[This story has been updated with comment from the council president.]
The Hartford City Council has authorized its president and Mayor Luke Bronin to apply for assistance through the state’s new Municipal Accountability Review Board.
City officials intend to apply this week to the 11-member panel through the state Office of Policy and Management, the mayor’s spokesman said. Monday night’s decision was unanimous, he said.
The state oversight panel has the authority to review budgets and contracts, according to a summary of its provisions, and can also authorize technical and financial assistance for a distressed municipality under its purview.
The city is seeking Tier III designation, the second most serious of four designations. It stipulates that the city’s bond rating is not investment grade and that it has either a negative fund balance percentage or an equalized mill rate that is 30 or more, and it receives 30 percent or more of its current fiscal year general fund budget revenues in the form of municipal aid from the state.
The council also approved two labor contracts Monday. The City of Hartford Professional Employees Association contract would save the city $630,000 excluding savings from structural pensions and health care over the life of a contract that runs from 2016 through 2020, the mayor’s spokesman said.
The police union contract, which runs from 2016 through 2022, would save the city $2 million this fiscal year and then escalate to up to $4 million a year through the life of the contract, he said.
In September, some city councilors indicated they might oppose a bankruptcy filing and other steps like state oversight. Since then, the city’s deficit stands at $50 million, and the city’s junk bond status has been lowered multiple times.
Council President Thomas “TJ” Clarke II said additional meetings yielded with state officials yielded more information not only about the possibility of receiving $40 million over two years in state aid, but in being eligible through the oversight board for contract assistance.
“The contract assistance was the biggest driver and was not discussed before,” he said. “All of us are committed to ensure we avoid bankruptcy and are being fiscally prudent and making sure Hartford is placed on a sustainable financial path.”
