Legislators say things are looking up

KENT — Area first selectmen met last week to discuss issues that will arise at this year’s state legislative session that could impact Northwest Corner towns. First Selectman Bruce Adams shared a summary of some topics that could impact Kent.The NorthwesternConnecticut Council of Governments (COG) holds a joint breakfast meeting each year with the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials (LHCEO). The COG is composed of the first selectmen of nine towns, including all six towns in the Region One School District. The LHCEO is made up of first selectmen from 11 other Litchfield County towns.Adams attended the breakfast Jan. 24 and in addition to meeting with his fellow first selectmen, he had a chance to talk to (and listen to) six state legislators. “Legislators, for the most part, gave the same gloomy picture of the state budget they gave last year,” Adams reported. “Fortunately, looking back at last year, that did not have much of a negative effect on Kent. Most small towns do not get huge amounts of state aid. Smaller towns are not as dependent on state aid as big cities are.”Things aren’t exactly looking rosy, however.“While they were not preaching doom and gloom, they did not say we are on the way out of this thing. They all said things are ‘looking better’.”According to Adams, the legislators who spoke shared varying opinions of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who is a Democrat, depending on their political affiliations.But everyone can agree that times remain tough economically, at least for the moment.“I firmly believe state aid to towns will remain flat,” Adams said. “Not so much as a result of having attended this meeting, but as a result of the last time I heard the governor speak, when he stated aid to municipalities would remain flat for the fiscal year.”Adams said that last year when the Board of Finance asked him about budgeting for state aid, he told them he did not think it would be cut. In hindsight, he turned out to be correct.Adams said the main state aid to Kent is for education and a line item called “town aid road.” “I did not hear anything from the legislators at the breakfast that would be bad for Kent. I went there hoping to hear something about ‘prevailing wage’, which is important to me, but very little was said.”“Prevailing wage” refers to state regulations enacted in the early 1990s that require towns using federal or state money for a project to pay a minimum wage established by the government. Prevailing wage requirements kick in for renovation projects costing more than $100,000 or new construction jobs over $400,000.Adams said, “These rules are from the early 1990s. Things cost more now and the levels for prevailing wage rules to kick in should be raised.”Adams talked about how the prevailing wage rules affected the recent $300,000 renovation of the Kent Community House. Without prevailing wage rules, the town could have gotten much more work done on that project, he said. Instead, the town was required to pay the men who installed insulation $48 per hour to do work for which they normally earn $18 to $20 per hour.According to Adams, the owner of the insulation company told him, “I have had to divide my six-man work force in half and let three come to Kent one week and the other three come the following week. They were all fighting over who would get this bonus pay.”The prevailing wage issue was very briefly discussed at the breakfast, Adams said, and some legislators said there would be hearings on it. However, they gave the impression that nothing is going to change. “Last year the word was that the speaker of the house would not even allow it to be discussed,” Adams said.There has been talk of consolidating the COG and LHCEO into one large, area-wide group. Adams said at the state level the big buzz words are “consolidation” and “regionalization.” “There is some validity to it. They feel there can be more cost savings and efficiencies by consolidating.” He also said while consolidation of the two groups would not be a bad thing, as they already cooperate on some issues such as purchasing, they do not want it unless it would be beneficial for their towns.