Politics & Government

Town Manager: Gov.'s Cuts Pose Significant Fiscal Challenges to Windsor

Town Manager Peter Souza called some of the governor's proposed cuts radical, and explained that his own proposal takes a conservative approach to the next fiscal year.

During a presentation of his budget proposal, Windsor Town Manager Peter Souza told town council members the town expects to operate with a loss of significant state funding over the next fiscal year — cuts proposed by Gov. Dannel Malloy that Souza called radical.

According to Souza, the most significant cuts proposed by the governor are the elimination of car taxes, tax credits given to manufacturers and funds sent from casinos to towns across the state.

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“Even though the governor says he’s holding the cities and towns harmless... it’s a reality for us,” said Souza following his budget presentation Monday, adding that towns don’t put the money Malloy proposes to cut in their annual operating budgets.

The proposed cuts are a harsh reality for towns, particularly after efforts made by the legislature to secure such funding for towns.

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Despite the governor’s proposal, the program was continued.

The town cannot, however, operate on the assumption that the state will continue the program again. According to Souza, his proposal takes a conservative approach to the budget.

While it attempts to make up for a loss of some funding, it does not account for a loss of other.

Souza’s proposal, for example, does not account for a possible loss of local car tax revenue, which would cut revenue by nearly $6 million and cause the mill rate to rise an additional two mills.

The outlook isn’t completely grim, however. According to Souza, Malloy has also proposed an increase in money for roads and local capital improvement projects. If the legislature adopts such funding, “then the council, if they want to, could reduce the increase I’ve asked for.”

The challenge the Windsor town council faces, however, is adopting a town budget before the state adopts its budget.

Souza has proposed a budget increase of just over 3.2 percent, bringing the town’s total operating budget to more than $102 million.


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