Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy spoke about his plan to change the formula for state aid to municipalities with the leaders of small towns on Wednesday. The governor says the plan will ensure that more state money goes to the towns in need.
Malloy told the Connecticut Council of Small Towns meeting in Rocky Hill that a new formula for the distribution of state aid to municipalities is needed because of the disparity in local tax rates between wealthy and poorer towns.
“We can all be very happy for Greenwich with a single digit mill rate, but we have to scratch our heads and wonder how people survive with a 77 mill rate or mill rates in excess of 40.”
The mill rate represents the amount per $1,000 of assessed property value that’s used to calculate local property tax rates. It varies from town to town. Malloy’s new state municipal aid formula is to be included in his next two-year budget plan that will be presented to state lawmakers next month.
Members of the Council of Small Towns say they are very worried about what that aid will look like, considering Connecticut faces an estimated $1.5 billion budget deficit in the new fiscal year.
