Federal Publications and Bulletins
FEDERAL ISSUES BULLETINS
FEDERAL PUBLICATIONS
President Barack H. Obama recently released a $3.7 trillion FY 12 budget that presents many challenges to Connecticut towns and cities. It proposes severe cuts in many important municipal programs:
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) funding would be cut by 7.5% (-$300 million); and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program would be eliminated (-$ ), the Community Service Block grant and low-income heating assistance programs would be cut by 50% (-$ ).
That the budget slashes the CDBG budget and completely eliminates the EECB Gprogram is disturbing. Since 1974, the Community Development Block Grant program has been a staple of community development. Its flexibility has made it especially useful to towns and cities for economic development purposes and assisting low- and moderate-income residents. It is viewed by municipal officials as oNe of the most valuable, useful and user-friendly federal grants to local government.
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For the second consecutive year the municipal associations from the seven states in the Northeast region have worked together to provide this Federal Issues Paper to our congressional delegations. Thank you for taking the time to review the issues presented, which are central to the capacity of local governments to deliver services to your constituents and ours.
Reverberations from the Great Recession of 2008 will continue to be felt in state and local governments for years to come. We fully recognize that all levels of government are facing significant financial constraints, and those limitations demand a new approach that emphasizes core services that are delivered efficiently and designed for maximum results. Town and city leaders, their appointed officials and all local government employees live on the very front line of service delivery. On an ongoing basis, alternative and innovative approaches are being advanced, evaluated and implemented at the local level where an array of core services need to be provided according to budgets that must be balanced with resources and impose no additional burdens on the property tax.
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