By Keith M. Phaneuf
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities today challenged candidates for state office to address more than 1,300 mandates placed on city and town budgets.
The costs associated with these mandates — most of which are supported only partially with state dollars or unfunded entirely — are driving up property tax rates and leeching resources from local services, according to a new CCM candidate bulletin.
CCM also took a proactive strike in its new candidate bulletin, urging those running for office to oppose two controversial proposals that have surfaced at the Capitol in recent years: shifting a portion of teacher pension costs onto communities and expanding workers’ compensation benefits to cover mental stress suffered by police and firefighters.
In a campaign season dominated by one pledge to eliminate the state income tax and a countercharge that this would devastate Connecticut’s quality of life, CCM tried today to focus candidates on achievable goals.
“There’s one camp that’s all about cutting taxes with no solutions and one camp is about protecting organized labor and putting a chicken in every pot even though we are out of money,” said CCM Executive Director Joe DeLong. “There’s really no discussion about holistic reform.”
“If the state believes an existing or new mandate is appropriate public policy, then the state should be prepared to pay for it,” CCM wrote in the bulletin.
Among the types of relief the chief lobbying group for cities and towns is proposing are:
Prohibiting state arbiters from considering a municipalities’ budget reserves when assessing whether a community can afford a new labor contract.
Ease the state’s minimum budget requirement for local spending on education, which generally comprises 60 to 80 percent of overall municipal budgets.
Exempt municipalities from the 1.75 percent health insurance premium tax Connecticut imposes on authorized insurers.
Reducing pension benefits for future municipal workers participating in the state’s Municipal Employee Retirement System and requiring those workers to contribute more for the benefit.
Revise the prevailing wage statutes that govern the construction wages municipalities must pay on certain types of publicly-financed capital projects.
Allow cities and towns to publish legal notices on line, rather than in printed newspapers.
Reform binding arbitration laws.
CCM also took aim today at two proposals it has fought vigorously in recent years.
The first was raised two years ago by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to mitigate skyrocketing teacher pension costs within the state budget.
Malloy proposed the communities cover as much as one-third of this expense, which currently approaches $1.3 billion per year or 7 percent of the $19 billion General Fund.
But because Connecticut saved inadequately for teacher pensions for seven decades between 1939 and 2010 — forfeiting billions of dollars in potential investment earnings in the process — this line item is projected to rise dramatically over the next 15 years.
According to one study it could nearly quintuple, topping $6.2 billion by 2032.
Communities say the prospect of paying more than $400 million in teacher annual pension bills now — and maybe more than $2 billion per year by the early 2030s — would shatter local property taxpayers and municipal services.
The Malloy administration noted that the pension is a benefit for municipal schoolteachers and that cities and towns currently assume none of that cost.
In addition, the governor has said, the current system is highly regressive, spending the most dollars per capita on wealthy communities — which pay the highest teacher salaries that, in turn, trigger the largest pensions for retirees.
CCM also urged candidates to reject a proposal that has cleared the Senate but — like the teacher pension cost shift — has never been enacted into law.
This second proposal would expanding workers’ compensation for police and firefighters, requiring coverage for post-traumatic stress involving certain types of fatalities. This change was inspired by the school shooting at Sandy Hook.
