City debt
Numbers Don’t Back Mayor Stewart’s Claim That State Budget Caused City’s Negative Credit Rating
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist Mayor Erin Stewart has blamed this year’s state budget crisis for the city’s negative credit rating in response to a November 2nd report of an “escalating” debt and her administration’s own budget that shows interest payments will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars over the next four years. “We were downgraded […]
New Britain’s Bond Rating Drops From Stable To Negative: Huge Spike In Debt Through 2021 Cited By Moody’s
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist Republican incumbent Mayor Erin Stewart, in her re-election campaign this year and throughout her second term, has touted improving municipal bond ratings for New Britain’s fiscal solvency, claiming credit for budget surpluses of $15 million and pushing spending up at City Hall with no need for an election year tax […]
Council Considers Allowing City Borrowing Services Contract to Change Firms With Former Stewart Chief of Staff
The Republican-dominated City Council is set to consider a resolution that would authorize Republican Mayor Erin E. Stewart to sign a contract moving city borrowing services from one firm employing her former Chief of Staff to the firm to which he has recently moved. The Council resolution says that, “William Blair and Company, the City’s Public […]
$15.5 Million Deficit Appears Hidden in Stewart’s Budget
The city budget proposed by Republican Mayor Erin Stewart has what appears to have a hidden $15,541,294 deficit built into it, a deficit that could continue to re-appear into future budget years. Stewart’s budget contains two substantial budget lines that are based on short-term assumptions. The first, as the New Britain Progressive reported in April, […]
Stewart Proposes Freeze on City Education Support, Increase in City Hall Spending
Republican Mayor Erin Stewart’s proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1st would freeze city support for New Britain’s schools while increasing overall city spending and pushing taxpayer debt into the future. Stewart’s General Fund budget proposal would increase city General Fund spending by $2,167,486 to a total of $241,537,535. Funding for the New Britain school […]
City Hall Watch: Deferring Municipal Debt Payment Means Cash Now, Higher Interest Next Year
By John McNamara The Stewart administration is shifting $6 million from a scheduled payment on the city’s rising municipal debt— creating an election year windfall to avert yet another tax increase. The Common Council approved what representatives of William Blair & Company, the city’s bond counsel, called a “re-structuring” of a $28 million bond at […]