CRDA Assails Cuts That Could Lead XL Center To Close

[Drew]

Thanks to @ct06111 for sharing in this thread, where you can find background info on XL Center budget renovations: Governor Malloy Won't Push For Costly XL Center Upgrades

The agency that oversees the city’s XL Center Thursday night assailed the budget adopted by the legislature last week as potentially setting the arena down the road to closure.

The state budget authored by Republicans digs deeply into the annual subsidy the state pays to keep the arena operating, members of the Capital Region Development Authority said at their monthly meeting.

Those cuts come in addition to the budget not allocating any funds in its capital improvement program for what supporters say is a critical, top-to-bottom makeover of the aging arena.

“I honestly think this does have some very serious repercussions in terms of whether you keep the XL Center open,” Ben Barnes, board treasurer of the CRDA and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget chief, said at the agency’s monthly meeting.

Democrats in the legislature crafted a budget that included $6.2 million for CRDA’s operating budget, part of which is used to offset annual operating losses at the XL. Those losses are typically between $1 million and $2 million and are projected to be about $1.1 million in the current fiscal year.

The GOP budget that was adopted slashes $1.2 million from CRDA’s operating budget, cutting deeply into the funds that would be used to close the gap at the XL Center. On top of that, the adopted budget includes a 10-percent admissions tax that also would pull revenue away from the arena.

In the fiscal year that ended July 1, the XL Center earned revenues of $15.7 million with expenses of $17.3 million, a loss of $1.6 million.

Barnes said Malloy has vowed to veto the budget, but there will have to be compromises made in the coming days in order to build another budget amid a myriad of competing priorities. He also said Malloy remains committed to renovations at the XL Center.

Board member David Jorgensen said closing the XL Center would undercut all the other investments the state has made in the city of Hartford, including the recent completion of a new $140 million downtown campus for the University of Connecticut.

CRDA has been the steward of tens of millions of dollars in public funds used to attract private investment that has created nearly 1,000 new apartments downtown.

“You have to understand the reasons people want to live and work in a city,” Jorgensen said. “And having an arena is one of the main reasons, along with the arts, culture and all the other stuff. A city without an arena is frankly, a joke.”

Capital Region Development Authority Assails Cuts That Could Lead XL Center To Close

 

[Hoophound]

A penny sales tax would get CT out of this mess wouldn't it? Small sales taxes with strict end dates are underrated for solving fiscal problems. I'd love to see CT put a sales tax in place to solve pension issues among others and cut spending and taxes to lure business. What's happened to CT in the last 30 years is truly sad. It was once a great place and now, I can't justify ever moving back. I don't mean that in a nasty way, I want my home state to lure me back with opportunity, entertainment, art, sports and a future of opportunity for my kids. It seems that it just gets worse rather than better and the longer I wait for it to happen, the further away it appears.

 

[SubZero]

No tax with an end date ever works. The politicians get greedy and the tax will continue forever and get raised along the way.

 

[UCFBfan]

Do most arenas operate in the red? I guess I should refine that to most arenas without a major league club. I understand that there are large ramifications should the XL close but I'd rather see them restore more of the money they're proposing to slash from UConn then give money to the XL so it can ontinue to operate in the red.

 

[Hoophound]

No tax with an end date ever works. The politicians get greedy and the tax will continue forever and get raised along the way.

Absolutely, but it doesnt have to be that way. There are very few ways to pay massive liabilities with decreasing revenue. Painless approaches, like a penny tax, are the clearest, fastest and most simple way to do it. All other solutions are complicated and cloudy to the public.

 

[FDNY99]

Do most arenas operate in the red? I guess I should refine that to most arenas without a major league club. I understand that there are large ramifications should the XL close but I'd rather see them restore more of the money they're proposing to slash from UConn then give money to the XL so it can ontinue to operate in the red.

If they have to fast track something on campus for 4500 seats then that's what has to be done. In the end IMHO the $115 million included in the Dems budget for XL Center renovations was one of the things that caused the 3 who crossed the party line in the budget vote to cross.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

No tax with an end date ever works. The politicians get greedy and the tax will continue forever and get raised along the way.

Not true. In the early 1990's when Weicker started the state income tax, it was passed as a temporary move... /sarcasm

 

[CL82]

No tax with an end date ever works. The politicians get greedy and the tax will continue forever and get raised along the way.

... and get applied to areas other that the reason it was assessed in the first place.

To tax your way out of a fiscal problem you need a disciplined governing body, but if you had a disciplined governing body then you probably wouldn't have a fiscal problem to begin with.

 

[Stray_Dog]

Thanks to @ct06111 for sharing in this thread, where you can find background info on XL Center budget renovations: Governor Malloy Won't Push For Costly XL Center Upgrades

The agency that oversees the city’s XL Center Thursday night assailed the budget adopted by the legislature last week as potentially setting the arena down the road to closure.

The state budget authored by Republicans digs deeply into the annual subsidy the state pays to keep the arena operating, members of the Capital Region Development Authority said at their monthly meeting.

Those cuts come in addition to the budget not allocating any funds in its capital improvement program for what supporters say is a critical, top-to-bottom makeover of the aging arena.

“I honestly think this does have some very serious repercussions in terms of whether you keep the XL Center open,” Ben Barnes, board treasurer of the CRDA and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget chief, said at the agency’s monthly meeting.

Democrats in the legislature crafted a budget that included $6.2 million for CRDA’s operating budget, part of which is used to offset annual operating losses at the XL. Those losses are typically between $1 million and $2 million and are projected to be about $1.1 million in the current fiscal year.

The GOP budget that was adopted slashes $1.2 million from CRDA’s operating budget, cutting deeply into the funds that would be used to close the gap at the XL Center. On top of that, the adopted budget includes a 10-percent admissions tax that also would pull revenue away from the arena.

In the fiscal year that ended July 1, the XL Center earned revenues of $15.7 million with expenses of $17.3 million, a loss of $1.6 million.

Barnes said Malloy has vowed to veto the budget, but there will have to be compromises made in the coming days in order to build another budget amid a myriad of competing priorities. He also said Malloy remains committed to renovations at the XL Center.

Board member David Jorgensen said closing the XL Center would undercut all the other investments the state has made in the city of Hartford, including the recent completion of a new $140 million downtown campus for the University of Connecticut.

CRDA has been the steward of tens of millions of dollars in public funds used to attract private investment that has created nearly 1,000 new apartments downtown.

“You have to understand the reasons people want to live and work in a city,” Jorgensen said. “And having an arena is one of the main reasons, along with the arts, culture and all the other stuff. A city without an arena is frankly, a joke.”

Capital Region Development Authority Assails Cuts That Could Lead XL Center To Close

Ummmm, a city with no jobs won't just detract newcomers but will be a leading source for people leaving the area. Oh, we can just keep spending, Detroit is a great model to follow. First create a business climate where people can work, afford a beer at Happy Hour, and the rest just like the UConn Football team will turn-around with time. And one last point, who can live in a city and afford the Arts without a job, well our retirees here in CT have a very high burden compared to most other states, why do you think they leave for FL...its not just the weather. Ok so who else, the welfare recipients, not for anything but if they have the money to afford the entertainment while I bust my A for 50+ hours, then how smart was I to get a college degree, how smart was I to get 2?

 

[Stray_Dog]

A penny sales tax would get CT out of this mess wouldn't it? Small sales taxes with strict end dates are underrated for solving fiscal problems. I'd love to see CT put a sales tax in place to solve pension issues among others and cut spending and taxes to lure business. What's happened to CT in the last 30 years is truly sad. It was once a great place and now, I can't justify ever moving back. I don't mean that in a nasty way, I want my home state to lure me back with opportunity, entertainment, art, sports and a future of opportunity for my kids. It seems that it just gets worse rather than better and the longer I wait for it to happen, the further away it appears.

...to pay pensions??? I don't mind fulfilling our obligations, but here is a thought and one several other states impose. If you want your pension it's yours but if you want your benefits you need to stay in the state granting you the benefits in this case CT. Florida imposes this restriction on their teachers, you taught in a county and want your benefits, you have to stay in the same county.

 

[Hoophound]

I have a problem with clipping the pension of a retiree. They worked with the knowledge they were going get that pension and they shouldn't lose it. Going forward, all government agencies should know better.

 

[billybud]

...to pay pensions??? I don't mind fulfilling our obligations, but here is a thought and one several other states impose. If you want your pension it's yours but if you want your benefits you need to stay in the state granting you the benefits in this case CT. Florida imposes this restriction on their teachers, you taught in a county and want your benefits, you have to stay in the same county.

Naw...to be accurate, that just ain't so....teachers in Florida belong to the FRS (Florida Retirement System) as do county and state employees...and you can live anywhere and draw your pension.

Benefits? What benefits? Florida teachers, state employees, county employees receive no health care, dental, paid insurance, etc after retirement....any benefits must be purchased on the market.

 

[Fishy]

I have only looked at Connecticut's budget issues from a distance.

But I notice that their sales tax is "only" 6.35%.

In New York, we're at 8.875% in most of the state.

Bite the bullet, tighten the belt and raise the sales tax by two pennies and be done with it - you're so that you cannot cut your way out of it and kicking it down the road means that you'll be killed eventually.

 

[Stray_Dog]

Naw...to be accurate, that just ain't so....teachers in Florida belong to the FRS (Florida Retirement System) as do county and state employees...and you can live anywhere and draw your pension.

Benefits? What benefits? Florida teachers, state employees, county employees receive no health care, dental, paid insurance, etc after retirement....any benefits must be purchased on the market.

Really, I must inform my Aunt and Uncle then, let them know it's time to move....and I said that workers can take their pensions but the benefits meaning other things besides pensions thought that was implied! ....this is according to them...now like most states rules change and I don't know if there was a benefits change in the past....but here in CT it does happen all the time.

 

[zls44]

They've got a lot of room to raise the sales tax and still publicly push how its lower than NY and I believe MA as well. Spin!

 

[upstater]

...to pay pensions??? I don't mind fulfilling our obligations, but here is a thought and one several other states impose. If you want your pension it's yours but if you want your benefits you need to stay in the state granting you the benefits in this case CT. Florida imposes this restriction on their teachers, you taught in a county and want your benefits, you have to stay in the same county.

The contracts were signed a long time ago. New workers don't have those pensions. If you want to impose a new law, you impose it on the new workers.

 

[Hoophound]

I have only looked at Connecticut's budget issues from a distance.

But I notice that their sales tax is "only" 6.35%.

In New York, we're at 8.875% in most of the state.

Bite the bullet, tighten the belt and raise the sales tax by two pennies and be done with it - you're so that you cannot cut your way out of it and kicking it down the road means that you'll be killed eventually.

Exactly. Sales tax fixes the problem and allows the flexibility to do what is needed to retain and attract business. The debt is too large to address with spending cuts and any growth created by corporate enticements will take many years to generate revenue. You want to grow and keep talent in state? Eliminate the state income tax and add even more sales tax.

 

[uconnbill]

Really so then we can be the highest tax state in the union.

Something has to change, but as a taxpayer in the state, I don't want my taxes going up anymore, period.

 

[FDNY99]

Really so then we can be the highest tax state in the union.

Something has to change, but as a taxpayer in the state, I don't want my taxes going up anymore, period.

CT has a LONG way to go before they get to the taxes we pay in New York...trust me on that one!

 

[shizzle787]

CT has a LONG way to go before they get to the taxes we pay in New York...trust me on that one!

NY is also a more desirable state to live in if you live in the Big Apple. People like living in NY. It is a status symbol. They can live with the higher tax rate. People in Windham cannot.

 

[FDNY99]

NY is also a more desirable state to live in if you live in the Big Apple. People like living in NY. It is a status symbol. They can live with the higher tax rate. People in Windham cannot.

You actually picked the wrong battle with the wrong guy there my friend! I grew up in Willimantic and worked there as a firefighter for 8 years before getting hired in NYC. While you may be right about the tax rate in Windham...I moved away form there 18 years ago..my mom and dad 4 years ago...you are dead wrong about the NYC area. Taxes in NYC are at least 2/3's less for a similar house/lot than they are on LI or in Westchester, Rockland and now Orange County. BUT in NYC you also pay a city income tax. That adds up at the end of the year to at least $2k-$3K and up. On top of that there is a sales tax in the city as well. My house is in Port Chester, on a 50'x105' lot, is 1100 sq ft (2 bedrooms, 1 bath, finished attic) and I pay just over $11,000 per year. What does that get me: I get a cop when I call 911, my streets plowed, my garbage picked up, volunteer fire protection, one of the worst school systems in the county (being on top of the lower end is still the lower end). I pretty got the samething when I lived in Willimantic except I had paid fire protection, and I know that my house there wouldn't cost me $11,000 in taxes per year. The income tax rate in NYS is higher than it is in CT..how do I know that, my wife works in CT and up until a few years ago we would get a $500 penalty due to her not being able to take the extra $$ out of her check as a non-CT resident to pay the CT income tax and avoid the penalty. Sales tax is higher as well. This isn't just in the NYC area...it's state wide. In New York state the county has their hands in your pocket as well. People don't like living here...when they retire they leave here like the 9:10 express. People may like living in NYC...but they tolerate Nassau, Suffolk and certain parts of Westchester County. Things are not all a bed of roses in NYS...just ask anyone that lives here. If you want to continue this discussion take it to PM and stay on track in here.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Here's an option.

Give counties, or cities, the option to set a sales tax hire than the state sales tax for specific funding.

http://www.floridataxwatch.org/resources/pdf/LocalOptionsFINAL.pdf

State sales tax is 6%, I pay 7.5% in my county. Residents vote on renewing tax every ten years. Funds for each .5$ must go to fund the areas the residents vote on for the tax. I think the 1.5% I pay is broken down to .5% for schools, .5% for roads and I don't even know what the other .5% is used to fund.

It's a built in cost I'm used to spending and county government spends based on that revenue. Way I look at is if I can afford $6 tax on a $100 purchase, I can also afford $7.50 on a $100 purchase.

 

[ct06111]

Good one in the Hartford Business Journal:

Opinion: Risk of XL Center closure real and threat to Hartford

 

[CL82]

Good one in the Hartford Business Journal:

Opinion: Risk of XL Center closure real and threat to Hartford

Meh. The chairman of CRDA says that the main object she manages needs a major influx of cash and predicts the end of the world if she doesn't get it. *Yawn*

I keep hearing about how much money the XL center generates for the city and region (in theory) but I never see any hard numbers supporting that contention. It would be great for UConn to playing in an up to date facility in Hartford, but neither the city nor the state have the money and the ROI is dubious, at best.

 

[shizzle787]

At this point, why don't they build a new arena, and finance it over 10 years?