Hartford mayor’s $626.3M budget proposal requires no tax hike
Michael Puffer
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam delivers his budget proposal at City Hall Monday
Current (fiscal 2025) budget: $623.8M
Proposed fiscal 2026 budget: $626.3M
Increase: $2.48M (up 0.4%)
Proposed Mill Rate: 68.95 (no change)
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Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, on Monday, introduced a $626.3 million budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, a slight increase over current spending with no tax increase.
The proposal would increase spending by $2.48 million, or about 0.4%. It would keep the mill rate at 68.95.
“In these very difficult fiscal times, times when a lot of folks are hurting, we wanted to make sure we got through this budget cycle without raising property taxes for all residents,” Arulampalam said during a press conference Monday morning.
The city is also bracing for potential cuts in federal resources under U.S. President Donald Trump, which, Arulampalam noted, is enthusiastically moving to cut federal programs, including the U.S. Department of Education.
City staff acknowledged, however, they have not registered any specific cuts yet.
“We are going from a time in which there was (a federal) administration that really believed in and invested in local communities to an administration that is pulling back on those funds,” Arulampalam said.
The mayor said the city is “belt-tightening,” trimming back the amount of capital spending.
Julian Freund, Hartford’s director of budget, grants and revenue, said the administration aims to cut the amount of operating budget funding for capital projects and equipment from $11.4 million to $3 million. That, however, will be offset by $7.5 million invested in capital expenses using surplus funds from prior fiscal years, Freund said.
Ultimately, it translates to a roughly $900,000 cut in capital spending, Freund said.
Hartford officials are also exploring the potential to bond portions of large capital expenses, such as large-scale school construction projects or costly firefighting equipment. After the city’s near-bankruptcy in 2016, it surrendered its ability to issue bonds for capital expenses in favor of a pay-as-you-go system as one of the conditions of a state bailout.
Now, Arulampalam said, the city is contemplating a mix of borrowing and immediate payment of capital expenses. Under the current state financial oversight system for Hartford, bonding would require approval from state Treasurer Erick Russell.
Arulampalam noted the city has come a long way since its near bankruptcy. At the end of the 2016-2017 budget year, Hartford’s unassigned fund balance was eight-tenths of one percent. By the close of this year, it is projected to reach more than 7.7% of the general fund.
Immediately after his press conference in the atrium of City Hall Monday, Arulampalam was met by more than 20 members of the city’s firefighter’s union who voiced extreme discontent with skimpy pay raises over the past dozen years. Long-serving members of the 360-plus member department said they’ve seen their real income slide over the years as irregular pay increases have been overtaken by healthcare and other costs.
“We’ve done our part, we show up every time – 3 in the morning, 4 in the morning,” firefighter Matt Ronski, a 23-year veteran of the department, told Arulampalam. “We are a beloved city service. We do everything anybody asks us to do. All we ask is to be compensated and recognized so we can make a career here and support our families and stay. And it’s becoming increasingly difficult because this building (City Hall) is having a tough time with money.”
Hartford Fire Fighters Association President Arturo Rosa said negotiations have “broken down” with the city over the issue of pay, sending the contract to arbitration although the sides are “not that far apart.”
Rosa said that, averaged out over 12 years, city firefighter pay has increased 0.37% per year over the past dozen years.
“We want to be on par with other large departments,” Rosa said.
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