State School Project Moratorium May Affect NHS Expansion

By Eliza Hallabeck

A contended moratorium on state funding for school projects potentially in the state’s budget, passed last week, could hinder the allocation of $11 million toward the funding of the Newtown High School expansion project, which broke ground in May.

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney (R-Fairfield) said the actual impact of the moratorium, which state democrats have said is not mentioned, on the local project is unclear.

State Representative Christopher Lyddy said on Thursday that there is no specific moratorium on school construction projects in the state’s budget, and he is doing everything he can to monitor the situation.

The one-year moratorium, which is not mentioned specifically in the state’s budget, would save the State of Connecticut $7.8 million in debt service payments on previously approved and scheduled school construction projects from across the state. The savings of $7.8 is mentioned as a cut in the budget. The Newtown High School Expansion was approved by voters in May for $38.8 million. A halt on funding from the state over the next year would effect $11 million in progress money for the project.

“My hope is that by bringing attention to this we will change it so this won’t happen,” Sen McKinney said. He noted that if the budget is altered, the $7.8 million cut would be taken from another area of funding.

Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson said allocations in the state budget are normally decided on roughly a month after the budget is passed.

Sen McKinney said the halt on school project funding by the state went into effect on Tuesday, September 8.

Rep Lyddy said there is no specific moratorium in the bill passed last week, and he expects the high school project to pass. Following the project will continue to be a  main concern of his, he said.

“I have been following the high school expansion project very closely,” said Rep Lyddy, and later added, “I’m working on this. I’m following it, and it is obviously a priority of mine.”

On Wednesday, Sen McKinney said he spoke to Newtown’s Director of Finance Bob Tait earlier in the week, and added he would continue to monitor the moratorium on the school project funds.

Mr Tait said the town would use short-term bonds to cover the money needed for the project until the money is released by the state, expected for July 2010. Those funds would not be paid until the money from the state is received, and the expected amount of incurred interest is $100,000, which would not be reimbursed by the state.

“Obviously the town is not going to stop the project,” said Sen McKinney. “We can’t and we shouldn’t have to.”

According to the state’s School Building Project Priority Category List, the NHS expansion is the fourth project of 18, which are expected to cost a total of $345,710,121 and a total grant amount from the state of $247,289,925.

The estimated cost of the NHS expansion, as submitted to the state, is $47,621,454 with an estimated grant reimbursement of $14,967,423. The $11 million in progress money over the next year is part of the total estimated grant from the state for the project.

In a release, Sen McKinney said the budget as approved pushed $8 million in pork-barrel spending in other areas. Sen McKinney noted that it is unprecedented for the General Assembly not to pass a school construction bill. He applauded Governor M. Jodi Rell for vetoing the $8 million in pork-barrel spending and is urging her to use that money to restore funding for the school construction projects.

“The facts speak for themselves: Democrats chose pork-barrel spending over education. As a result, they have placed an additional and unnecessary burden on municipalities at a time when they can least afford it and after they have already passed their own budgets. These projects are shovel-ready and Democrats have essentially taken the shovels out of the hands of mayors and first selectmen throughout Connecticut,” Sen McKinney said, in the press release. “This is one of the problems with having a 702-page budget dropped in your lap just hours before you’re expected to vote on it. It doesn’t allow the public or the legislature — particularly members of the minority — adequate time to vet the bill. The more we examine the intricacies of this budget, the uglier it gets.”