Some Connecticut cities and towns are considering suing the state because millions of dollars for local school construction projects are tied up in a political impasse at the Capitol.
The state has missed more than $100 million in construction reimbursement payments to municipalities in August and September because Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the Democrat-controlled legislature cannot agree on a new borrowing package.
Many cities and towns have had to take out short-term loans and incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in unexpected borrowing costs to keep their school projects going.
Mayors John Fabrizi of Bridgeport and John DeStefano of New Haven said that a lawsuit is an option as they consider ways to get the state to keep its commitments for providing construction aid.
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities is deciding whether a class action lawsuit is warranted.
“The state has a legal and contractual obligation to make these payments. We believe the towns and cities would win,” CCM Executive Director Jim Finley said.
The impasse is saddling 60 cities and towns with extra costs, according to CCM.
The legislature approved a two-year, $3.2 billion bonding package last month, but Rell is threatening a veto because she believes it is too expensive. The governor supports a $2.7 billion bonding plan.
State Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, urged the governor to sign the bonding bill approved by lawmakers.
“There are many projects involved in this, money for clean water, higher education, roads and bridges,” he said. “There are a wide variety of projects that need to move forward.”
Rell, meanwhile, is asking legislators to take the school construction aid out of the bonding package and approve it.
“The losers in this are the taxpayers,” Rell spokesman Chris Cooper said. “That’s why she called for a special session, but Democrats refused to act on it. She also offered a compromise. The next step will be to veto the bill because there is just too much in it.”
A lawsuit may be the only option for cities and towns, said Trumbull First Selectman Raymond Baldwin, a Democrat.
“What have we got to lose?” he asked. “We can’t be hung out on this because of a dispute between the governor and the legislature. Why should we be caught in the collateral damage?”
