Today the Mayor announced a historic partnership between the ctiy and four vibrant local non-profit institutions. The very first partnership of its kind and among the first of its kind in the nation, the New Haven Voluntary PILOT Initiative involves Yale University, St. Rafael's Hospital, The Community Foundation and Casey Family Services contributing voluntary payments into the city's General Fund that total over $2.5 million.
Connecticut is more reliant on the property tax to fund local education than any other state in the country leading to towns and cities being crushed by high property taces, sprawl and lack of single family housing. In a city like New Haven--whose tax base is over 50 percent tax exempt--this reality has made it impossible to maintain the quality of city services while remaining an inviting place for middle class people to own homes and for businesses to locate.
Most politicians are aghast at the situation--but most don't know how to react. Many simply refuse to run for re-election. Others stop providing basic services, like police and schools.
The Mayor has aggressively championed major reforms to our tax structure for over a decade. But today he showed himself to be an active, pionering and innovative problem-solver as much as he is an advocate.
Refusing to ask New Haven's tax-payers to bear the entire burden of the state's deeply flawed system, he convinced four area institutions to see their common self-interest in coming together to help be a part of the solution to this problem.
