Senator Tony Hwang Alerts Municipalities of Possible Education Funding Cuts, Affecting Education Stability and Resulting in De Facto Property Tax Hikes
Governor Lamont’s state budget proposal today unfortunately validated Senator Hwang’s previous concern and warning to town leaders about cuts by the state to municipal educational funding (Education Cost Sharing) and redistribution of teacher pensions. It remains to be seen whether cities and towns will continue to be reimbursed for school construction costs through bonding allocation, another concern of Senator Hwang’s.
Senator Hwang was hopeful that his recent public call for opposition would be unnecessary, and that Governor’s Lamont’s recent comments on education funding would not be included in today’s budget proposal. However, the Governor’s proposal, that will hurt local education funding, has reinforced Senator Hwang’s opposition to any proposal that adversely impact municipal education funding.
“The more affluent school districts are going to have to do more on their own. I can’t afford to subsidize everybody out there.”
Governor-elect Ned Lamont on NBC CT’s “Face the Facts with Max Reiss” – (December 16th, 2018)
Senator Hwang had previously sent delegation letters to Fairfield, Westport, Easton, Weston and Newtown/Sandy Hook to caution town leaders about possible state education funding cuts and the signed legislators’ commitment to oppose any cuts or adjustments. The letters were addressed to the Boards of Selectmen, Finance, and Education of each municipality.
The three areas of concern outlined in the letter to individual town leaders included possible cuts or adverse adjustments to:
- Education Cost Sharing
- Teacher pension costs
- School construction reimbursement
Senator Hwang also addressed a separate letter directly to Governor Lamont addressing the same three areas of concern, and urging that the state hold Connecticut communities’ funding in those areas neutral, without devastating cuts or adjustments.
The letters were co-signed by Representative Brenda Kupchick (R-132), Representative Laura Devlin (R-134), Representative J.P. Sredzinski (R-112), Representative Raghib Allie-Brennan (D-2) and Representative Mitch Bolinsky (R-106).
“It is the State’s constitutional obligation to fund public schools in every municipality. The legislature just negotiated and passed into law a new Education Cost Sharing Formula that is predictable, fair and equitable. The current ECS formula and distribution timeline must stay in place so our schools get the funding they need,” said Senator Hwang.
“We made a promise to teachers that we would take care of them in retirement after foregoing social security eligibility, serving our communities and educating our children. It is unacceptable to consider forcing our municipalities to assume the financial burden for something that is an obligation made by the State,” Hwang continued.
“Governor Lamont’s recent comments on forcing a ‘debt diet’ to control our state bonding (borrowing), that escalated dramatically during the Malloy administration, are necessary and welcome. However, investments in school construction projects in every community deserve the current reimbursement rates. School buildings should not be a battle of resources between rural, urban and suburban communities.”
“Any cuts to municipal education funding will undermine the goal of stable learning and success for our children. These ‘cost shifts’ would almost certainly result in de facto property tax increases in the affected communities.“
State Senator Tony Hwang represents the Legislature’s 28th Senate district, including the towns of Fairfield, Westport, Weston, Easton, Newtown and Sandy Hook.
