Amid a $50 million cut in state aid to municipalities across Connecticut including $20 million in Education Cost Sharing grants, the state has cut $368,850 from the money it sends to Darien.
Connecticut Coat of Arms / Connecticut Coat of Arms
State seal
The cut lowers the grant by 47.6 percent from the $775,533 that the state estimated it would give the town back in August.
Notice of the cut came in a document sent with a letter dated Dec. 29 from Ben Barnes, secretary of the Office of Policy Management and addressed to various leaders in the Legislature, including state Sen. Bob Duff, a Democrat who represents Norwalk and parts of Darien.
First Selectman Jayme Stevenson passed the letter and attached documents to news organizations Thursday afternoon.
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See also this Hartford Courant article:
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According to the document, the grant is now expected to be $406,683.
Money was cut from municipal grants on a sliding scale based on how wealthy or poor various communities were as judged by the OPM. Aid to Greenwich was cut the most — 90 percent. The cut in aid to 48 “distressed municipalities and alliance districts” was capped at 2 percent or a maximum of $250,000, whichever amount is less (Hartford’s cut was $250,000 — roughly 0.1 percent of its $200.8 million in state aid, according to the document).
These nearby cities and towns received these cuts in aid, in terms of percentages:
- New Canaan — 50 percent
- Norwalk — 2.2 percent
- Stamford — 2.3 percent
- Wilton — 30.4 percent
- Westport — 48.8 percent
- Weston — 30.9 percent
- Fairfield — 34.4 percent
Darien officials have discussed whether or not to include any state aid in their planning for the upcoming 2017-2018 fiscal year, since there may not be any. The amount of money the state is now giving to the town, which has been cut over the years as the state’s fiscal situation has worsened, is a tiny part of the town’s overall budget.