Councilman Bauer on Stimulus Priorities

From David Bauer, Middletown Common Council

Melilli Plaza – connect Municipal Employee parking lot and increase parking spaces. $1,000,000

Melilli Plaza is the most highly utilized parking lot serving the central Main Street dining and retail area in Middletown. This project will increase the overall number of parking spaces and facilitate the use of Municipal employee spaces during evenings and weekends.

Water Delivery Upgrade to Westfield section of Middletown, CT. $3,500,000

This project solves public water delivery issues of water pressure, water quality, and adequate water availability for fire emergencies, while removing a potential impediment to development of Middletown’s fastest growing industrial area. This project area includes the headquarters for the State Department of Public Safety.

Municipal Sidewalk repair. $1,000,000

Fixing the backlog of sidewalk repairs would maximize the number of children eligible to walk to schools, reducing school transportation costs and encouraging better health. Sidewalk repairs would also promote pedestrian traffic and use of local mass transit, correct ADA issues, and reduce sidewalk accident complaints.

Middletown Parks Upgrades. $1,500,000

Most of the funds would be used for Pat Kidney Field. It is the most used, and most dilapidated City Park. There are many small capital improvements throughout the City Park System that will increase use and accessibility, while slightly reducing the maintenance costs.

2009 Municipal “Road Bond” work. $3,000,000

This is the minimum scheduled public road re-grading and re-surfacing needed to keep the 200 miles of Municipal roads in working order. This work is already planned and all necessary engineering completed.

Additional Municipal “Road Bond” work. $8,000,000

This road maintenance work is for specific local streets that have already been authorized by Referenda. A significant amount could be ready to complete this construction season with the balance completed by November of 2010.
Why these specific projects?

This $18,000,000 collection of projects has a common theme. All these projects must be done and they will otherwise be paid for 100%, by Middletown taxpayers, through Debt Service. Transferring the project costs to Federal Stimulus funds will reduce the principle and interest and provide needed flexibility to avoid tax increases now and in future budgets.


Why is it important now?

Our current economic crisis will affect Municipal budgets for at least several years ahead. It is likely that the loss of Aetna in Westfield could cause a possible shortfall in property tax revenue of $6 Million per year for five years from 2011 to 2016. Combine these two conditions and it is clear that Middletown must decrease its expenses as much as possible.

In healthier economic times, the voters and taxpayers would absorb steady tax increases and keep electing the same officials to public office one term after another. The elected officials are classically held accountable by two important forces. The first is the Municipal employees. They support elected officials who preserve their benefit package and offer steady salary increases. The second force is the “special interests” that have the power to reward or punish elected officials for their actions, particularly on Election Day. These two forces suddenly seem to be in conflict. The Municipal workforce has been asked to make financial concessions, and they have conceded $1,000,000 in the current budget. Some advocate for more, and some advocate for less, but this agreement is a responsible acknowledgement, by the City workforce, that we need to cut back. The “special interests” are lobbying for many “boutique projects” to be at the head of the line when Middletown’s Stimulus Grants will be distributed. If their message, that their projects are the only ones that can get funded, is all that the Governor and our legislators hear from Middletown, those will be the only projects funded. If the Municipal workforce is willing to sacrifice, we must insist that the “special interests” take a moratorium on “hand outs”.

The Federal Stimulus Funds that Middletown can receive must be focused on reducing expenses. Middletown cannot weather the current economic difficulties without the active help and cooperation of the Municipal workforce. Middletown’s elected officials must apply every revenue resource and expense savings available to reduce the local tax burden. There must be a consistent effort to maintain the core services while sharing the necessary sacrifices – no exceptions.

Just one side note – what is the main characteristic of a “special interest” deal in Middletown? The project is always presented in it’s finished form, and no matter how long the planning took in private, it publicly screams for an immediate decision because there is an “emergency” factor. How many “emergencies” can you remember in the last decade?