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11/20/2017 11:00 PMThe cautious optimism surrounding the recent—and seriously delayed—passage of the state budget has already faded. On Nov. 17, Governor Dannel P. Malloy implemented more than $880 million in spending cuts mandated by the General Assembly, meaning towns like Guilford will receive less state aid in this budget than promised just a few weeks ago.
The State House and Senate passed the budget with sweeping, veto-proof majorities on Oct. 26. Once the budget hit the governor’s desk, Malloy signed most of the budget into law on Oct. 31, nearly 11 months after the legislature’s first budget proposal was released.
The numbers, in the budget signed by the governor Oct. 31, were good for Guilford. In the governor’s February proposal, Guilford’s Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant, which serves as the state’s primary financial resource to help municipalities run their schools, was completely zeroed out, taking the town’s total ECS grant from $2.7 million this fiscal year to nothing in the next. In the budget referendum, the town assumed a significant cut to ECS funding and accounted for a loss of $1,892,955 in its adopted budget. The signed state budget gave $2,603,374 in ECS money to Guilford, creating a surplus of $710,419.
Looking at all of the state revenue sources including ECS, PILOT, Town Aid to Roads, and the Municipal Stabilization grant, Guilford’s total surplus came to $251,111 over what was assumed in this year’s adopted budget.
However, at the time the state budget was passed, First Selectman Joe Mazza said with the state still facing a massive deficit, there was still a good chance the governor could come back to municipalities like Guilford with mid-year cuts in aid. Less than a month after the signing of the budget, Mazza’s prediction came true.
When the budget was built, the legislature ordered more than $880 million in spending cuts to balance out the deficit, but didn’t mandate where all of those cuts should fall. On Nov. 17, the governor enacted the spending cuts.
Malloy cut labor costs and also imposed cuts to social services, municipal aid (reduced more than $91 million), and higher education.
With the cuts, Guilford’s total ECS grant was reduced from $2,603,374 to $2,349,009. Combined with other direct cuts in state funding to the town, Guilford, instead of getting $251,111 more than expected, got $180,000 less.
The cuts drew criticism from Guilford’s legislators, who said the bipartisan budget was designed to protect municipal aid.
First selectman-elect Matt Hoey, who is set to take office Monday, Dec. 4, said while the cut is troubling, Guilford prepared for this possibility.
“I am extremely disappointed in the governor’s recent action to reduce aid to municipalities, particularly on the heels of the bi-partisan effort in passing the 2017-’18 state budget,” he said. “The reductions in state aid factored into the town’s 2017-’18 budget will allow us to absorb these cuts. I will continue to work closely with our state delegation—Ted Kennedy Jr., Sean Scanlon, and Vincent Candelora—to head off any further cuts.”