CCM Lays Out 'New Way Forward' at Wethersfield Meeting

WETHERSFIELD, CT — The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities on Wednesday, in cooperation with mayors and first selectmen, released a new report on a “new way forward” for Connecticut cities and towns that represents "significantly new and different thinking by Connecticut municipalities."

That was the word from Susan Bransfield, the first selectman of Portland and CCM president, after a news conference presenting the report at the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center in Wethersfield.

She said CCM’s State-Local Partnership Panel worked for months to develop a package of state legislative initiatives for the 2017 General Assembly.

Bransfield said CCM’s Board of Directors established the State-Local Partnership Panel last summer comprised of 21 municipal CEOs to develop statewide policies that govern the delivery and financing of municipal services After months of study the Panel has completed it work. It recommends a package of proposals that lays the foundation for a vibrant future for Connecticut towns and cities. Panel recommendations are divided into three sections — shared services; cost containment, and municipal revenue diversification.

“We have all seen a thousand reports over the years on tax reform, regionalism, mandates, property tax relief, etc. Well, this report is different,” said Bransfield. “It’s different because it puts forward new recommendations that haven’t been made before. It’s also different because it is backed by a group of local elected officials from both parties – and from the suburbs, rural areas, and urban areas. In other words, while not everyone agrees with every idea, everyone DOES agree that, as a body of work, this report deserves to be at the heart of a robust public discussion.”

Key speakers at the new conference were: Bransfield, Luke Bronin, mayor of Hartford; Neil O’Leary, mayor of Waterbury; Leo Paul, first selectman of Litchfield; and Michael Freda, first selectman of North Haven.

Click here for the full report.

The report includes what Bransfield called "some new municipal tools." Some are:

• Removing service sharing arrangements as a subject of collective bargaining; state law should bechanged so that interlocal agreements or service sharing contracts involving two or more municipalitieswill override any participating municipality’s charter.
• Allowing general government more control over education expenditures and boards of education; and amending the Municipal Employee Retirement System to establish an additional retirement planfor new hires.
• Expanding the sales tax base by repealing 10 percent of the exemptions for selected consumption categories; reducing the state sales tax rate by 0.75 percent to 5.60 percent; and levying a statewide local sales tax at the rate of 1 percent.
• Changing state law and permit municipalities to require ongoing fees for the use of the public rights of way.
• Requiring property owners of properties subject to state PILOT reimbursement to pay the difference between the state’s statutory PILOT rate and the amount towns actually receive in state PILOT payments, up to 20 percent of the mill rate.
• Requiring property assessment services be consolidated and/or shared in Connecticut regions for assessment offices servicing less than 15,000 parcels.

Photo Credit: CCM