Guilford Lawmakers Prevent Massive Cut to the Town's Education Budget

GUILFORD, CT - State Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr. (D-Branford) and State Representative Sean Scanlon (D-Guilford) applauded education funding and over $450,000 in new property tax relief for Guilford families within the state budget being considered next week by the General Assembly, the lawmakers announced in a news release this week.

Legislators are facing a $930 million budget deficit in the fiscal year beginning July 1. When the original budget proposal came out in early April, Guilford was slated to receive a $900,000 cut to their Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant, the primary state funding the town receives.

Scanlon and Kennedy publicly criticized those cuts and worked over the past month to convince the leadership of the House and Senate of how damaging a nearly $1 million cut to Guilford schools would be, the prepared statement reads. Under this budget proposal, Guilford will face a small cut of $52,580 - 5% of the originally slated $900,000 education cut.

"Over the last month, I've been crystal clear to the folks in Hartford that the original cut of $1 million to our schools would be very damaging and I'm glad that my voice was heard considering some of our neighboring towns are still facing large cuts," said Rep. Scanlon in a prepared statement. "Balancing this budget was very difficult and there are certainly some very painful cuts within this proposal but I'm grateful we were able to win the fight to spare our schools and still manage to deliver some property tax relief as well."

To offset the small reduction in ECS funding, Guilford will for the first time receive $456,863 in Municipal Revenue Sharing Account (MRSA) funding. Created in 2015, MRSA is a new state program that takes one half of a percent of sales tax revenue collected by the state and returns it to the towns for the purposes of property tax relief.

“When we began working on this budget, we made a commitment to protect the funding for our schools and communities like Guilford,” said Senator Kennedy in a statement. “This budget cuts state spending to the level it was at four years ago and balances the budget without raising taxes or fees and without cutting our schools or towns. We are increasing funding for cities and towns so that municipalities can lower property taxes, hire teacher, police officers and firefighters, and rebuild our roads and bridges.”

Throughout the legislative session, Scanlon and Kennedy have been in constant communication with First Selectman Joe Mazza, the chairs of the Board of Education and Finance, and school administrators.

“I am extremely relieved that the original proposed cut of almost $1 million from Guilford’s Educational Cost Sharing Grant was not sustained and that Guilford only received a cut of $52,580,” said First Selectman Joseph Mazza in a statement. “In addition we also received MRSA funding totaling $392,964. I would like to thank the efforts of our state delegation for all of their hard work.”

"The Town of Guilford fared much better in this proposal than we had anticipated thanks to the efforts of Rep. Scanlon and Sen. Kennedy," said Board of Finance Chairman Matt Hoey. "Their communication with the three boards was also instrumental in the Board of Finance's recent decision to lower projections for state funding as we head to the budget referendum."

"We deeply appreciate the tireless work by Rep. Scanlon and Sen. Kennedy to protect continued state investment in our schools," said Board of Education Chairman Bill Bloss. "We are making tremendous progress in our schools and it is encouraging that the General Assembly continues to value public education."

Legislators are slated to vote on the proposal on May 12th when the House and Senate convene for a special session to pass the new budget.