Governor Malloy stressed often during his election campaign and again in his budget address on February 16, 2011 that he would “simply refuse to balance the state budget on the backs of our local taxpayers.” His proposed budget — on average — keeps that pledge both by maintaining overall state funding for cities and towns, and also by providing them with new sources of revenues. The impacts of his proposed changes, however, would vary substantially among Connecticut’s municipalities. This issue brief summarizes the major changes to municipal aid and the new municipal revenues proposed by Governor Malloy in his FY2012-FY2013 biennial budget proposal.
His proposed patchwork of cuts to some municipal grants, increases in other grants, and proposals that would expand and diversify municipal revenues would result in municipal “winners” and “losers.” Fairfield County towns emerge as the biggest winners, while the biggest losers are among Connecticut’s poorer towns.
