www.ctinsider.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.64.200  Public Scan

Form analysis
1 forms found in the DOM

GET /search/

<form class="pageHeader--search-form" action="/search/" method="get">
  <input type="hidden" name="action" value="search">
  <input type="hidden" name="firstRequest" value="1">
  <input type="hidden" name="searchindex" value="solr">
  <div class="fieldset">
    <input class="pageHeader--search-input" id="search" name="query" type="text" value="" placeholder="Search" aria-label="search">
    <button class="searchButton btn" value="" name="search" type="submit" aria-label="search"></button>
  </div>
</form>

Text Content

 * OUR NETWORK

 * Fairfield Citizen
 * Westport News
 * New Milford Spectrum
 * Connecticut Magazine
 * CT POST
 * NEW HAVEN REGISTER
 * NEWS-TIMES
 * STAMFORD ADVOCATE
 * West Hartford News
 * GREENWICH TIME
 * THE HOUR
 * Middletown Press
 * REGISTER CITIZEN
 * Darien Times
 * Milford Mirror
 * New Canaan Advertiser
 * Ridgefield Press
 * Shelton Herald
 * Shoreline Times
 * Trumbull Times
 * Wilton Bulletin
 * County Times
 * More


OUR NETWORK

* Fairfield Citizen
* Westport News
* New Milford Spectrum
* Connecticut Magazine
* CT POST
* NEW HAVEN REGISTER
* NEWS-TIMES
* STAMFORD ADVOCATE
* West Hartford News
* GREENWICH TIME
* THE HOUR
* Middletown Press
* REGISTER CITIZEN
* Darien Times
* Milford Mirror
* New Canaan Advertiser
* Ridgefield Press
* Shelton Herald
* Shoreline Times
* Trumbull Times
* Wilton Bulletin
* County Times

Skip to main content
CT Insider Homepage
Currently Reading
Poor CT cities could receive $76.5 million for economic development projects
Next Up:Bridgeport swears in 11 new police detectives
 * Subscribe Subscribe
   
 * Sign In
   
   
   
   


 * Home
   * Contact Us
   * Manage Subscription
   * Advertise With Us
   * Careers
   * Newsletters
   * FAQ
   * Privacy Notice
   * Terms
 * News
   * Connecticut
   * Education
   * Politics
   * Election
   * Cannabis
 * Sports
   * GametimeCT
   * UConn
   * College
   * NFL
   * NBA
   * Hockey
   * MLB
 * Business
 * Entertainment
   * Things To Do
   * Comics
   * Puzzles
 * Real Estate
 * Shopping
 * Classifieds
 * Opinion
 * Obituaries
 * Living
   * Health
   * Food
 * Advertising Features
   * Events
 * Subscribe

 * Home
   * Contact Us
   * Manage Subscription
   * Advertise With Us
   * Careers
   * Newsletters
   * FAQ
   * Privacy Notice
   * Terms
 * Opinion

 * Sports
   * GametimeCT
   * UConn
   * College
   * NFL
   * NBA
   * Hockey
   * MLB
 * Business
 * Obituaries

 * News
   * Connecticut
   * Education
   * Politics
   * Election
   * Cannabis
 * Living
   * Health
   * Food
 * Subscribe

 * Entertainment
   * Things To Do
   * Comics
   * Puzzles
 * Advertising Features
   * Events
 * Real Estate
 * Shopping
 * Classifieds

 * Home
   * Contact Us
   * Manage Subscription
   * Advertise With Us
   * Careers
   * Newsletters
   * FAQ
   * Privacy Notice
   * Terms

 * Sports
   * GametimeCT
   * UConn
   * College
   * NFL
   * NBA
   * Hockey
   * MLB

 * News
   * Connecticut
   * Education
   * Politics
   * Election
   * Cannabis
 * Business
 * Subscribe

 * Entertainment
   * Things To Do
   * Comics
   * Puzzles
 * Living
   * Health
   * Food

 * Advertising Features
   * Events
 * Real Estate
 * Shopping
 * Classifieds
 * Opinion
 * Obituaries

 * Home
   * Contact Us
   * Manage Subscription
   * Advertise With Us
   * Careers
   * Newsletters
   * FAQ
   * Privacy Notice
   * Terms

 * Sports
   * GametimeCT
   * UConn
   * College
   * NFL
   * NBA
   * Hockey
   * MLB

 * News
   * Connecticut
   * Education
   * Politics
   * Election
   * Cannabis

 * Entertainment
   * Things To Do
   * Comics
   * Puzzles
 * Advertising Features
   * Events

 * Living
   * Health
   * Food
 * Business
 * Obituaries

 * Real Estate
 * Shopping
 * Classifieds
 * Opinion
 * Subscribe




RECOMMENDED


Bridgeport swears in 11 new police detectives

3 West Haven housing projects get green light from planners

Flanders Nature Center announces new art show

Invasive Plant Symposium to be held virtually Nov. 3

Bristol cop killed in shooting was a 'patriot,' father says

Torrington's Ingrid Canady receives achievement award

Milford zoning board denies Shell Ave apartment complex expansion

Lawyers say Alex Jones can't 'avoid paying Sandy Hook families'

Fairfield approves plans for animal hospital on Hillside Road

Injured Bristol officer honored in 2021 for preventing suicide



News


POOR CT CITIES COULD RECEIVE $76.5 MILLION FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Keith M. Phaneuf, CTMirror.org
Oct. 6, 2022


The view of downtown New Haven off of East Rock Park.Peter Casolino

A new state panel tasked with revitalizing Connecticut’s poor urban centers is
recommending $76.5 million in financing for more than two dozen economic
development projects in 12 communities.



The initial report from the Community Investment Fund advisory board, which
includes brownfield remediation along the Connecticut River in Middletown and an
expansion of Waterbury’s downtown district, now must be reviewed by Gov. Ned
Lamont’s budget office.

But the report — which stems from a complicated political compromise on taxes
and borrowing — already boasts an impressive list of backers, including Lamont’s
top economic development officials and key legislative leaders from both
parties.



“I think it has exceeded all of our expectations,” said House Speaker Matt
Ritter, D-Hartford, whose home community would also benefit greatly from the
first report. “For the doubters who said this could never work … you could not
have been proven more wrong.”



Ritter was referring to complex negotiations that surrounded the state budget in
May and June of the 2021 legislative session.

Progressive Democrats wanted to impose hundreds of millions of dollars in new
taxes on Connecticut’s wealthiest households and large digital media companies
and then dedicate all of those revenues to poor urban centers.

Lamont, other moderate Democrats and most Republican lawmakers opposed those
increases. The principal argument against the plan was that boosting state taxes
solely on the wealthy would prompt them to flee the state.

Lamont also advocated for a “debt diet” since he took office in 2019.
Connecticut has roughly $27 billion in bonded debt and ranks as one of the most
indebted states per capita in the nation.



But a significant portion of the Democratic majority in the House and Senate
counter that Connecticut is home to some of the most extreme income and wealth
inequality in the nation. The top margin income tax rates here are lower than
those in neighboring New York and New Jersey, and progressives say Connecticut’s
heavy reliance on a regressive property tax system to fund local education and
municipal government excessively burdens many low- and middle-income families.

Ritter brokered a compromise that abandoned the tax hikes on wealthy households
and digital media companies but authorized $175 million in annual bonding,
starting in the 2022-23 fiscal year and running through 2026-27, for poor
communities.

Equally important, it also created a mechanism to fast-track this financing.

Legislative authorization alone isn’t sufficient for the state to borrow funds.
It also needs approval from the State Bond Commission, a 10-member panel heavily
controlled by the governor. The chief executive serves as chair, has two
commissioners serving on the bond commission and has sole authority to set the
panel’s agenda.



But under the compromise approved by the 2021 legislature and Lamont, the
governor must identify relatively quickly any objections to projects endorsed by
the Community Investment Fund board. Otherwise they must be placed on the bond
commission’s agenda for action within 60 days.

More Information

Project Name Municipality Award Amount

Asylum Hill Neighborhood Association Hartford $ 1,247,038
Baldwin Holdings Bridgeport $ 1,756,164
BIMEC Housing Development New Haven $ 2,132,250
City of Ansonia Ansonia $ 6,500,000
City of Meriden - 85 Tremont/Locust Street Project Meriden $ 3,000,000
City of Middletown - Remediation & Demolition Middletown $ 12,000,000
City of New Haven - 596-598 George Street Project New Haven $ 1,500,000
City of Waterbury - Freight Steet Demo/Remediation Waterbury $ 10,000,000
CitySeed, Inc New Haven $ 1,092,500
CONNCORP New Haven $ 10,000,000
Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen New Haven $ 500,000
East Main St. Revitalization Assc. - Planning Bridgeport $ 750,000
Fair Haven Community Health Clinic New Haven $ 3,000,000
International Hartford Hartford $ 1,137,514
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Statewide $ 1,000,000
MATCH, Inc New Haven $ 780,000
NCDC - Reid and Hughes Norwich $ 550,000
New Haven Jewish Cmmty. Council Housing Corp- Planning New Haven $ 155,000
New Reach, Inc. New Haven $ 312,619
North Hartford Collaborative Hartford $ 4,500,000
Sheldon Oak Central, Inc Hartford $ 3,750,000
Town of Bloomfield - Library Bloomfield $ 5,526,000
Town of East Hartford - Church Corners East Hartford $ 2,500,000
Town of Hamden - Drainage - Planning Hamden $ 750,000
Town of Stratford Stratford $ 1,600,000
Winsted Health Center - Planning Winsted $ 438,750
Total $ 76,477,835

See MoreCollapse

Ritter said the board, which adopted its first report last week, would submit
its plan to Lamont by mid-October, in time for action at the bond commission
meeting set for Dec. 9.

The spokesman for Lamont’s budget office, Chris Collibee, said the
administration expects to finalize which projects will be placed on the bond
commission agenda in the next few weeks.

But the Ritter also said he doesn’t expect much pushback.



The investment board not only includes legislators from both parties,
representatives from the treasurer and comptroller’s offices, but also key
officials from the governor’s budget and economic development staff.

Every key player in the decision-making process was involved in reviewing the
applications for funding, Ritter said, adding that cities and towns submitted
roughly 140 applications that passed initial screening. Any objections or
concerns were addressed early in the process.

“That’s such a sea change in the approach to bonding,” he said.

House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, agreed.



“It’s sort of the pattern of the way we should be doing all of our bond
allocations,” he said. “It de-politicizes the process.”


MOST POPULAR

 1. Police ID brothers in Bristol police shooting: Live updates
 2. One man's mission to find Connecticut's rarest snake: 'It's my white whale'
 3. Sandy Hook families awarded $965 million from Alex Jones in CT trial: 'Truth
    matters'
 4. Bristol police officers killed may have been lured to ambush, officials say
 5. New Milford couple wins $350K offer from 'Shark Tank' billionaire for share
    in sandcastle business
 6. Get a 55-inch Fire TV for a little over $100 during the Prime Early Access
    Sale
 7. 21 CT restaurants make it to Yelp's 'Top 100 In New England' list

Alexandra Baum, Lamont’s deputy economic development commissioner and a member
of the Community Investment Fund board, noted that all projects were endorsed
unanimously by the panel.

“The Department [of Economic and Community Development] looks forward to working
with each community as they utilize this funding to unlock transformative
development opportunities,” said Baum, who specializes in local economic
development projects and urban revitalization zones.

The legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus has strongly supported higher
income tax rates on Connecticut’s wealthiest households to help poor
communities. But Rep. Gerardo Reyes, D-Waterbury, who chairs the BPRC, said so
far the compromise is working.



“I think it’s going to play out well for us over the years,” he said, adding
that cities and towns deserve much of the credit for developing thorough,
detailed applications.

“The people who prepared the data really did their homework,” he said, “so we
can actually compare and see where the dollars really are needed.”

The investment fund panel put a hefty share of the first wave of funds, about
40%, toward the state’s three largest cities.

The most, almost $19.5 million, was designated for New Haven and spread across
five projects, including $10 million for housing, child care services and
commercial development in New Haven’s Dixwell Plaza.



Hartford received $10.6 million for four projects, including $3.7 million to
develop 155 new housing units in the Sheldon Charter Oak neighborhood.

And $2.5 million is earmarked for a total of two projects in Bridgeport,
including 50 units of affordable housing on the site of the former Marina
Village Apartments.

The largest grant, $12 million, is designated for Middletown brownfield
remediation, the first step in developing 200 acres along the Connecticut
riverfront.

Waterbury’s central business district expansion will be supported with $10
million.



 

 









MOST POPULAR

 1. Police ID brothers in Bristol police shooting: Live updates
 2. One man's mission to find Connecticut's rarest snake: 'It's my white whale'
 3. Sandy Hook families awarded $965 million from Alex Jones in CT trial: 'Truth
    matters'
 4. Bristol police officers killed may have been lured to ambush, officials say
 5. New Milford couple wins $350K offer from 'Shark Tank' billionaire for share
    in sandcastle business
 6. Get a 55-inch Fire TV for a little over $100 during the Prime Early Access
    Sale
 7. 21 CT restaurants make it to Yelp's 'Top 100 In New England' list









Written By
Keith M. Phaneuf


IN-DEPTH COVERAGE

 * See who's donating to the Governor's race
 * Biden's pivot on Saudi Arabia has roots with Sen. Chris Murphy
 * Haar: A CT GOP candidate eyes Congress — and reform of his party
 * Stop & Shop weighs how to fill closed CT supermarket banks



 * 
 * 

Return to Top
 * About
   * Our Company
   * Ad Choices
   * Careers
   * Advertising
   * Terms of Use
   * Privacy Notice
   * Interest Based Ads
   * Your California Privacy Rights
 * Contact
   * Contact Us
   * Annual DEI Report
   * Hearst Connecticut jobs
   * FAQ
 * Services
   * Profile

©2022 Hearst


THE SIGN IN SERVICE IS NOT FUNCTIONING RIGHT NOW.


PLEASE TRY AGAIN IN A FEW MINUTES

If the issues continue, please contact our customer service at

Phone:

Email:


PLEASE LOG IN TO VIEW YOUR PROFILE.

Sign In
Hi,


PROFILE SETTINGS

Sign up for newsletters, change password and more


SUBSCRIPTION & BILLING

Place a vacation hold, make a payment and more

Sign Out


You must be signed in to comment

is currently signed in

Sign In


YOUR CHOICES REGARDING COOKIES

We and third parties may deploy cookies and similar technologies when you use
our site. Please review the information below and select the cookies that you
want to enable. You can continue to the site without accepting these cookies but
certain features may not be available or function properly.

EDITORIAL, FUNCTIONALITY AND SOCIAL MEDIA COOKIES

We use third-party services for commenting, videos, and embedding posts as part
of our news coverage. The providers of these cookies may use the data as
explained in their privacy policies.
 * Twitter(Privacy Policy)
 * Facebook(Privacy Policy)
 * Select All

PERFORMANCE, CONTENT RECOMMENDATION AND PERSONALIZATION COOKIES

We use our own and third-party services to provide content recommendations and
customize your user experience and advertising. The providers of these cookies
may use the data as explained in their privacy policies.
 * Taboola(Privacy Policy)
 * Nativo(Privacy Policy)
 * Blueconic(Privacy Policy)
 * Realm
 * Select All

ANALYTICS

We use cookies to analyze and measure traffic to the site so that we know our
audience, what stories are read, where visitors come from, and how long they
stay. You can opt out of these analytics cookies by unselecting the boxes below.
 * Parsely(Privacy Policy)
 * Google Analytics(Privacy Policy)
 * Chartbeat(Privacy Policy)

Privacy Notice Continue
Privacy Settings