Newtown’s general fund will be at least a quarter million dollars richer now that Governor Ned Lamont’s administration is preparing a municipal aid bond package that will be presented to the members of the Connecticut General Assembly for their consideration.

In order to get the aid distributed to towns and cities as soon as possible, the governor is requesting the legislature approve the aid by March 6.

While the governor’s letter February 21 requesting bonding approval from the state General Assembly did not explicitly tie the delay in bonding municipal aid to the recently withdrawn state highway toll proposal, it did point out, “We are now eight months into the fiscal year without solutions to our transportation needs and a bond package. No longer can our cities and towns wait.”

According to documentation provided by the state Office of Policy and Management, the bond package allocation for Newtown is $235,371. However, Town Finance Director Robert Tait told The Newtown Bee February 26 that he is also awaiting $471,024 in anticipated state Town Aid Road (TAR) funds, and $206,461 in Local Capital Improvement Plan (LoCIP) grants.

Also February 21, the administration indicated its readiness to work with legislators to authorize bonding of another $475 million this fiscal year for municipal school construction projects. Billions of dollars in financing for this fiscal year and next for dozens of capital projects and programs throughout state government still remain to be negotiated.

“The time has come to move forward with a targeted, municipal aid bond package that will include new authorizations so that we can immediately deliver on the promises we have made to our municipalities,” Gov Lamont wrote to his budget director, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw.

At an appearance February 19 before the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, Gov Lamont said he would ensure that three delayed grants would move forward in the near future, regardless of whether legislators endorsed a plan he supported to toll large, commercial trucks.

“I’m trying to honor the commitment that previous governors have made,” Lamont said after the event in Southington.

At issue were three municipal grants that the state funds with long term financing, specifically by selling bonds on Wall Street. The stalled grants include:

* the TAR program, which gave $60 million to communities in the 2018-19 fiscal year for road repaving, tree-and-brush clearing, and winter snow removal;

* LoCIP, which distributed $30 million last fiscal year for sidewalk, parking lot, other infrastructure work and municipal building upgrades; and

* grants for municipal projects, which provided $60 million last fiscal year for various public works initiatives.

The $235,371 in the first round bond proposal for Newtown would fulfill the promised amount under the municipal projects allocation.

Gov Lamont proposed maintaining funding levels for all three programs at 2018-19 levels.

Connecticut Mirror content from Keith M. Pfaneuf was used in this report.