Buckbee Votes Against Measure Minimizing Municipal Funding from New Milford

Hartford – The House of Representatives met on Wednesday to discuss far-reaching legislation that removes already promised municipal funding from the Town of New Milford. State Rep. Bill Buckbee (R-New Milford) voted against the proposal, which changes the state’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) formula.

“I’m all for helping out those in need but taking money from one pocket to put in another is not equitable,” explained Buckbee. “The reality is, our community is going to have to come up with a way to fill the void. This clearly translates to an unnecessary financial burden, which will end up hurting a lot of middle-class, working families.”

According to Buckbee, New Milford has the potential to lose a significant portion of its previously allocated PILOT funding dollars. This means the town would need to find an additional funding source, or the state would need to find a separate funding mechanism to provide to New Milford.

“We are put in a state of limbo here,” said Buckbee. “We are told that there is going to be an additional funding mechanism that will hold ‘municipalities harmless’ all while other programs are facing deep cuts – or even elimination – from the state budget. I have very little confidence that there will be extra resources to make up the apparent difference the new formula has created. I’m also concerned about the implications of the formula for years to come.”

PILOT funding is historically linked to state-owned property within a municipality. Since state-owned property is not on the grand list, towns are provided a credit or PILOT grant pay out for the land. However, the changes put forth by the legislation drastically eliminate much of the PILOT resources available to New Milford.

Buckbee was among a group of 24 legislators to vote against the bill. However, the legislation was approved by a final vote tally of 125-24 and will go to the Senate for further consideration.

###