City On Tap To Receive $19.8M State Boost

by Thomas Breen The New Haven independent

New Haven is slated to receive an extra $19.8 million in state aid — including $7.6 million for the city’s schools — as part of a budget deal newly struck by the governor and state lawmakers.

That expected financial boost from Hartford comes as New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) is projecting a $12.9 million deficit for the fiscal year that ends June 30, and as Mayor Justin Elicker has proposed a $733.3 million general fund budget — with a 4.01 percent local tax rate increase — for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced the municipal-aid increase in a Tuesday email press release. He touted a budget deal that will see a $270 million increase in aid, including $170 million in extra school funding and $100 million in additional municipal aid for towns and cities across Connecticut.

That agreement still needs to be approved by the full state legislature and signed by the governor before becoming law.

“I have heard directly from mayors, first selectmen, superintendents, students, and taxpayers across Connecticut who are feeling the squeeze of rising costs,” Lamont is quoted as saying in Tuesday’s press release. “This $270 million is a direct response to the strains being placed on town, school district, and family budgets.”

In a phone interview with the Independent on Wednesday, New Haven State Sen. and President Pro Tem Martin Looney said that, if this deal goes through, New Haven will receive an additional $19,862,829 in state aid.

Looney said that an extra $7,652,745 will be heading to New Haven’s public schools thanks to a change to the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula, which will see its per-student foundation amount raised from $11,500 to $13,087 for this state budget cycle. He said that another $12,210,084 should head to New Haven in the form of municipal aid, as funded by the Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan Fund.

And that’s just from the $270 million boost announced Tuesday. Looney said the state budget for Fiscal Year 2027 also includes an additional $3.8 million in state Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) money for New Haven, plus an additional $8 million in town aid.

“It is extraordinarily a good thing” for New Haven and municipalities across the state, Looney said about Tuesday’s announced $270 million boost. Cities like New Haven are overly dependent on property taxes for revenue; “anything we can do to provide additional municipal aid” helps.

He said he is “very pleased that we were able to get to an agreement with the governor” that, instead of using $500 million to fund rebates, as Lamont had originally proposed, the state legislature and the governor were able to do “a major package of municipal aid” instead.

Elicker: “Our voices have been heard.” Credit: Thomas Breen photo

Mayor Justin Elicker heralded the state aid bump in a separate email press release sent out Tuesday evening.

“These additional state funds are desperately needed, deeply appreciated and will make a significant difference in the city’s ability to provide critical services for our residents and New Haven Public School’s ability to provide educational support for our students,” Elicker is quoted as saying in that press release.

He wrote that New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) is currently facing a nearly $13 million deficit this school year and is “forecasting an even larger deficit for next school year.” He said that the city has increased its local contribution to NHPS “by over 60 percent over the last six years – and our school district has done the hard work of closing and merging schools and reducing staff and programming.

“However, we cannot and should not bear these costs alone – which is why public school families, educators and municipal leaders from across the state have been urging the state to address the funding crisis facing public education and municipalities in Connecticut.

“Our voices have been heard.”

In a follow-up phone interview Wednesday, Elicker reiterated his gratitude to Looney and New Haven’s entire state delegation for helping make this aid bump happen.

How might this $19.8 million in state aid affect his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026-27 (FY27), which is currently working its way through Board of Alders Finance Committee review?

Once this state budget deal gets a final approval, Elicker said, he will submit a proposal to the Board of Alders for how to spend this state money.

Taking into consideration recently announced funding bumps from both Yale and, now, the state, Elicker said his current priorities include reducing city residents’ tax burdens, funding the 270 Foxon Blvd. hotel-turned-homeless shelter, funding the city’s non-cop crisis response team COMPASS, and better funding the city’s public schools (on top of the $5 million bump his budget already includes).