Interim Superintendent of Schools Royce Avery addresses the City Council, Budget Committee Members on the Board of Education budget Tuesday evening. April 21, 2026, Bridgeport, Conn.
BRIDGEPORT — With just a few days left in the city’s 2026-27 municipal budget season, Mayor Joe Ganim and some City Council leaders Friday proposed a significant infusion of dollars into the public schools.
The city would kick in $10 million more next year, combined with the extra $25 million in the state’s just-approved budget. Ganim’s administration would also commit to spending $2 million more on education in 2027-28. And under state law, the city’s increases are permanent.
But that additional $35 million for the 2026-27 budget year still falls short of the $44 million local school officials have said is required.
Regardless, Ganim’s announcement drew praise as a big deal given city history.
“It’s certainly welcome news and a step in the right direction,” said state Rep. Steve Stafstrom, who has previously criticized the Ganim administration for not investing more in education.
“I feel like Bridgeport has stepped up its game,” said school board member Robert Traber, adding, “We’ve still got to figure out $9 more million.”
The City Council’s budget committee is expected to take up the recommendation Saturday ahead of the full group’s final budget vote Tuesday. To pay for it, the mayor’s office is anticipating some residents’ real estate and motor vehicle taxes will rise more than had been initially intended. Council President Jeanette Herron and budget co-chairs Ernie Newton and Richard Ortiz blessed the proposal in a joint statement Friday with the mayor.
“This plan is the result of true partnership among my administration, the state delegation, the City Council, Superintendent (Royce) Avery, and the school board,” Ganim said. “This collective effort is truly historic, and a strong signal we are supporting Dr. Avery and the board at all levels of government as they work to resolve issues within the school district.”
In early January, 2025 the Connecticut Department of Education intervened to help manage Bridgeport’s schools. The district was facing a $30-plus million deficit and many other woes. And while the local education board is an independently-elected body that makes its own spending and managerial decisions, Ganim, a Democrat in office since 2015, and the council annually decide how much additional money to give the schools.
The mayor in mid-March announced he would commit $5 million more in the 2026-27 fiscal year starting July 1, and another $5 million on top of that in 2027-28. But local members of the legislature said that did not prove the Ganim administration meant business.
“We knew the state would need to do the lion’s share, but the city had to be a partner in that effort and step up with more than the initial $5 million,” recalled Stafstrom on Friday. “So the delegation certainly had pushed the mayor to increase the city’s contribution.”
State Rep. Chris Rosario, D-Bridgeport, added that officials in other urban centers, namely Hartford and New Haven, were willing to invest more in their schools, so “we wanted to make sure Bridgeport followed suit.”
Thomas Gaudett, the mayor’s chief administrative officer, on Friday confirmed that to pay for the additional spending, the mayor is recommending the council adopt revised increases to the mill rates — aka tax rates — for real estate and motor vehicles. Both were scheduled to drop significantly as a result of the 2025 property revaluation, the former from 43.45 to 27.75, and the latter from the state allowed maximum of 32.46 to 27.75.
“We would aim to have a car mill rate of 31.75 and a residential mill rate of 27.95,” Gaudett said of the proposal before the City Council.
The spike in home values over the last few years has been expected to offset the residential mill rate drop, meaning despite that latter good news, many Bridgeport residents, particularly multi-family owners, are likely to still see their taxes remain flat or rise.
“We’ve heard a consensus that the board of education is a priority,” said Gaudett. “This budget proposal is a reflection of that consensus.”
Herron owns a two-family home and said her bill will definitely get higher. Still, she argued, both mill rates will be amazingly low for Bridgeport.
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