NEW HAVEN, CT | Last night, the Finance Committee of the New Haven Board of Alders amended the Mayor's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023, and voted the amended budget out of committee to be considered by the full Board for final vote later this month. In amending the proposed City budget, the Finance Committee changed the proposed five-year phase-in of property values down to two years, and further established a new mill rate of 39.75. Mayor Elicker released the following statement following the vote:

"After conducting the state required property revaluation we saw significant property value increases across much of the city. Some neighborhoods like Fair Haven, Newhallville and Dwight were hit particularly hard with some property values increasing more than 80 percent. I felt it not fair for these areas that saw dramatic property increases to experience such a significant jump in their taxes, so I proposed a five-year “phase-in” so people could ease into the new values and taxes. The Alders’ vote will implement the change over two years rather than five. As such, those areas of the city that saw a significant increase in values will see their taxes rise more dramatically over these next two years, instead of more slowly over five years. While ultimately the Alders and I may disagree about how quickly to phase in the increase, I think we all share the goal of balancing the City’s ability to provide quality services to residents with the taxes people pay. When you step back and compare this year’s budget to last year’s, the City is in a dramatically better situation because of increased funding we were able to secure from the State Payment In-Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program and Yale University’s annual payments to the City.”

In his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023, Mayor Elicker also requested 25 new staff positions to support essential city services. The Finance Committee recommended to the full Board of Alders the elimination of 8 of these newly requested positions, and defunded two other new positions down to $1. The proposed positions the Finance Committee voted to eliminate and defund came in the form of anti-blight specialists, school nurses and library staff. The Alders also reduced the Mayor’s proposed $5 million increase to the New Haven Public Schools by $500,000 for a $4.5 million increase to the school budget.