here's Segarra.
"Not acting, or to stay entrenched in fixed positions, is only going to lead to higher mill rates for our community."
Segarra said the same thing in an urgent and stern letter to the city's legislative delegation. He asked legislators to put their political and personal differences aside. He told them that the city is at a "precipice."
"A mayor can only do so much and he also depends upon legislators to reach compromises, and at this point we're not different than what's happening in Washington."
I asked Segarra whether it made sense to count on tax dollars he wasn't sure he'd get. He said that, given the nature of negotiations at the time, it did. Clearly, things have changed.
Here's how Council President Shawn Wooden characterized Segarra's budgetary assumptions.
"It certainly makes it more speculative...As I sit here right now, I am very, very concerned that the city of Hartford ends up with this session running out without us having an amendment to the tax legislation that results in additional revenues for the city."
State Representative Matt Ritter said that a compromise could still emerge.
"There is time, but I will say that every minute that goes by I get less optimistic that we will be able to do this."
And when you count legislative time by hours and not by days, the city and Segarra now have two big obstacles in their way: politics, and the clock.
For WNPR, I'm Jeff Cohen.
