Zawistowski Critical of Hartford Stadium Legislation

HARTFORD—The City of Hartford should have found a way other than state tax dollars to pay for its under-construction minor league baseball stadium, Rep. Tami Zawistowski said today.

“Officials in the capital city named their team and put shovels in the ground without a concrete plan to pay for their project,” said Zawistowski, a member of the legislature’s Appropriations Committee. “At a time when there are serious questions about how we’ll even cover the cost of basic services and programs, it’s simply out of order to even consider sending general fund revenue to bail out this project.”

The legislature’s Finance Committee will consider a proposal that would allow Hartford to take revenue from the state’s admission tax on tickets sold at the ballpark and put it toward stadium construction debt. That request is surprising, Zawistowski said, because Hartford officials crowed about securing private funding for the project and said they intended to get state approval to levy their own ticket tax.

The state’s general fund covers operating expenses for a wide swath of government agencies, programs and aid to municipalities as well as nonprofit organizations.

“Why should Connecticut taxpayers, whether they’re in Suffield or Danbury, go with fewer services or even pay higher taxes to cover an economic development experiment that benefits Hartford?” Zawistowski asked. “I’m disappointed by this turn of events.”

The committee hearing on H.B. 1132 is at 11 a.m. Monday in room 2E of the Legislative Office Building. Residents can testify in person or email written testimony to FINtestimony@cga.ct.gov.