Rep. D’Amelio Attends Capitol Budget Roundtable Discussion with Local Elected Officials

Cash-strapped municipalities such as Middlebury need relief from the state as they prepare municipal budgets at a time when revenues are declining and more people are seeking the critical services towns provide, chief elected officials from around the state said at a budget roundtable at the State Capitol Tuesday.

After the forum, state Representative Anthony J. D’Amelio, R-71^st District, discussed several Republican proposals that could provide the kind of relief the officials were seeking. The forum attracted almost 40 chief elected officials from small-to-medium sized cities and towns, including Middlebury First Selectman Tom Gormley. The meeting was held to solicit information and suggestions from the local officials on how the state legislature can assist communities struggling to provide critical services during the current recession.

“As a state legislator whose district includes Middlebury and part of Waterbury, I was very pleased that so many chief elected officials from the towns we represent turned out for our roundtable meeting on the budget problems the recession is creating for our towns and advised us on what we can do to give them some relief,” Representative D’Amelio said. “It was an excellent opportunity for us to receive first-hand information from local elected officials who are on the front lines of the statewide budget crisis. They were especially concerned about how costly unfunded state mandates force them to increase spending and the state’s flawed policy for the distribution of state education funding increase the burden on local property taxpayers. It was good to hear that the mayors and first selectmen are with us on our proposals to reform the state’s education funding formula to make it more equitable to suburban and rural communities.”

“I’d like to thank Representatives Cafero and D’Amelio for giving us the opportunity to discuss our views and concerns about the budget crisis and other problems our communities have in common. My biggest concern is that Middlebury’s education funding grant may be cut and the adverse effects that would have on our town,” Mr. Gormley said. “I also am very concerned about unfunded state mandates and how they affect our budgeting process. It’s my hope that that the state legislature will delay or decline to implement new mandates such as in-school suspensions, which will significantly increase our education budgets. Education costs and how the legislature can ease the burden unfunded mandates place on our towns was the main concern expressed by most of the chief elected officials who were there.”

The roundtable discussion, which included a budget briefing and an outline of Connecticut’s fiscal problems and how they could affect towns and cities from the state legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, was hosted by House Republican Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk.

House Republicans are supporting several proposals to provide fiscal relief to towns and cities. Those measures would:

• Require new unfunded mandate proposals to pass by a two-thirds vote of the state House of Representatives and the state Senate before they can become law (House Bill 5285).
• Delay the implementation of a new in-school suspension requirement until July 1, 2012 (H. B. 5705).
• Delay from January 1, 2010, to July 1, 2012, the implementation of a requirement increasing the maximum age for juvenile court jurisdiction for youths charged with certain criminal offenses (H. B. 5237).
• Allow towns and cities to post legal notices on their municipal websites (H. B. 5214). The bill would not preclude municipalities from placing legal notices in local newspapers as well.
• Delay the implementation of a new state mandate that requires towns and cities to post certain information (such as minutes of meetings of local boards and commissions) on municipal web sites until on or after July 1, 2012 (H. B. 5218).