{"id":423,"date":"2018-09-23T02:00:04","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T02:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2018\/09\/23\/2018919hamden-last-on-the-list\/"},"modified":"2020-09-05T19:42:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:42:57","slug":"2018919hamden-last-on-the-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2018\/09\/23\/2018919hamden-last-on-the-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamden: Last on the List"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">By: Shane Dennehy<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Hamden is in the worst financial position out of all of the towns in Connecticut, according to a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yankeeinstitute.org\/policy-papers\/warning-signs\/\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a> by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy.<\/p>\n<p data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Lauren Garrett, a representative at-large in Hamden, says she saw the report coming.<\/p>\n<p data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cOur debt is crippling us,\u201d Garrett said.<\/p>\n<p data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Marc Joffe, a senior policy analyst at the <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Reason Foundation<\/a>, did a study that ranked all of the town\u2019s and cities in Connecticut based on each town\u2019s 2016 financial report. Joffe gave Hamden a 25, which was the lowest in the rankings and 19 points below Hartford, which is experiencing a financial crisis of its own. Any town that received a rating below 50 in the study is thought to be in \u201csevere financial distress.\u201d The state announced that it would pay off Hartford\u2019s $550 million debt over a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.courant.com\/community\/hartford\/hc-news-hartford-bailout-vote-20180326-story.html#\" target=\"_blank\">20-year period<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>   <iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embedly-embed\" src=\"\/\/cdn.embedly.com\/widgets\/media.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdatawrapper.dwcdn.net%2FApphN%2F3%2F&amp;src=%2F%2Fdatawrapper.dwcdn.net%2FApphN%2F3%2F&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;key=c6502efcb3c84824bc6c1f27d683be13&amp;schema=dwcdn&amp;wmode=opaque\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The Yankee Institute for Public Policy notes on its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yankeeinstitute.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">website<\/a> that its \u201cmission is to promote free-market solutions and smart public policy so that every Connecticut resident is free to succeed.\u201d The Yankee Institute strives to help inform Connecticut residents about what is going on in their state. It is self-described as a \u201cthink tank\u201d and the institute takes many conservative viewpoints on topics.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Brad Macdowall, a district representative in Hamden, called the Yankee Institute, \u201ca political lobbying firm whose endgame is to push conservative agendas and conservative candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">According to its <a href=\"http:\/\/hamden.com\/filestorage\/7089\/7093\/9913\/22033\/2016_Audited_Financials.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">2016 fiscal report<\/a>, Hamden has a debt of $784.1 million and much of that debt comes from promises that the town made to retiring employees that went unpaid according to the Yankee Institute report.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">With its debt continuing to grow, Hamden took out a $125 million pension obligation bond in order to bolster its pension fund in 2014. If the town does not invest in the bond correctly, then it will only create more stress for itself, according to the Yankee Institute report. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As the debt in the town continues to increase, so do the property taxes as the town looks to minimize its debt anyway possible. Local government officials are not happy about having taxes increase.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cTaxes in Hamden are onerous,\u201d representative at-large Marjorie Bonadies commented on the Yankee Institute\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yankeeinstitute.org\/policy-papers\/warning-signs\/\" target=\"_blank\">original report<\/a>. \u201cThere are twice as many houses for sale or in foreclosure than any of our neighboring towns.\u201d<\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          combination-animation-fade-in\n          individual-animation-none\n          individual-text-animation-none\n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:1200.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:56.66666793823242%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  data-animation-override\n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/CT-Fiscal-Score-Chart.jpg\" alt=\"CT-Fiscal-Score-Chart.jpg\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/CT-Fiscal-Score-Chart.jpg\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/CT-Fiscal-Score-Chart.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"1200x680\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"CT-Fiscal-Score-Chart.jpg\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5ba2b6da0e2e726d096927d8\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Marc E. Fitch, the author of the Yankee Institute article, believes that it would be easy for a Hamden resident to move one town over to North Haven.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cI think the rising property taxes will have an effect on whether people stay or leave. Essentially, a Hamden resident could move one town over to North Haven and probably save thousands per year,\u201d Fitch said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Fitch thinks that Hamden will face competition from surrounding towns but that it still has things that attract people to the town.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cHamden has to compete with other towns in the vicinity. Luckily, it has some attractive qualities and Quinnipiac University,\u201d Fitch said. <\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The state as a whole is struggling with debt, so Hamden may receive minimal help from the state government.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cHamden can\u2019t count on any help from the state,\u201d Fitch said in an email. \u201cIf anything, they should prepare for cutbacks as the state faces four years of projected budget deficits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Quinnipiac University named Judy Olian as its new president this past January and local officials say they are looking forward to working with Olian to help rejuvenate the local community.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cOne of the things that I\u2019m really feeling positive about is the relationship with the new Quinnipiac president,\u201d said Macdowall, the district representative.<\/p>\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Hamden will continue to search for ways to end its financial struggle but residents will likely continue to see taxes increase according to Bonadies, the representative at-large . <\/p>\n<p data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">HQ Press reached out to Hamden Mayor Curt B. Leng for comment, but did not get a return call.<\/p>\n<p data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Multimedia by Taylor Giangregorio<\/p>\n<p data-rte-preserve-empty=\"true\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Hamden is in the worst financial position out of all of the towns in Connecticut, according to a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yankeeinstitute.org\/policy-papers\/warning-signs\/\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a> by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,142],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hamden","category-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2625,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/2625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}