Legislators Give Hope, Warn of Cuts

Farmington’s legislative delegation, including state Sen. Beth Bye and state Reps. William Wadsworth and Brian Becker attended the Farmington Town Council meeting Tuesday night to hear from and answer council members’ questions.

The three discussed a range of topics, including the formula for calculating state pensions, the timeline of excess cost grant numbers, the UConn Health Center location and the town’s 2012 revaluation.

“It’s nice to be here and be here with the new team,” Bye said. She assured a worried council about actions she has been taking to keep UConn in Farmington. “I’ve been very focused on UConn Health Center, as have you. This is really vital to the economic development of Farmington and you have things online related to the health center and we’re really working to make sure the uncertainty does not take precedence.”

Bye said with the facility’s loss of a $100 million federal grant, a plan is taking shape to find the money elsewhere to move the renovation project forward. She said Gov. Dannel Malloy, who will be in Farmington Monday to cut the ribbon on the new stem cell research facility, is also supportive.

Asked what kind of money the town could count on from the state, Wadsworth said he’s heard the words “shared sacrifice” with cuts to the state budget of $1.75 to 2 billion coming from somewhere.

Bye said the governor’s focus on job creation may provide other help to the town.

“I can’t imagine there’s any sector that’s not going to be affected and I think as a state we need to get these costs under control. That said, once the budget comes out, we’re ready to work with you. …It may be that Farmington has some challenges with its transportation fund or ECS, but you may see a major investment in the health center that brings new revenue to town,” Bye said.

She added that legislators are looking to help towns find revenue apart from property taxes, possibly in the form of a .5 percent sales tax or a hotel tax.

Wadsworth told the council he had proposed a bill to postpone the upcoming revaluation for five years but said it appears unlikely.

Bye said they’re working with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities on a possible market revaluation that would be less costly to taxpayers. This would use recent real estate numbers instead of individual inspections.

She also added that some legislators are talking about passing the state’s budget early to help towns know what money they can count on.

Becker said he'd been working on simplifying the process for towns to work together. Bye also condemned "pension abuses" that resulted from a 20-year contract signed under Gov. John Rowland.

The council thanked Bye, Becker and Wadsworth and said they looked forward to meeting with them again, as Bye suggested, after the budget had been passed.

The visit also served as a civics lesson for a group of about a dozen high school lacrosse students there to urge the council to vote to submit an application to the zoning commission for increased night games, which they did.