[mdovell]

You can consolidate a bit even within a community. Bloomfield has a nice senior center/cable studio/community center. The more use a building has the better.

[cttransplant85]

The politicians in CT just do not have the political will power to say no to constituents. The politicians in Texas, Utah, Arizona etc they actually have the will power say no to people, the ability to think 5 minutes ahead of themselves. "No we can't afford this program or grant & it will hurt our productivity" "I'm sorry but we have to cut this program its just not sustainable" You will never hear a CT politician say these things; and once you create a whole culture of people reliant on government its impossible to take things away. Whats going to happen when we can't afford welfare or busy work government jobs for these folks in BPT, Waterbury, New Haven ect who've been reliant on the system for generations now? It's going to be mayham.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

County Govts are never going to happen in CT. The local Govts do not want to give up control of any processes or depts they oversee. For anyone who has lived outside of CT, they will realize that county Govts are not all they're cracked up to be either.

I like the local control of Govt in CT, but there is certainly ways to consolidate functions/depts that would have little to no impact on the citizens (other than possibly reducing taxes)
I already mentioned these before, but a lot of consolation can take place with admin functions like payroll, HR, Park services, leasing of office space, etc. I'm sure a focus group could come up with more ideas.

If you want to see something really funny. Drive down Christian Lane in Berlin and you will see "Berlin animal control" and "New Britain animal control" in separate buildings on each side of the city/town line.
(The buildings are actually side by side.) Granted NB is bigger, but I'm sure they could have figured out a consolidation plan if they tried (before putting up the buildings)

You can also drive around CT and see all the new municipal buildings that have gone up in recent years. Buildings such as town halls, community centers, police stations, etc. Then ask yourself if some of these buildings could have been consolidated with other towns.

Some school systems and the CT court system are actually consolidated so it is possible to get this done in CT.

Have you lived outside of CT and had firsthand experience with county government?

[ads94]

The thing with county governments is that they work perfectly for places with no other extant governments. My land in Florida is not part of any incorporated town, it is only a CDP. With no town/city to provide services, the county does an excellent job of managing fire, water, sewer, schools, pest control, ect. as you would expect from any other government. My county has a population of around 150,000. Area is about the same as New Haven County. New Haven County has a population of about 850,000. At that high of a population density, it is far more practicable for the functions currently delegated to the towns (eg, all of them) to remain that way, instead go down a path of consolidation of services.

The one argument for counties is that the consolidation that comes with them is mostly very efficient. We have had a consistent $20 million surplus out of a budget of about $600m including schools. Mill rate is just over 16 on everything. Places like Waterbury, New Haven, Hartford would do well with consolidation, might lower mill rates in those places.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Have you lived outside of CT and had firsthand experience with county government?

Yes I have. I prefer CT's Govt system, but there are still functions they can consolidate if they wanted too. Admin functions probably being #1.

[JayCT]

Looks like the state's investment in bringing Jackson Labs to Farmington is paying off. They are ahead of schedule to have 300 researchers there. Take that Rick Scott! Jay

Jackson Lab Hires More Scientists, Nearing Goal of 300 Employees - Hartford Courant

[RunD1987]

A lot of people I know want Counties to lower their tax rates

[BPt111]

10 days left no budget begin close to begin passed that means there strong chance after July 1st there no budget in CT

[Mr_250]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Looks like the state's investment in bringing Jackson Labs to Farmington is paying off. They are ahead of schedule to have 300 researchers there. Take that Rick Scott! Jay

Jackson Lab Hires More Scientists, Nearing Goal of 300 Employees - Hartford Courant

UTC created 380 jobs and moved executives from Farmington to west palm Florida. Kicker is more jobs half the incentive.


https://www.google.com/amp/www.coura...story,amp.html

So I guess Rick Scott did take "it."

I do understand what you are saying and it is good that these very good jobs are here. I'm kind of jaded because I just came back from South Carolina where there is huge growth going on. It does make CT look very stagnant after going to a place that is growing.

[Matrix2791]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Looks like the state's investment in bringing Jackson Labs to Farmington is paying off. They are ahead of schedule to have 300 researchers there. Take that Rick Scott! Jay

Jackson Lab Hires More Scientists, Nearing Goal of 300 Employees - Hartford Courant

I'm sure Governor Scott is just shivering right now.... So how many millions did we have to spend to get that paltry 300 jobs?