Mayor Vetoes Budget In Hamden

HAMDEN, CT — Hamden Mayor Curt Balzano Leng announced Thursday night that he will veto the 2019-20 town budget that was recently approved by the Legislative Council in a narrow vote.

“The Council approved a budget by a 7-6 vote that would push Hamden’s tax mill rate to 50 (49.99),” Leng said in a statement. “Their excessive increase was nearly three times higher than the modest increase I recommended to protect essential services.

“This is not in Hamden’s best interest; short-term or long-term. It sends the wrong signal to every family and every business considering investing in our beautiful community. It’s also just not fair to overburden our residents with reckless increases when too many are struggling with taxes already.

“Overtaxing is not the answer, we can do better. For these reasons and others I have vetoed the Council budget.”

The council recently approved the budget by a 7-6 vote, which had to be confirmed by the town attorney's office after the council concluded that it had accidentally failed to pass its amended budget because of a mistaken procedural vote by a council member on a subsequent ordinance, the New Haven Independent previously reported.

The council approved a budget of $236,866,474 that would have raised the mill rate to 49.99 — 1.26 mills higher than Leng's proposed 48.73 mill rate and 2.03 mills higher than the current rate of 47.96, according to the Independent.