Hartford city officials have agreed to terms on a new budget for fiscal year 2015 that cuts $6.4 million from Mayor Pedro E. Segarra’s original proposal and eliminates a planned tax increase.
The fiscal 2014-15 budget spends around $550 million and spreads cuts across various city departments.
Facing a projected $44 million deficit, Segarra originally proposed a budget that would raise nearly $34.5 million from the sale of city-owned parking assets and increase the mill rate by 3.4 percent. Segarra also proposed more than $18 million in cuts to city departments.
The new budget agreement between Segarra and the city council contains no mill rate increase, funds a new police class of 20 along with an additional 10 cadets, and contains no reduction in essential city services, Segarra said.
There is also no draw down to the Rainy Day Fund balance and no transfer of city assets to the pension fund. Segarra had originally proposed selling parking assets to the fund. Instead, the city will sell its Church Street garage to the Capital Region Development Authority.
“We have worked very hard to come to a realistic consensus on a budget that does not place additional burden on taxpayers, keeps our neighborhoods safe, does not strip core public services and protects the quality of life of all Hartford residents,” Segarra said.
Meantime, the budget, which takes effect on July 1, also includes a fully-funded pension contribution and the creation of a Hartford Committee on the Restructuring of City Government.
Specifically, the committee will:
- Identify long-term solutions to achieve increased revenue and cost savings;
- Track the implementation of legislative action resulting from the budget process;
- Propose ideas to make city government more efficient and effective going forward without raising real estate taxes.
The committee will have joint appointments from the mayor and city council and includes experts in city government and labor union representatives. They will provide quarterly recommendations, the first of which are due Dec. 30.
